Fantasy of Fire (The Tainted Accords #3)(51)

He stares at me for several moments afterward. I would smile, but I’ve rarely seen him this serious.

“It is you,” he says, voice hoarse.

I frown. “What?”

“From the whorehouse,” he says. “I saw you there.”

I frown in concentration for a few seconds. Is he calling me a prostitute? Then I recall seeing a very agitated Sanjay in the courtyard. I’d followed him to the Middle Ring to make sure he returned safely. “Oh, of course. I’d forgotten about that,” I say in a rush. That explains his odd look as he tried to place me.

“You saw someone from the assembly in the Outer Rings and you forgot?” he says incredulously.

“You’d be surprised,” I say drily, thinking of Rhone, Ashawn, and Blaine.

“Well, I… That is, did you?” He darts a look at me. “Do you know why I was there? At the whorehouse?” he blurts.

I sit back in confusion. If anyone else had said that, I’d think the answer was obvious: to see a whore. “You don’t remember why you were there?”

He shakes his head. “I had a drink, in the Inner Ring. Next thing, I’m waking up between two naked women with no idea what I’ve done or how I got there.” He rubs a hand over his face.

All of the small inconsistencies in his behavior click into place. “Is this why you’ve been acting strangely?”

“It’s driving me insane.” He stands up and lights the fire in angry movements. “I don’t know if I’ve betrayed Fiona, and don’t want to tell her in case she leaves me, but I don’t feel right about touching her while I might have.”

“She’s noticed your strange behavior,” I agree.

He turns panicked eyes to me. “What happened in that room, Olina? If you were there, maybe you can help me.”

“I was there,” I say. Trying to get information out of Willow about Seedyr wood arrows, but he doesn’t need to know that. “I have friends in the brothel there. I might be able to find out for you. It will cost you, though. She doesn’t give many things for free.”

“I don’t care what it costs me. I need the answer,” he says fervently.

“Good or bad?” I ask quietly. His face falls.

“Good or bad,” he says solemnly.

I tap my finger on my knee as I watch the normally energetic Bruma looking completely drained of all happiness.

“Who gave you the drink?” I ask.

“Some friends of Blaine. He wanted me to meet someone who’d apparently developed a lighter, more durable type of sled. I’ve been interested in this for some time so I agreed to the meeting.” He shrugs. “The man’s ideas were rubbish, the designs worse than the sleds Adnan and I have already developed. Waste of time.”

I rest back in the chair, somehow unsurprised by Blaine’s involvement. “And what did Blaine have to say about all this?”

Sanjay swallows. “He said I was adamant about visiting the brothel. He refused to go, but said some of his friends took me there,” he says.

My fury grows with each uttered word.

Sanjay sits back down. “That’s the thing. I asked Blaine to keep quiet about it until I could speak to Fiona. He wanted to know something trivial about an invention Adnan and I have been working on. Weaponry, you understand?”

“I do.”

“But he’s been asking more and more questions. Amounts of weapons. Their exact workings. Plans. He doesn’t mention telling Fiona anything, but the threat is there, you know? The only reason I answer is because he can’t do anything with the knowledge. Can he? He’s an advisor.”

I pick at my trousers wondering how much I should reveal to Sanjay.

“I can ask my friend at the brothel for you. Of course I’ll do that. I think you should know that despite King Jovan trusting Blaine, I have my own suspicions about him.” I lean forward to hold my friend’s gaze.

“I’m currently gathering proof of Blaine’s guilt. I believe he’s behind the unrest in the Outer Rings. Please keep that to yourself,” I add a bit harshly. “Sanjay, you’re one of a handful of people who I’d like to testify against him during council.”

“But what can I say?” he splutters. There’s more to his remark. He’s worried people will judge him.

“You can tie Blaine to wanting detailed information about weaponry,” I say. “I know as an advisor that isn’t bad by itself, but you can prove he used blackmail to do so. Every piece of information I present to the king helps to bring Blaine down.” Sanjay’s expression darkens as I put a label on what the manipulative hateful man is doing to him.

I stand and rest a hand on his shoulder. “Let's see what we hear back first. Then we can decide. You don’t have to do anything you don’t wish to do.”

Blue eyes look up at me. “You see a lot under that veil, don’t you?” he asks.

“Not as much as I’d like to,” I reply in complete honesty.

*

I pace in my chambers, thankful Olandon now sleeps in the royal wing of the castle. But perhaps his presence would solve my current predicament.

Nothing was going to happen. I’d made that clear. The clothes were staying on. I straighten. It was just a meeting between two leaders. It in no way violated my intention to stay away from the king of Glacium.