To Seduce An Assassin (The Omaja Series Book 2)(20)

“Oh, Gods!” Jiandra pressed a hand to her chest, looking at Graciella.

“I’m fine, Jia. Yavi took care of it,” Graciella reassured her.

“Why didn’t you wake me, brother?” Yajna frowned. “I could have gone with you.”

“I didn’t feel there was need to alarm you and Jiandra. I knew I could take care of it myself.”

“Who were these bandits?” Jiandra pressed. “Why were they after Gracie?”

“They looked like run-of-the-mill Nandalan mercenaries to me. I killed three of them, but the fourth escaped. Graciella stabbed him in the neck with her dagger, so he’s probably dead in the foothills somewhere by now.”

Jiandra turned to her in horror. “You stabbed one of them?”

Graciella dabbed at the corner of her mouth with her napkin, then laid it primly in her lap. “Yes, sister. I’m not completely helpless, you know.”

“This is completely unacceptable!” Jiandra rose to her feet, pacing. “My sister cannot be in harm’s way within our borders. We must do something about this growing bandit problem, gentlemen. We must give it top priority.”

“I agree,” Yavi said. “We’ll send what troops we can spare to patrol the main roads and ensure safe travel. Otherwise, our trade routes become useless, our hard-earned export trade destroyed.”

Yajna nodded. “In the meantime, we all go to Mount Solara together tomorrow. I’m not sending my wife and sister-in-law off without me.”

For her part, Graciella was pleased with the arrangement if it meant Yavi would be traveling with them. She bit into the dried fig. It was old and tough, but not as tough as the griddle cake.

§

Graciella stood on the library balcony overlooking the courtyard, watching Yavi spar with one of his guards down below, swinging his swords with lightning-quick, well-synchronized slashing movements. The guard blocked with a sword and shield, managing to fend Yavi off reasonably well for the most part. At the other end of the yard, Yajna was practicing shooting arrows at straw targets.

Jiandra joined her. “Ready for some tea, sister? It’s just arrived.”

Graciella nodded, going back inside the library to the sitting area in the center of the high-ceilinged room. She sank onto the little sofa in front of the low table where the tea service was laid out.

Jiandra shut the door to the balcony to keep the cold air out, then came to sit opposite her in an armchair. She poured them each a cup of tea, handing Graciella one of the cups. “I’m sorry we don’t have any tea cakes or bread prepared.”

Graciella sipped the tea. It was a tad warmer than what was served for breakfast. “Just the tea is fine. Is the palace really that low on supplies, Jiandra?”

Her sister seemed reluctant to answer. “Well…”

“You can tell me. I won’t let Yavi know what you shared.”

“Blast Yavi. I want some decent food.” Jiandra set her teacup down and leaned forward, lowering her voice. “It’s not that we don’t have supplies. It’s that we lost our cook a few nights ago. Literally.”

Graciella listened as Jiandra recounted how they discovered their cook was a traitor and a thief, had him sentenced to death, and executed him by hanging.

“That night after the guards loaded his body onto a burial cart, he disappeared.”

“You mean the body disappeared?”

“Yes.”

Graciella swallowed as the hair on the back of her neck stood up.

“We searched the entire palace grounds; we rounded up all the guards and servants. I read everyone’s thoughts with the Omaja. No one knew or saw anything. It’s as if he simply vanished into thin air. But the creepiest part is, he was involved in some sort of cult. I saw the cult leader in his thoughts while Yavi and Yajna were interrogating him. The leader was a frightening man, with a pale, gruesome face like the mask of death. His eyes were solid black disks.”

“Eew!” Graciella gasped.

Just then, one of the balcony doors flew open, letting in a cold draft that blew out the fire in the fireplace. Graciella and Jiandra both stared at the door, then at each other, wide-eyed.

“All right, we’re being silly girls.” Jiandra waved a dismissive hand as she rose to shut the door again. “I must have left it ajar.”

Graciella hugged her arms around herself, rubbing her own shoulders as her sister returned to her seat. “So now you have no cook?”

“Right. We’re trying to make do without hiring a new one until we sell a few more crops, because Terijin stole a large sum of money from the treasury and gave it to an accomplice. We don’t know exactly where they took the money, or we would go and get it back.”

“Well, I can cook for you, Jiandra.”

“I know you can. I suggested as much to Yavi, but he refused to allow me to ask you outright.”

“Why? I make delicious food.”

“Oh, it’s not the quality of your food. He just didn’t want to burden you with the responsibilities of working in the kitchen during your stay with us.”

Graciella smiled, feeling a warmth rising in her cheeks. “He said that?”

“Yes, but don’t make too much of it. He was just being a protective brother-in-law.”

Graciella frowned and lobbed a small pillow at her sister’s face. “You’re crushing my dreams, Jiandra!” she teased.