Protect the Prince (Crown of Shards #2)(86)

She shrugged again. “Nothing special, no.”

“Well, perhaps a royal engagement will interest her.”

Xenia’s head snapped up, her attention suddenly squarely focused on me. “Whose engagement?” she asked in a sharp voice.

I grimaced. “Mine. To Dominic.”

I filled her in on my conversation with the king. I also told her about Heinrich being poisoned and my suspicion that the weather magier and other Mortan assassins had really been trying to kill Dominic instead of me.

Her sewing forgotten, Xenia leaned back in her chair and studied me with narrowed eyes, as did the ogre on her neck. “You’re hoping that your engagement will force the traitor to do something reckless.”

“Yes. And I want you to help me catch them when they do.”

“How?”

“We need backup,” I said. “People none of the Andvarians have seen and who have no obvious connection to us. So tell me—where are Halvar and Bjarni?”

Halvar was Xenia’s nephew, Bjarni was his lifelong friend, and both were powerful ogre morphs. They had helped me take back Seven Spire from Vasilia’s turncoat guards, and I was hoping they would help me protect the prince as well.

“They’re still at Castle Asmund,” Xenia said. “I sent them there a few weeks ago to check on things.”

The words slipped off her tongue with ease, and not a flicker of deceit marred her face or that of the ogre on her neck. Xenia was one of the most skilled liars I had ever seen, which was part of what made her such an excellent spy.

But I could still sense her smoky deception in the air, and I tapped my finger on my nose. “You do realize that I can smell when you’re lying, right?”

Her lips puckered. She didn’t like getting caught.

“But even more than that, I know you, Xenia. I’ve been to Castle Asmund, and it runs like a clock, just like Glitnir and Seven Spire do. You didn’t send Halvar and Bjarni there to check on things. You didn’t need to. No, you sent them ahead, to Glanzen, as soon as you realized that I was going through with this trip. So are they staying in the city, or have you managed to sneak them into the palace already?”

Xenia stared at me a moment longer, then threw back her head and laughed. Her throaty chuckles rang through the chambers, and the ogre on her neck silently chuckled along with her.

“Well done, Evie,” she murmured. “Very well done. I was wondering if you would notice my little sleight of hand with Halvar and Bjarni.”

I smiled, baring my teeth. “I’m a fast learner.”

“Well, you’re right. I did send them ahead, and they’ve already been here at the palace for a week, posing as Ungerian businessmen looking to buy Andvarian goods. Their chambers are right down the hall.”

“Excellent. Then they’ve already been skulking around and picking up gossip. I want them to do more of that, especially once news of the engagement breaks. And, as a powerful and influential noblewoman, it shouldn’t be too hard for you to secure them invitations to the royal ball.” I gestured at the tea set and empty trays. “It looks like you’ve already made some new friends with your entertaining. Surely, one of them will be happy to do you a favor.”

Xenia grinned. “Oh, I’m sure I can arrange that. What exactly do you want Halvar and Bjarni to do during the ball?”

“Watch Dominic and make sure that no one assassinates him.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You really think that Maeven and her Bastard Brigade will be so bold as to try to murder Dominic during his own engagement party?”

I shrugged. “That’s what I would do. If you’re going to kill the crown prince, you might as well do so in the most public and visible manner. Besides, if Dominic dies during the ball, the Andvarians will assume that I had something to do with it, and they’ll be screaming for my blood. Maeven loves death and chaos, and that would be a perfect storm of problems for Heinrich and me.”

Xenia nodded. “I’ll start securing the invitations. But the ball isn’t for a few days. What will you do in the meantime?”

“I’ll try to find the traitor on my own. I have an idea where to start.”

And I did have a suspect, one who had occurred to me the moment I’d realized just how much the poison in Heinrich’s body resembled venomous vines.

Xenia nodded again, studying me. “And have you told Lucas about your plan?”

My heart clenched, but I shook my head. “No. And I’m not going to.”

“Good. For a moment, I thought you were going to be foolish enough to tell him.”

“Why would that be foolish?”

“Because if you tell him the truth, then his reaction won’t be genuine,” Xenia pointed out. “And you need his reaction to be genuine. You need him to think that you’re really going through with it, that you’re determined to marry Dominic. Lucas’s anger will sell your whole scheme to the traitor. He’ll do all the work for you. All you will have to do is hang on to Dominic’s arm and smile.”

My stomach twisted with dread. That’s what I was afraid of.

Xenia leaned forward and tapped her finger to the corner of her eye. “I can see when you’re upset, Evie, and I can almost hear the nausea roiling around in your stomach,” she said, mocking me with my own gesture and words.