To Love a Prince (Knights of Valor Book 1)(18)

“Where are my guards?” Eli said.

The anger in his words made Auburn shiver.

“It’s not your fault they aren’t here. They left my room unattended and created a vulnerability. Their recklessness could’ve cost you your life.” Eli held her closer. “By the gods, my guards better have a damn good reason for leaving their posts.”

Sligo opened the door, and Rolland was a few steps behind him. They both bowed.

“Did you find my men?” The ice in Eli’s words had Rolland stepping back.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Rolland said. “Found them asleep two rooms down.”

“They will be...” He paused at the expression on Sligo’s face. “What happened to them?”

“We think they’re drugged. We can’t wake them up, Your Highness,” Sligo said.

“Might be yetha root.” Auburn glanced up at the prince. “It’s expensive and impossible to get unless the buyer is well-connected. If it’s yetha root, your men will have no memory of what happened, but they’ll be unharmed when they wake up.”

Eli sucked in a slow breath as he held her closer. “So the perpetrator avoids a diplomatic incident and can blame the guards for being drunk or falling asleep on the job.”

Auburn shivered. “Might even put a bloody dagger in one of their hands to make it look like they killed me.”

Rolland’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve never heard of yetha root. You’re sure it’s real?”

“They warn the sultan’s traders that deal with Oskelesians of it.”

“You’re not a trader,” Rolland said.

Auburn met his stare. “I listen when others talk.”

“Your Highness, she might have been involved in this,” Rolland said. “She could be working with your enemies to sow distrust.”

“What I want to know,” Eli said, “is how an intruder got in here. More men protect these rooms than the two visible guards that stand outside my doors.”

“Perhaps he was stealthy,” Rolland said.

Eli arched a black brow. “As stealthy as an ox pulling a cart.”

“The door never opened,” Auburn said. “I was waiting for Prince Eli to return. I would have heard it.”

Rolland glared at her. “Perhaps you’d fallen asleep. How else could he have gotten in here except through the door?”

Sligo peered out the windows. “No footsteps in the sand caught on the window ledge.”

Auburn lifted her shoulders. “Some rooms have hidden passages so slaves can serve without being seen. I’ve never been in this part of the palace before, so I’m not sure if there are any here.”

“Show me what to look for,” Sligo said.

Auburn did, and the two of them scoured the room for a hidden passage.

Eli ignored Rolland’s growing impatience.

“Here,” Sligo said as he pointed out an almost invisible seam in the thick stone.

Eli strode over and scrutinized the telltale hairline. “How do we open it?”

“It might only open from the inside,” Auburn said. “The slave would come in, see to their duties, then disappear back through it.”

Sligo’s jaw set. “That the captain of the palace guards missed this in the security briefing is unacceptable.”

“Might not have thought of it,” Rolland said. “Qumarefis think little of slaves.”

Sligo’s gaze passed from Auburn back to Rolland. “Then they’re fools. I will send three guards to stay here with you, Your Highness. I will secure this passage and search the other rooms for similar ones.”

“See to it. And there’s one other thing we need to consider,” Eli said. “Premal attacked me, and I must make a corresponding show of force. Thoughts?”

Rolland paled. “Do we really want to court such a powerful enemy, Your Highness?”

“Premal is an adviser to the sultan, but the sultan has many of them. What makes Premal so powerful?”

“He’s rich, well-connected...”

“Many in the Qumarefi court are.” Eli’s cold blue gaze fell on his attaché. “Powerful, rich, and well-connected or not, Premal chose to make me an enemy. He cannot strike at me without consequence.”

“Perhaps the nectar from an azalea blossom,” Auburn said. “When I was young, the other children forced me to eat one. I was sick, but never in real danger. They grow in the sultan’s garden.”

“Sligo?”

A dark smile curved the bodyguard’s lips. “Consider it done, Your Highness. I expected you to make enemies, just not this quickly.”

“You can’t poison a member of the sultan’s court!” Rolland said.

“Of course I can, unless they can stop me.” A serpent’s smile curved Eli’s lips. “And I will get a trade deal.”

“But the Dragon Church...” Rolland said.

“They’re my concern, not yours.”

Rolland opened his mouth to say something and snapped it shut again.

“We all need to be extra vigilant.” Eli studied Rolland. “One asp has shown its scales. I’m sure there are more.”

Rolland sucked in a breath, but before he could say anything, a knock on the door had them all turning.