The King's Traitor (Kingfountain #3)(71)
Owen started. “What?”
She nodded. “It was all I could do not to slit his gullet. I hate him, Owen. You can’t know how much I hate him! I’m sorry I’m so emotional right now. Give me a moment to calm down.”
“You have every right to be upset!”
“I’m better than that. He caught me by surprise, that’s all. I didn’t think he’d find his way into my tower, but I should have realized he would eventually. I was right. He recognized me that day the two of us went to see him in the dungeon. He’s been asking around about the King’s Poisoner.” She shook her head in frustration. “He’s happy to betray anyone for the right price. First the Duke of Brugia to set Eyric loose. Then Severn to capture him. He admitted to it all, Owen. He’s only after the money. The only thing that binds him is greed!”
Owen felt his resentment grow hotter. “I can’t have him running about like this.”
Etayne threw up her hands. “He can turn invisible! He told me he let himself get caught by the Espion. Owen, Chatriyon is furious about your betrothal to the duchess. Word has spread like a spilled chalice of wine, and everyone is talking about it in foreign courts. At least that’s what my father said. Chatriyon has ordered his poisoner to remove you. We’ve met him before.”
“Bothwell?” Owen said, aghast.
Etayne nodded. “Foulcart. That’s his poisoner name. Remember how he duped us on our visit to Atabyrion? He wants revenge for personal reasons too, I assure you. No poisoner likes to be bested, and he hasn’t forgotten how we unmasked him in Iago’s court. My father said he’s in the city already, and has offered him a sizable sum to get him access to you.” Her eyes were livid. “That’s why I didn’t kill him. If he knows how to find Bothwell, then perhaps we can turn the tables on him.”
Owen let out his breath. “What did you tell Dragan?”
She was tormented by her feelings and it showed. “I . . . I hesitated. Probably too much. He’s very suspicious. I said I take my orders from the king. That he pays me more to keep you alive than Bothwell was offering.” She twisted her hands together. “My father said that blood is worth more than gold. That I should help him out of duty.” She put one hand on the table to steady herself. “You don’t understand how much I hate him. He doesn’t know . . . he thinks I’m only a poisoner because of the coin. He said that Chatriyon would pay me far more than Severn if I betrayed you to him.” She gave him a look full of anguish. “But he doesn’t know that I could never hurt you. What do we do? You’re the clever one. I can’t think clearly right now.”
Anger crashed inside Owen like waves at the sight of his old friend so vulnerable. So King Chatriyon of Occitania wanted retribution for past humiliations? Bothwell’s disadvantages were considerable. Owen and Etayne both knew what he looked like. He also wasn’t Fountain-blessed, which gave them additional advantages over him. They needed to strip Dragan of his power. An idea struck him and he straightened, snapping his fingers.
Etayne gave him a hopeful look.
“Thank you for coming straightaway,” he told her, and he meant it. He hadn’t taken her loyalty for granted before, and he certainly wasn’t going to do so now. “I can’t imagine how difficult that encounter must have been for you. We can’t allow someone like Dragan to poke around the palace any longer. There is too much at risk. We need to get Genevieve out of here tonight, under the cover of darkness. I don’t want to wait until morning. You’ll come with us. I want you to use your magic to disguise me as your father.”
She looked horrified by the idea of Owen impersonating her father.
He smiled at her expression. “Just long enough for people to see us, Etayne. When she goes missing, I want witnesses to implicate him in her disappearance. If Severn thinks he’s betrayed him, your father’s life will become infinitely more difficult, and he’ll be too busy trying to save his own neck to help Bothwell. When he next comes to you, arrange for a meeting. Tell him you want fifty thousand crowns. A hundred thousand. The higher the better. Then arrange a place to meet, and I’ll have Kevan swarm it with Espion. See? We’ll use this news to our advantage. I don’t fear your father as you do.”
Etayne looked somewhat mollified, but he could tell she was still reeling from the encounter. “You should, Owen. I’ve never known a man so relentless and cruel. He will get what he feels he’s due. And he probably knows he’d survive a boat over the falls.”
Owen looked at her seriously. “Oh, but we wouldn’t send him over the falls. He’d be taken to the North and dragged atop an icy mountain.” He took a step toward her. “I won’t let him hurt you, Etayne.”
The room filled with tension, and he could tell part of her misery was due to her feelings for him. She shook her head. “No . . . I won’t let him hurt you.”
He sighed. “I want you to take your things and move them here. This will be your room for now.” Her tower was compromised. She couldn’t return now that Dragan knew how to find her.
A look of surprise and hope brightened her eyes.
“I will find lodgings elsewhere,” he said quickly. “In fact, it might be best for me to bed down somewhere different every night. Having a routine will make it too easy to find me. If I were Bothwell, I’d be at an inn on the bridge with a view of the palace gates. He’s probably planning to wait for me to ride back to Tatton Hall so he can ambush me on the road.”