For Want of a Fiend (23 page)

Starbride didn’t know whether to laugh or be appalled. Katya should have recruited Starbride’s mother right away. “Get Countess Nadia to help you. Or rather, I should do that. She’s particular about how she spends her time.”

“She’s probably already begun a search on her own. She’s very loyal to the Umbriels, by all accounts.”

“Yes, she was kind to me even before I became princess consort.”

“She smells the right course on the wind.” Her mother rose and retrieved Starbride’s hand-embossed paper from a desk in the corner. “Invite the countess to tea.”

*

Countess Nadia arrived promptly at teatime. Her graying blond hair had been swept upward in a sensible twist, and she wore a riding dress of deep gold. Evidently, she had plans to go out later in the day, uprising or no.

She pulled off her gloves and sat while Dawnmother poured tea for her and Starbride. “I saw the debacle on the steps of the palace. I knew you’d be calling on me.” She winked. “Always glad to be of service.”

Starbride took a page from Katya’s book and dove right in. “Are there any members of the nobility that want the people of Marienne disturbed?”

“Well, some of the nobles are quite close to the throne. They can trace their ancestry back to ancient Umbriels.”

Starbride nearly choked on her tea. There were people who had Fiends in their ancestry and didn’t even know it? Luckily, they couldn’t really have Fiends unless both their parents carried the taint. Just carrying it wouldn’t make them aware of the responsibility that came with ruling Marienne. They’d capture the throne only to have it taken away from them by Roland, or if not him, Yanchasa itself.

“Anyone spring to mind?” Starbride asked.

Countess Nadia clucked her tongue. “They all merit suspicion, but the question is, how many have the ambition? That weeds them slightly. Those you have to find will be suspicious, ambitious, and
brave
. Now we have a much smaller pool to fish from.”

Starbride toyed with the hem of her shirt and thought on her next words so she wouldn’t give away too much. She couldn’t mention that the noble in question might have so few scruples as to work with the Fiendish Roland. Of course, if Roland was pulling the strings of these nobles, they might not realize he was there at all.

“I can think of a few nobles who employ pyradistés,” Countess Nadia said as if reading Starbride’s mind.

“How did you know I was going to ask that?”

“It makes sense. A noble who’s thinking of overthrowing the throne wouldn’t have any qualms about using mind pyramids in a pinch.”

Starbride nodded slowly. One name sprang right to the top of her mind, Lady Hilda, who employed a pyradisté and who’d had far too little to do in court lately.

When Starbride walked into Katya’s sitting room, she had a knowing smile on her face. Katya stood to greet her. “Did things go well with Nadia?”

“I’ve got a prime suspect.”

“Dare I ask?”

“Lady Hilda.”

Katya was tempted to smirk. “Still suspecting her, are you?”

“And why not? Now that you’re the crown princess, she’ll be even more interested in you.” She tapped a finger against her lips, drawing Katya’s attention to her beautiful mouth. Katya shook her head to banish the feelings. She couldn’t embrace romance again so soon after Crowe and her grandmother’s death. Instead, she took a seat opposite Starbride.

“You know,” Starbride said, “the pyradisté who works for Lady Hilda looks remarkably like your uncle, if I remember correctly.”

“What of it?”

“Well, Darren and Cassius Sleeting claimed to be your cousins, descended from your grandfather in the same way that you are. And they were reported to have another brother, an older one that we weren’t able to locate.”

Katya felt her face grow hot. “Are you suggesting they were telling the truth about being Umbriels? Crowe proved that their mother’s schemes were all lies; her ‘love letters’ were faked.”

Starbride gave Katya a sympathetic look. “That doesn’t mean there was nothing to the claims at all.”

“Well, my grandmother’s dead now, so there’s no one to ask.” She hated her own bitterness but didn’t have enough energy to take it back.

Luckily, Starbride shifted to Katya’s settee. “I know she is, and I’m sorry to be bringing this up, but there are just too many maybes surrounding Lady Hilda.” She laid a finger across Katya’s lips. “I know what you’re going to say. It’s not jealousy. If it was, I’d be plotting against Castelle.”

Katya felt the heat come into her cheeks. She ducked her head and hoped Starbride wouldn’t see it.

“Are you blushing?”

“Just about the past. It embarrasses me to think I was so close to her, of all the time and energy I wasted before I found you.”

Starbride pressed her lips against Katya’s, a delighted little smile curving her lips through the contact.

“I love you, too,” Starbride said. “But I still want to investigate Lady Hilda further. For a while there, she was conspicuously absent from court.”

“So?”

“She could have been spending that time meeting Brom outside of Marienne. Duke Robert wouldn’t have thought anything of a noble lady traveling alone wanting to join his caravan. Lady Hilda could have batted her eyes and appealed to the duke’s old-fashioned sensibilities.”

Cold settled in Katya’s gut as she thought about it. Even if the connection to the Sleetings didn’t work, there were too many other “maybes,” just like Starbride said. Any gaps in the royal family would leave Lady Hilda a way in, especially if that gap happened to be Starbride’s position…or Katya’s mother. And they’d already proven that Lady Hilda had a powerful pyradisté working for her.

“You think it could be that easy?” Katya asked. “That Crowe’s murder could have no connection to Roland whatsoever? That we have two separate enemies, Lady Hilda who murdered Crowe for her own ends and Roland stirring up the populace?”

Starbride tilted her head back and forth. “Lady Hilda and her pyradisté could still be pawns of Roland, even without a Sleeting connection. Lady Hilda wants power; she doesn’t care how she gets it. If Roland promised her something…”

“He could have told her that he was exiled or stripped of title seven years ago, that his death was faked.”

“It would blend well with the recent events surrounding Reinholt. Roland could have told Lady Hilda that the Umbriels’ black sheep are sometimes ousted, but now one of them has returned. Oh, I can see him doing that all right. And I bet he’s scouring the countryside for your brother.”

“I can’t believe that Reinholt would side with Roland.”

“Katya—”

“No!” Katya stood and paced around the low table between the two settees. “Reinholt’s angry, but Roland tried to kill his family. Roland turned Brom against us.”

“Your brother is one to hold a grudge, that’s true.”

“Thank the spirits we can count on that.”

“We still haven’t figured out how to get Lady Hilda.”

“Get her?”

“How do we catch her in a trap?”

That was the question of the moment. Katya tried to think logically, tried to block out all the death and pain that surrounded them. “Crowe couldn’t have been Lady Hilda’s target, and since everyone else is still alive, Lady Hilda knows she failed. Question is, will she try again?”

“I don’t doubt it. If Roland has convinced Lady Hilda that she can be his queen, she could be trying to kill all of us.”

Katya shuddered as she thought of the woman who’d sought her bed for so long trying to murder her. She’d always known Lady Hilda’s admirations were as fake as they were fleeting, but the thought of Lady Hilda’s lust turning to malice so casually was unnerving.

“Maybe I can get Lady Hilda to make a move,” Starbride said. “Before she’s ready.”

“How?”

“Well, I’ll invite her to a party, for a start.” She narrowed her eyes. “I can question her off-handedly, make her squirm.”

“Star, Countess Nadia explained this to you. Lady Hilda is dangerous.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let her near my food or drink. And I’ll have Nadia to watch her.” She smirked. “And my mother.”

“My dearest love, there’s no need to be cruel.”

“I can’t wait.”

Katya knelt and kissed her but broke contact quickly. She shouldn’t be having fun, shouldn’t be enjoying love when two people she cared about were gone. Before Starbride could ask if she was all right, Katya tried to laugh her feelings away. “I was just thinking…you’ll, um, you’ll have to venture to the academy for your pyramid instruction.”

“To secure a teacher? You’re right. And I should go sooner rather than later. Will you come with me?”

Katya cupped Starbride’s cheeks. “For you, anything.” When Starbride didn’t brighten, Katya stroked her chin with thumb and forefinger. “What else is worrying you?”

“After what happened during the queen mother’s funeral, how long will we be able to go out in public, to the academy or anywhere else?”

Anger welled up in Katya as she saw the angry crowd in her mind again. “No more pleasure trips, not for the foreseeable future. For the simple tasks…” She grinned as one face popped into mind. “There’s always Hugo.”

“We can’t send him alone.”

That was true enough, but Katya didn’t want to send the king’s Guard into the city as Hugo’s escort, not with the climate the way it was. Any show of force was bound to be answered. The tenuousness of the royal position settled around Katya’s shoulders. If the Umbriels closed the gates of the palace, they could hold it forever against a mob, but as elite as the king’s Guard was, they were outnumbered by the populace itself, especially if the townsfolk got the city Watch on their side. The Umbriels might be forced to rely on the private guards of the nobles, but without knowing who to trust…

Katya rubbed her forehead. “What a pretty mess. But private guards…I wonder…”

“You think we should hire guards?”

“No, some of the nobles keep private guards, people who are loyal to them but who could pass without notice in the town.” She grinned as ideas raced through her mind. “And I have the perfect group in mind.”

“Countess Nadia’s guards?”

“Castelle’s. She’s a thief catcher now. She’d never operate without a team, plus she’s no small fighter herself.” And it would give Castelle something to do besides waiting in the halls to run into Katya. If Katya could shift her from whatever she now was to comrade-in-arms, it would make life much easier.

Starbride crossed her arms. “You sound almost admiring.”

“Jealous?”

Starbride rose and walked around the small table. “You’ll have to start asking yourself that question.”

“Why?”

“If I’m going to be going back and forth to the academy, I’ll need an escort, too.”

Katya laughed but had to admit the thought of Castelle having the time to flirt with Starbride under the guise of escorting didn’t sit well. “But can we trust her?”

“You’d know better than I.”

“She may be callous, but she’s never been disloyal to the crown.”

“Just to you.”

Katya followed Starbride far enough to kiss her on the cheek. “Then I’ll have to make sure she knows it’s the crown asking as well as me.”

“Going alone?”

“If you think that’s the best way.”

“Whatever gets her to agree is the best way. Just know, if either of you gets any romantic ideas, you’ll never see Dawnmother coming.”

*

Katya didn’t want to ask the courtiers in the halls to point her toward Castelle; that would set too many tongues flying. Luckily for her, the courtiers were more than happy to speak of Castelle at every opportunity. Katya quickly grew tired of having to head in the opposite direction of wherever Castelle was rumored to be and then get back on track via secret passageways or quick sprints down deserted hallways.

When she approached the kitchens, Katya didn’t need directions. She simply followed the singing. Castelle and a few leather-clad men and women were in one of the small servants’ dining rooms. Even though it was only early evening, they lifted beers and sang their lungs out with a few liveried servants. Katya waited for a break in their melody and then cleared her throat as loudly as she could.

They turned to stare, some eyes more half-lidded than others. A heartbeat passed, then two, and then they all surged to their feet and bowed enough to knock into one another. Castelle laughed as she separated from the bulk and executed her own graceful bow.

Katya leaned against the doorjamb. The servants made a hasty exit through the rear door. “If I can have a word with you, Baroness?” Katya asked.

Castelle followed her into the hall. “I’m sorry you had to hear such bawdiness, Highness.”

“I’ve heard worse.”

“I know.”

A tingle passed down Katya’s back. She willed it away and resisted the temptation to shiver. “Let’s talk about your team.”

“My team?”

Katya nodded past her toward the people still in the room.

“They’re my friends, not my
team
.”

“Splitting hairs.”

“Some would say, Highness, that your confusion about the two words is an example of how you see duty everywhere you look.”

Katya almost took a step back. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“That didn’t sound like nothing. If I recall, it’s you that has a problem with words like ‘duty,’ not to mention ‘commitment.’”

“I didn’t have a problem committing to you, Katya. My problem was your commitment to everything else.”

Katya opened and closed her mouth and tried to think of an argument about how duty wasn’t something one decided to commit to and then break, but another thought struck her. “That was the first time you called me Katya since you got back.”

“It is? Ha! I’ve been trying very hard to think of you as ‘Highness.’ It must be the beer talking.”

“What happens if I’m Katya?”

Castelle’s lips parted, and she gave Katya a look filled with such heat that it almost pushed Katya back. She’d forgotten what effect Castelle’s gaze could have on her.