Chapter 126

All three of Kit’s ladies were waiting in her room, impatiently pacing and wringing their hands. “Katrinetta!” Avinia exclaimed, embracing her the moment she stepped through the door. “How are you?”

“I’m fine—just fine,” Kit assured them. “But be careful. I believe there’s blood on my robe.”

“What in the world...?” Seph asked, not quite finishing the inquiry.

“I have a suspicion my mother will send for me soon, so perhaps I should get dressed.” Kit headed for the adjoining room, her ladies exchanging glances and following along. “Something relatively comfortable, please.”

Avinia stepped to the closet as Kit took the robe off, trying not to look at the bloodied hem. Her slippers were also saturated with red, as was the bottom of her nightgown. “How is this one?” Avinia held up a light pink, simple gown which Kit could wear over a chemise with no stay.

“That’s just fine,” Kit replied as the girls got her dressed. Seph brought new shoes, these a little more durable than the slippers she’d had on, which would need to be thrown out now. All of the clothing she’d been wearing would need to be.

Once Kit was dressed, she sat down and let the women work on her hair. “We were... in my chambers. Only kissing. When... Merek took out the guards at the door and burst into the room. Pierce and I had just got the door barred before Merek hit it and almost forced his way in. We hid in the secret chamber while he attempted to chop his way through the door. And then Eli arrived and ended him.” It was all the detail she could manage at the moment. Perhaps when she’d had a moment to let it absorb, she’d better be able to express herself.

“How awful!” Avinia exclaimed. “Thank the goddesses you weren’t harmed.”

“Was Eli hurt?” Isla asked.

“Yes, but I think he shall be all right. He had a horrible cut on his arm.” All three of Kit’s ladies made faces.

“And Pierce, was he injured?” Seph asked, standing at Kit’s side as the more skilled ladies worked on her hair.

“No, he was fine, though sick to his stomach. It all happened so quickly....”

“What would you have done if Eli hadn’t arrived right away?” Avinia asked, pinning up a large swath of hair.

“I don’t know,” Kit admitted. “Hopefully, if Merek would’ve managed to break through the door, he wouldn’t have been able to find us. It isn’t as if we had any way to defend ourselves.” She thought of her mother’s rule about having weapons in her pleasuring chambers.

“Hmmm,” Isla said, puckering her lips and tapping a finger to her chin.

“What is it?” Kit cocked her head to the side briefly before Avinia righted it.

“Nothing... it’s just... there was a sword in the room when I went to turn down the bed. I thought it was odd. I’d never seen anything like that before.”

Kit could hardly believe her ears. “A sword?” she repeated. “Where was it located?”

“Well, it was placed in the corner by the bed, near the window. But I thought that seemed strange, so I moved it. I put it inside of the armoire. I apologize for not mentioning it before—I thought it looked more like a dress sword than a weapon, though it was quite heavy when I moved it. I had no idea why it was there but thought perhaps one of your gentlemen had set it aside when he’d paid you a visit and forgotten to take it with him.”

“No,” Kit said quickly. “Those who wear scabbards always take them along when they go.”

The ladies finished her hair, and Kit continued to contemplate the oddity of a sword being left in her room when there was a knock at the door. The women exchanged nervous glances, but the sound of Galter’s familiar voice had Avinia headed toward the door to open it.

“Duchess, the queen requests the presence of her daughter,” he said, and Kit could hear apprehension in his voice.

Kit stood, expecting this. When she reached the door, it also didn’t surprise her in the least to see her mother had sent the guard with the jagged scar on his face to retrieve her. Alongside him were five other members of the Queen’s Guard, all terrifying in their own way.

He looked at her as if she were wasting his time already, and Kit moved out the door, thankful when four members of her own guard followed along behind her, she hoped so that they could escort her back to her room without her mother’s henchmen having to go out of their way. Thinking of her guardsmen reminded her of poor Tem and Lok, and she tried to push their faces out of her mind so that she wouldn’t cry in front of the stern phalanx around her.

When she reached the throne room, her mother was pacing, a highly unusual activity for the queen. She stopped and faced the door as Kit entered, alone, her head bowed.

“Katrinetta! How are you? Are you well?” The queen was still dressed in the outfit she’d worn to the play, which struck Kit as slightly odd as she generally liked to go to sleep as soon as festivities were over so she could get up at the crack of first light.

“I’m fine, Mother,” Kit replied as the queen took hold of her face and tipped it up to meet her gaze.

“And how is Pierce? He wasn’t injured was he?”

“No, Mother. He’s fine. A little... ill.”

“Ill?”

“Yes, it seems the Representative from Metfirth has a bit of a soft stomach.”

The queen’s sharp eyebrows drew together. “How do you mean?”

“I mean, when he saw all of the blood from Merek and the guards, he... vomited.”

Queen Rona stared at her daughter like a statue for several moments. “I’m sorry—I’m not following, dear. Perhaps I’ve not had the whole story. My understanding was that Merek broke into your room and Pierce defended you by slaying him. Is that not what happened?”

“No, Mother,” Kit said, confusion washing over her now. “Pierce hid in the safe room with me while... members of my guard took care of Merek.” It suddenly occurred to her that mentioning Eli at this juncture may not be wise. Either information did not travel to the queen as accurately as Kit had always supposed it had, or there was something amiss.

“I see.” The queen’s expression didn’t read as if she did, though. “So Merek was killed?”

“Yes. I don’t know the details. But he was ferocious, Mother, not backing down. I heard my guardsmen shouting at him to drop his ax, but he wouldn’t. Why he reacted so violently, I cannot say.”

“Well, we’ve always known he had issues controlling his anger.”

“While that’s true, I think this was beyond anything I’d ever imagined.”