Chapter 192

Kit crossed the room, finding the opening quickly. She remembered the knob combination and went to spin it, but the door was slightly ajar. Pierce had been here recently. With a deep breath, Kit stepped into the darkness.

This passage was just as dark as the last, but it wasn’t as dirty. She wondered if Pierce had actually brought a rag with him and dusted as he went or if it was just from his form fumbling down the passage so often. She couldn’t imagine Pierce wanting to stand before the queen covered in cobwebs, so she wouldn’t have been surprised if he actually did clean the space as he used it.

Kit had been counting her footsteps, but when she noticed a light up ahead of her, she stopped. It seemed as if Pierce may have left the door at the other end of the tunnel ajar as well, which was surprising to Kit, considering it opened into the queen’s sleeping chambers. It wasn’t like Rona to be so careless.

When she reached the small sliver of light, she heard her mother’s voice coming from inside the room. Holding her breathe, Kit stepped over to the crack, thankful that Pierce had been kind enough to leave the door ajar so that she didn’t have to risk opening it. While she was hoping just to overhear their conversation enough to know what Pierce was up to, seeing him would be even more evidence of his deviousness.

Only, when she peeked through the slit, she didn’t see him anywhere. The queen was sitting on the edge of her bed, her back to Kit, wearing her long black dressing gown. Her head was tipped up, and her arms were behind her so that she was leaning back on them. Confused, Kit tried to make out what her mother was saying, but most of it made little sense. It seemed like she was approving of something, and then she started to moan. Kit covered her mouth, realizing what she was looking at. She was just about to step away, when she caught her mother’s next words exactly, “Oh, Pierce, oh yes. Right there.”

Horror, shock, outrage, every negative emotion she had ever experience boiled up inside of Kit. She kept her hand pressed to her mouth, certain steam must be pouring from her ears. Now that she fully understood what the Representative from Metfirth was up to, she wanted to see him, wanted to look at his disgusting little face to see if he smiled at the queen the same way he smiled at her.

Kit had to let go of her mouth to cover her ears, but now that the initial shock was over, she knew she wouldn’t make a peep. Her mother cried out a few times, only slightly muffled by Kit’s palms, and then she seemed satisfied. A few moments later, Pierce stood, a smug grin on his face. Kit had seen enough.

As carefully as possible, she headed back down the passage, not letting her feet get ahead of her. In her mind, the outraged surfaced again. As if it weren’t bad enough one of her Representatives was pleasuring another woman, that woman happened to be her own mother! The fact that Rona would stoop to this level, that she would not only interfere with the Choosing but claim one of Kit’s men for herself, was the sort of betrayal Kit would never be able to forgive.

When she reached the exit, she considered closing the door, thinking it might lock Pierce inside of the tunnel, but she knew better than to draw any attention to her exploits, not until she’d had a chance to consider how to deal with her findings. She knew exactly what Eli would say, to let it go, that it didn’t matter, that she didn’t have feelings for Pierce anyway. And he’d be right. But Kit was fairly certain she’d never be able to do that.

She checked the hall and found it to be clear. Drawing deep breaths, she tried to calm herself. If she lost her head, she’d end up doing something foolish and getting caught. Keeping control of her emotions seemed even more difficult, though, when Kit remembered why it was her mother had been so angry the last time she’d used the secret passage into her room. Kit had walked in on her then, while she was being pleasured by the man who had served as commander of her guard at the time. A small child, Kit had been confused, and Rona had attempted to terrify the memory out of her. It must’ve worked because Kit hadn’t thought of it again until that moment. Her poor father had been the victim of that betrayal. Kit shook her head, feeling like a fool for ever trusting her mother.

Guards occupied the hallway she needed to use if she were to go back exactly the same way she’d come. They were standing at the other end of the hall, talking. Kit waited, but they seemed content to spend their entire shift there. She thought of her alternatives but circling around would take too much time. She didn’t want to be late and have Danyen alert the others.

Looking around, Kit noticed a vase sitting in a cut-out in the wall just across from an alcove on the other side of a pillar. A plan entered her head, and even though it seemed risky at best, she decided to try it.

Picking up the expensive glass vase, she walked to the edge of the junction between the two hallways. With all of her might, she heaved the vase as far down the opposite end of the hall as she could muster. Her anger fueled her strength, and she managed to toss it fairly far before it fell to the ground and shattered on the marble.

“What was that?” one guard asked another. Kit hid in the alcove as she heard their footsteps come flying her direction.

They stopped at the intersection and glanced her way but didn’t notice her before they took off the other way. Kit ran as fast as she could down the hall and around the next corner, relieved that they didn’t seem to follow.

Her heart was beating so loudly in her chest by the time she made it past the kitchen and the infirmary, Kit thought she might need to rest a while in the storage room before she made it back down the second secret passage to her room. Just a few more steps, and she’d be safe inside of the room that led to her chambers. She’d already decided to take her dress with her and worry about disposing of the uniform some other time, after she had a chance to tell Danyen what she’d seen.

Her hand fumbled with the doorknob to the storage room. She was shaking, and the door didn’t seem to want to budge. She took a deep breath and tried again and managed to pull it open.

Kit stepped inside, leaning back against the door and slowing her breaths. Her head was spinning a little, and the room took on an eerie sensation, the shapes of furniture and containers morphing into things unknown in the shadows.

She closed her eyes and drew in more air, trying to calm down her pounding heart. When she finally felt back in control, she opened her eyes to see she wasn’t alone. The form of a man took up the space directly in front of her, and in the dim light and her shaken state, all Kit could do was scream as a hand reached for her in the darkness.