CHAPTER TWENTY
Ydorus and Eury arrived just before noon, but they hadn’t come alone. Four other Strati had joined them, and by the time Rowan and I descended the main stairway, the new guys had each been thoroughly fed by Leda and sent out to the backyard to wait.
“What’s with the reinforcements?” I asked as we entered the kitchen.
Ydorus rose from his seat at the table and glanced to where Coal was handing his lunch dishes to Leda.
“Coal, buddy,” I said, ruffling up his ginger hair, “why don’t you grab those hoops and ball we saw in the cubby in the backyard? Maybe you and Eury can figure out a game to play for a bit.” Eury bowed his head and I held my knuckles out. After a quick bump from Coal, the two of them slid out the back door. “Right where I can see you though, ‘kay?”
I took a look at the wooden chair tucked under the kitchen table and winced. My sextacular morning hadn’t done my gashed ass a bit of good—not that I’d tell Rowan—and now, the stitches stung from the ointment he’d slathered. The idea of sitting on a slab of teak didn’t give me a warm and fuzzy.
“Let’s take this conversation to the living room,” I said. Accepting a coffee from Leda, I gestured to the overstuffed furniture set against the back of the house. Rowan smirked and opened his mouth to comment. “Careful, Doc, you’ve already got one black eye from me.”
Terran snorted and Rowan tested the shiner I’d given him for him laughing about Tham. It was an ugly shade of puce this morning, rimmed with purple.
Without comment, Ydorus sat in the far chair and crossed his arms over his leather soldier’s vest. “There was quite a bit of commotion in the streets this morning,” he said.
I eased into the sofa opposite the back windows and I let out a breath. Much better.
Ydorus waited for me to get comfortable and then continued. “Three of the Queen’s Strati were found dead, killed by some skilled assassin in the night.”
“Were they really?” I said. “And?”
Ydorus gestured to the back patio. “Those are good men, Princess. The two on the left are my Uncle Nicoli’s boys and the other two Eury has known his entire life. We went through training together. You can trust them.”
“Trust them with what?”
He leaned over his knees and frowned. “With whatever plan is underway to overthrow the Queen. You can’t expect to do it alone.”
What? “I think you’ve got the wrong idea. There’s no mutinous scheme underway. I’m just exacting justice for Tham, and keeping Coal away from Lir-dickhead.”
Ydorus ran a finger down the stitching line of his uniform pants. After picking of a couple invisible pieces of lint he looked up. “Permission to speak candidly, Princess?”
“Always . . . and it’s Lexi.”
“With the tripling of military guard storming the streets and the implication that you are behind it, you would be wise to come up with a plan. And quickly. The Queen will not—cannot—allow this uprising to go unchallenged.”
“And why would suspicion fall on me? It could have been anyone who killed them. The people of Attalos certainly have just cause to want the Strati dead.”
Both Rowan and Ydorus gave me a well-duh stare, but it was Ydorus who continued to speak. “The three men killed were seen in the city streets with your Elf friend in tow. It’s no secret that he was killed, or that you took it badly. The Queen is accustomed to her tactics drawing people under her control, not fighting back.”
“Yeah, well, the Queen is bat-shit crazy and should never have been allowed to rule.”
“Not always,” Rowan said. “There was a time your mother was a great and compassionate ruler.”
I snorted, took a sip of my coffee and burnt my tongue. “In what lifetime?”
Rowan rested his arm across the back of the sofa and crossed his feet on the coffee table. “What was it . . . about eight cycles past?”
“About that,” Terran said, “Pater worked in the palace orchard back then. He told me the Queen fell gravely ill and was never the same. She didn’t go totally off the bars, just slowly became the woman she is today.”
“Off the rails,” I said, blowing across the surface of my mug. “And what kind of illness?”
Terran shrugged. “No one ever really knew. She was unconscious a week or more, and the healers thought she was beyond aid. The entire city held a vigil and prayed for her.”
I found it hard to imagine the citizens of Attalos flocking to offer their well-wishes. How the mighty had fallen. “Would there be records of the time she was ill, Doc? Eight cycles would be more than thirty years ago.”
“I should think so,” Rowan said, accepting two sandwich plates from Leda and passing me one. “They’d be in the archives of the Palace temple if there were. The City’s clergy are the guardians of documents like that. Why? What do you think her illness will tell you?”
I mulled that one over. Could a mysterious ailment from three decades ago have any relevance to her decline into maniacal insanity? “Can the Queen be found incompetent? If something from that illness compromised her mind, could she be removed from the throne?”
Rowan wiped his mouth and shrugged. “I’m not sure. That would fall under the jurisdiction of the Noble Council. My father’s volumes of the laws are up in his study. You’re welcome to go through them, but it will take all night. And then, even if she could be removed, how would someone enforce it? The Noble Council and the Strati follow her without question.”
I shrugged. “Attalosean laws are absolute, right? If we found something, maybe we could use it to our advantage. It’s a starting point, anyway. You and Terran wade through the books and see if you can find something we can use.”
Rowan scowled. “And where will you be?”
“I have plans tonight.”
Rowan set his plate on the side table, the oh-no-you-don’t written all over his sexy puss. “Weren’t you listening? Ydorus said the guards have tripled in the streets. If they’ve connected those three men to Tham’s abduction, they’re going to know you’ll come after the fourth. Tasso will be bait for the largest ambush this city has ever seen.”
“He’s right,” Terran said. “There will be eyes on Tasso from now until you’re brought into the palace. It’s too dangerous.”
I was on a low boil as I stood. No fucking way was I not taking out Tasso for what he did. That asshole’s life was stamped paid and was mine for the taking. I drew a deep breath and reminded myself that these two weren’t trying to control me, really, they weren’t . . . really. “I appreciate what you’re saying—”
“I won’t let you.” Terran rose from his chair and almost looking confident as he squared off against me. “As your personal guard, my duty is to ensure your safety. You will not go hunting tonight.”
I pulled back and raised a finger. “Watch it Terran. Talk to me like I’m some female who needs protecting and I see a black eye in your future too.”
He met my glare and pushed forward until we were nearly nose to nose. “I know how to duck.”
Okay that was funny. I tried to hold onto my anger, but it was no use. The tension dissolved. “Look, I’m going, but if it stills the waters, we’ll come up with a solid plan. Ydorus, Eury and their boys can help and then we’ll take it from there. You two need to stay here to go through those law books and keep my little man safe though. I’m counting on you.”
Terran didn’t seem to like it, but nodded. Rowan, however, just glared.
“Good,” I said, “now everyone get their thinking caps on and we’ll finalize our plan before dinner.” I walked to the large picture window facing the backyard and knocked on the sea-green glass. Coal’s smile broke wide. “But for the next half hour we’re all taking a moment to live a normal life and play hide-and-seek with Coal. Not it.”