Page 63 of Tarnished Crown
Ava entered the room again, followed by Samu and another soldier, and I felt so impossibly stupid for not seeing it earlier.
When her plans to marry her daughter off had failed, Ava had stepped in to take her place.
Even in her cool, assessing gaze, I saw my cousin Gwyn sizing up an opponent for battle. I saw Gallagher studying different herbs, trying to understand their medicinal properties. I saw Aunt Isla when Uncle Finn was teasing her too much.
And the letter that never made sense, the one that pulled me away from Theo. Away from Davin. Evander had been ready to let me go, and Aleksander had no memory of my being here.
But Ava...
“You,” I said softly, looking up at my great aunt.
Her features twisted in anger as she glanced between her husband and me before calling toward the door.
I had been so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn’t noticed Aleksander’s abrupt silence. He was now sitting on an armchair, his brows furrowed in confusion.
“Sir, you called for us?” Samu asked, but Aleksander didn’t respond.
Before I could think of a lie, anything to get me out of this, Ava spoke up.
“His Grace caught the princess attempting to escape. Take her to the courtyard to be punished.”
“What?” I protested. “I wasn’t trying to escape! I was,” I scrambled for something that didn’t sound as ridiculous as,having a regular breakfast with the duke no one else knew aboutor as incriminating as,trying to take advantage of his mental state to orchestrate my release.
Samu’s mouth was set in a hard line. “How exactly did you wind up in this room, if not in an attempt to escape?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my fists at my sides. There was nothing I could say.
“Fetch the guard who was supposed to be watching her,” Samu ordered his fellow guard.
The younger soldier left while I tried to piece my thoughts together.
Which guard was assigned to me today?I hadn’t even peeked into the hallway before heading to my balcony, not wanting to seem suspicious.
It was less than a minute later when the soldier returned, Yuriy at his heels. Yuriy’s eyes widened when he realized I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, but he recovered with a neutral expression quickly.
“You were on guard outside the prisoner’s rooms?” Samu asked.
“I guard the princess’ rooms most days, yes, including today.” Yuriy’s tone was bland, like he was discussing the weather, but I hadn’t missed the way he went out of his way to restore a small bit of dignity to me.
A muscle ticked in Samu’s jaw. “And were you aware she was out of those rooms today?”
Yuriy looked from my face toAva’s furious one, then the duke, who was trying to hide his confusion under a mask of affront, and finally back to Samu’s cold, waiting expression.
The guard might have been adept at schooling his features, but weeks with Lord Evander had taught me to search for the nuances I might have missed before. So I saw the exact moment he opened his mouth to lie, and realized in that same instant that I couldn’t let him do it.
The duke was volatile at best, and Samu had not shown a shred of kindness or mercy since I met him. Ava would be furious at whoever thwarted her attempt to punish me, that much I already understood about her.
I would not let Yuriy pay for my choices or my mistakes. Weren’t plenty of people doing that already?
“No, he didn’t,” I barreled over him. “I used the balcony. I was only trying to explore,” I added in a quieter voice.
But the glint in Ava’s eyes told me I had already dug my own grave. The entire room seemed to hold its breath while she looked at Samu.
“Remind me, what is the punishment for attempted escape of a prisoner?” she asked.
“Twenty lashes, My Lady.” By the terse way he addressed her, I wasn’t entirely sure he was more fond of her than he was the rest of us.
“Let’s make it thirty, since the stakes are considerably higher.”