Page 78 of Hollow Court
Your still favorite cousin,
Davin
PS Tell your husband to remember how much I love him, and how fervently he has returned that affection.
I hopedshe understood the things I’d left unsaid.I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you. I wanted to protect you. I had to do this. We’ve got this under control. Forgive me.
The postscript spoke for itself.
After sealing the letter and passing it off to Blaine, I downed one final cup of coffee before trudging back down to the dungeons for another round of pointless questioning.
Judging by the look on my father’s face, it was clear he felt the same way.
But there were clearly more traitors among us. That much was painfully obvious, given the even more tight-lipped stance they all took this morning.
Even Dougal refused to look us in the eye, his expression far more hardened than it had been the night before.
Did Graeme remind them to keep quiet again? Or did someone else threaten them after we left?
A wave of fury overtook me at the realization that we were quite literally surrounded by enemies. How was I supposed to keep anyone safe if I didn’t know who to trust?
Several hours passed while we tried every interrogation practice we knew. Some of them verbal, and others…decidedly not.
An idea began to form in my mind as we went through each one. It was clear—to me, at least—that we were done with the rebel soldiers. If we wanted to root out the real traitor, we needed to cut the head off of the snake all together.
The only way to do that was to draw him out of whatever hole he was hiding in.
I ran into Galina in the hallway on the way back to my rooms. Ewan towered just behind her. He gave a subtle nod to indicate that everything was fine. No obvious threats.
That was something, at least.
“Good afternoon, My Laird,” she said coolly, though I didn’t miss the slight teasing expression in her pursed lips.
Her crystal eyes swept over me, lingering on the bags under my own and the tight set of my shoulders. She had a terrible habit of both seeing more than I wanted her to, and also less.
“Good afternoon, Lina,” I greeted, and something flashed in her eyes.
I wasn’t sure why I had used her nickname last night, but now that it was out there, it felt strange to revert back to her full name.
Taking her hand in mine, I brought her knuckles up to my lips, pressing a kiss there.
For all that I had trusted Ewan with the truth about the rebels, the lie of our betrothal wasn’t something I was willing to share. There was too much at stake for us both, and no real benefit to anyone knowing.
A faint blush rose into her cheeks, and I could almost believe it was sincere. Her tone was even when she spoke, though.
“Did you learn anything new?” she asked, breaking eye contact with me.
I sighed and extended my arm to escort her down the hall, wishing the day was closer to being over. I still needed to clean up, and we had courtiers to entertain and traitors to suss out.
“No, but I have an idea on that front,” I answered. “Something I’ll need your help with, since we’re allies and all.”
Her fingers stiffened reflexively, and I wondered if she was thinking of our conversation from last night, too. But she only smiled up at me demurely, effectively hiding her thoughts behind her favorite polite mask.
“Of course,” she agreed easily. “Isn’t that why I’m here?”
Her tone was pointed enough that I wondered which one of us she was trying to remind.
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