“No, it shouldn’t. But the appropriate people must first be advised. It’s not for you nor I nor anyone else to disturb this room until then.”
He studied me, his expression troubled. “What would you advise us to do, m’lady?”
“I think someone should be discreetly but immediately dispatched to fetch Lord Kiro.” I hesitated. “Tell him that Lady Neve has discovered something he needs view immediately. He will know what to do.”
“And you, m’lady? You cannot stay in this room of death? That would be—” He paused. “—unseemly.”
I smiled at his concern and couldn’t help but wonder if the sensibilities of the Reaches ladies really were that delicate. “Someone has to ensure no one disturbs this room.”
“There are other guards, m’lady—”
“Yes, but one of them might well have let the killer in.” I motioned to the closed and curtained windows. “How else did he get into this room if not by the main door?”
He glanced at the curtains, his expression troubled. “I cannot in good conscience allow you to stay in here alone—”
“Fine,” I said, a touch impatiently. “Ask a guard you trust beyond doubt to stay here with me.”
He hesitated, and then nodded. In a very short amount of time, a guard slipped into the room, his face becoming ashen when he spotted Rossi’s body. But he didn’t say anything, simply stood at the door and watched me suspiciously—even though he was well aware I couldn’t have done this deed. Not when he’d witnessed me coming in with Ewan only half an hour previously. Rossi had obviously been dead longer than that; the blood on the back of his tunic was already stiff and dry.
After what seemed an interminably long time, there was a soft knock at the door. “Who is it?” the guard asked, one hand on his gun.
“Lord Kiro. Open up.”
The guard drew his gun, then cautiously did so. Kiro brushed him aside and stepped into the room. Behind him was Trey. Both men stopped when they saw Marcus.
“This isn’t what I had been expecting.” His gaze met mine. “You’ve searched the room?”
“No. We merely ensured the room remained untouched until you arrived.”
He nodded and glanced at the guard. “Outside. Ensure no one else enters here, but speak no word of this to anyone else. Understood?”
The guard nodded and retreated. Once the door was closed, Trey walked across and touched my arm lightly. “Are you okay?”
I smiled. “I’m no tender Reaches lady. I’ve seen more than my share of death, and most of it far more gruesome than this.”
“I wasn’t referring to this event, but rather the reason you came to be here.”
My smile grew. “Ewan dreams of things he’ll never get.”
“Ah. Good.” He returned his attention to the body. “Why on earth is Marcus here? In Hedra’s room, of all places?”
“I don’t know.” Kiro walked across to the body and squatted beside him. “As far as I’m aware, he and Hedra could barely tolerate each other.”
“Maybe his anger with Saska drove him here,” I said. “Maybe he hoped Hedra could somehow reach her.”
“You’re the only one that can apparently reach her,” Kiro said. “And that hasn’t gone down well with Hedra, let me tell you.”
“Hedra’s in league with the voices, so that’s no surprise.” I walked across to the windows and pushed aside the curtains. The doors were definitely locked. “Is it possible someone’s setting Hedra up?”
“It’s possible, but a body is no easy thing to move over such a distance, and other witches would have at least sensed something odd was happening.” Trey stopped on the other side of Marcus’s body, his gaze sweeping him critically. “I saw no such awareness rippling through the masque.”
“Then he was killed here?”
“Yes,” Kiro said. “There’s a good amount of blood on the floor underneath him.”
“And the knife?”
“Is ceremonial, and one that bears the markings of the Harken house.” Kiro pushed upright. “We’ll need to arrest Lady Hedra, but to do that, I must first discuss the matter with the Forum leaders.”
Trey glanced at him. “You think she did this?”
“No.” Kiro grimaced. “There is a taint of passion about this murder. Hedra has no such emotion left in her.”
“If it’s an act of passion, surely the most logical suspect should be his hetaera, Lida.”
“She wouldn’t have murdered Marcus. Her standing in the Rossi house depended on his survival and favor.” He frowned. “Besides, she’s not a strong enough witch to have gotten in here unseen.”
“Unless she had help,” Trey stated. “Lida’s family lost a lot of face when Saska was welcomed back into the fold so readily by Marcus.”
“And she has three sons, hasn’t she?” I asked. “Could one or all of them be behind this act?”
“Possibly all.” Kiro’s expression was thoughtful. “But Jamson, as the eldest, has the most to gain by this death. Until Saska’s child is born and proven to hold magic, he’s the rightful heir, born of a hetaera or no. If Saska’s son is born into magic, then Jamson will act as regent until Saska’s child is of age.”
“If Saska was barely sixteen when she disappeared, how can Jamson—” I stopped, remembering what Trey had said about Lida being Marcus’s lover long before he committed to Saska.
“His marriage to Saska was political. Jamson was fifteen when the commitment ceremony happened.” Kiro paused, and frowned. “I’d originally thought he and Lida were behind Saska’s disappearance, but a reading of them both proved otherwise.”
If Kiro had bedded Jamson at fifteen in order to do a full reading, his suspicion must have been backed by a fair amount of evidence, given it was illegal to couple with anyone that young. Unless, of course, it was given full Forum backing, and that might have been the case. Marcus’s own brother had said he’d do whatever he thought proper to keep up appearances, so he might well have appealed to the Forum to allow a full interrogation of Jamson, if only to prove the innocence of his firstborn son.
It was also possible such an act might have been seen as a betrayal by Jamson, one that had possibly festered and grown in the years since.
“Just because they were innocent then doesn’t mean they are so now,” Trey commented.
“Indeed,” Kiro said. “And that should probably be our first line of questioning. The lady Lida resides in her suites within the Rossi household. Perhaps it would be best if you bring her here.”
“And Jamson?”
“Is at the masque.” Kiro’s gaze came to me, and a slight smile touched his lips. “Perhaps his retrieval should be left to our lady N.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And why is that, my lord?”
“Because Jamson is heavily invested in following the preachings of the god Drago, and has been seeding as many Reaches females as he possibly can.”
A statement that had me wondering if such licentious behavior was a result of being taken by Kiro at the tender age of fifteen. “I’m not the one who can gain the secrets of a man’s soul by bedding him.”
“You won’t have to. Last time I saw Jamson, he was heavily intoxicated. I doubt it’d take much to get him blathering like an idiot.”
I frowned, and waved a hand at Marcus’s body. “If he was intoxicated, he’s hardly likely to have been capable of doing this.”
“Unless the intoxication was merely an act to ensure there are plenty who can swear to his whereabouts at the time of Marcus’s body being found.”
I guess that was possible. “And what of Hedra?”
Kiro hesitated. “I have a man watching her. Once we’ve talked to Lida and Jamson, I’ll deal with Hedra. Even if she’s not responsible for this murder, she remains a threat.”
I glanced at Trey. “You were shadowing her movements, weren’t you?”
“Yes, but she never left the masque.”
“Which means nothing, as it’s more than possible this murder happened earlier than that,” Kiro said. “We’ll have to wait on the coroner’s report.”