I don't know how long I sit staring, unseeing at the note. Finally, I grip it to my chest and run to find Zade. He's not in the study, nor the library, nor the sitting room. Am I already too late?
Where are all the servants? There has to be someone I can ask. Yet no one is in sight. I rush to the kitchen. There's always someone there. When I clang into the room, it is full of activity, Phyllis in the midst of it all. I want to scream at her again, but it won't do any good.
“Does anyone know where Chancellor Zade is?” I ask.
“I do,” Phyllis says.
I round on her, the words flaming from my mouth like hexes. “Don't speak. You've already done enough damage.”
Everyone stops working and stares at us. My stomach twists with regret at sounding so harsh, but the words are too true to take back.
A servant I don't recognize says, “I believe he's shooting.”
Of course. We've spent so much time there I should have guessed. As I run out of the room I yell, “Thank you.”
Finding him seems to go quicker now that I know where he is. If something had already happened, the servants would know, wouldn't they? When he comes into sight, I slow. Relief replacing some of my worry, but not enough of it.
He's practicing like he always does, casting a spell that looks like some sort of bird and then shooting it. His movements are sure and smooth. Every time he hits the spell it dissolves. I feel as if I could watch him all day. But as I come closer, his face doesn't match his confident moves. He's frowning, brows creasing together. When he spots me, he schools his features so well, I almost believe I never saw him uncertain.
“You know,” he says.
“Why didn't you say something?”
“How did you find out?”
“Annabelle.” I wave the note at him. “You didn't answer my question.”
“May I?” He holds out his hand.
I give him the note, my fear replaced by confusion at his calm manner. He reads it over before throwing it in the air. An orange and red spell crackles from him, turning the note to ashes.
“It's true then,” I say.
“It is.” He sighs. “Does it do any good for you to know?”
None. “How soon?”
“No idea. Most likely before the wedding.”
Before the wedding? That's only two days away. My stomach churns. “Maybe we can do something to stop it.”
“We can't.” He slams his gun down on a tree stump. “You've grown up with this life, you should know it better than me. Soon I'll be dead and you'll be back with your Father.”
“They didn't succeed before, maybe they won't succeed now.”
“Don't be stupid. They've set the price so high on my head, even those who already have a good sum of money will be after me.”
His brutal response makes me stumble back.
“I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm just so—” He picks his gun back up and shoots another spelled bird. Before dissolving like the others, it looks exactly like a dove except for the red light surrounding it. “There's nothing to be done about it.”
“There has to be something.” While trying to think of a solution, another thought comes to me. “If Father knows you're breaking the law, why isn't he taking it to the council?”
“He gets all my money and possessions if I'm dead. If he goes through legal channels, he'll only get some. And he cares a lot about his reputation. I've sullied it enough by being your owner, doubt he wants to add traitor to my bad qualities list.”
He releases another bird, this one even redder than before. The shot echoes through the air followed by silence.
“You don't have to worry about Katherine. She'll be taken care of.”
But what about him? Someone has to take care of him, too. I want to go to him and wrap my arms around him, but that's not the answer. Touching him won't save his life.
I remember Katherine once offering to help me escape. “We could run away.”
“They're watching too closely for that to work. It'll only bring my death sooner and yours along with it.”
He storms off in the direction of the house.
I grip my arms around myself. I've killed him and put myself back under Father's ownership. I should have quietly accepted the life I was given instead of striving for more. Because of my inability to be a good Chardonian woman, I've lost more than I ever thought I could.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Guests have been arriving all morning. The ball is in a few hours, our wedding tomorrow, and Zade's still alive. Not a single attempt has been made on his life. At least none that I know of. It's left me more on edge than if someone had tried. Without an attempt made yet, they must have a sure plan. One that can only end with their success and Zade's death.
I'm exhausted from greeting everyone and wishing life was back to the way it was before there were threats on Zade's life. Once those staying overnight arrive, they'll have time to get acquainted with their rooms, and ready. Everyone else will arrive later, in time for the ball.