“Perhaps.” Lord Errik gently put his hand on her back and guided her off the dance area toward the men juggling torches. The crowd cheered as they tossed their torches to one another and then back again.
Leaning over her shoulder, Lord Errik pointed to the entertainers as if showing something to Carys, but in her ear said, “Once you left the tournament, I walked over to the archery area. A shooter would have to be quite skilled to hit the notches at the edges of the target with precision.”
“You give me too much credit, Lord Errik.” She forced a laugh as the crowd gasped at the jugglers, who had added more torches to their act and were throwing them back and forth. “You seem to forget that with the final shot I missed the mark altogether.”
“Much to the dismay of the flower you skewered. While most people had eyes on the targets, I was watching you. You, Highness, missed so that Prince Andreus would win.”
Her stomach jumped and Carys looked around to make sure no one else heard Errik’s damning words.
Easing away from the crowd watching the fire throwers, she said, “Truly, Lord Errik, you give me far too much credit.”
“I am giving you more credit than you would like,” he said, taking her arm and steering her away from the edge of the dancing area. “Those are two different things.” Andreus was speaking with Elder Cestrum, Elder Ulrich, and several High Lords. Elder Ulrich looked her way. He followed her movements with his good eye while in the bright lights of the Hall the white filmy scar across his other eye appeared to glow.
“Unfortunately, I am not the only one who saw what you wished to hide. Others now realize you have secrets, Highness. Some may want to use them—use you—to their advantage. Others might want to bury those secrets altogether. I’m sure you realize this is a dangerous game you’re playing.”
“I’m not playing,” she insisted. “And I don’t need a man to explain my position to me, Lord Errik.”
Errik looked to where Elder Ulrich was still watching both of them. “Unfortunately, no one on your Council of Elders agrees.” Errik took her hand and lifted it to his lips. He kept it there for several long heartbeats as he looked into her eyes. The heat of his mouth on her skin made her shiver. Or maybe it was the words that he spoke when he let her hand go. “Be careful of your next steps, Highness. There is more than one game being played in Eden. And unless you win them all, you may find yourself removed from the board.”
Without a backward glance, Lord Errik disappeared into the crowd. A moment later Carys heard someone scream.
14
Andreus stood with two of the High Lords and their ladies, but only half listened to the conversation swirling around him as he watched his sister move through the crowd. She was making a fool of herself with the entertainers and the young lords and ladies who normally she studiously avoided.
The rowdy laughter and cheers were certainly not a show of temperance. But then he saw one of the girls tie a band of blue onto Lord Trevlayn’s arm, and he wondered if Carys’s motives were really so clear.
“Your sister looks beautiful tonight, Prince Andreus,” Elder Jacobs said softly as he came to stand at Andreus’s side.
“Yes, she does,” Andreus agreed, even though it was a word he’d never used to describe his twin. But tonight with the jewels in her hair sparkling and her dress glowing in the wind-powered light, Carys commanded attention from men and women alike. Her appearance unsettled him. After the tournament today and Imogen’s revelation about the origin of the knife, he realized the one person he thought he knew better than any was really a mystery to him. Carys always told him that they were a team. That she was happy not to have to have secrets between them. That she was content blending into the background with him.
She’d obviously lied.
He studied his sister as she beamed while those surrounding her lifted their glasses and toasted her. He saw the way her eyes turned and stared at the throne sitting empty at the front of the Hall. And he knew Imogen was right. That Carys wanted the throne as much as he did and she was playing a dangerous game in order to get it.
“I don’t remember a formal occasion where the Princess had so many friends surrounding her.” Elder Jacobs turned his dark, intense eyes on Andreus. “Or a time where you were so interested in hearing from the High Lords about their districts.”
Carys always said the Elder of Mulinia—Eden’s District of Temperance—reminded her of a serpent. Andreus had never agreed more as the man’s words oozed together in an almost hypnotic way. Clearly, he wanted something, but Andreus wasn’t sure what that was. He chose his words carefully as he said, “My father and Micah preferred I keep my interest in the running of the kingdom to myself. As for Carys—” Andreus frowned as Carys strolled across the hall toward a man he vaguely recognized from the funeral. “I guess she is taking advantage of their interest in her now that she has a chance to gain the throne.” He thought for a moment. “She certainly seemed to like the attention of Lord Garret. I guess she has the Council of Elders to thank for that.”
“The Council, Your Highness?”
“It was the Council that ordered Lord Garret to act as her escort to the ball tonight.”
Elder Jacobs stared at Andreus for several beats, then said, “I fear you are mistaken, Prince Andreus. The Council as a whole ordered no such thing. If we had, it would have given the appearance of favoring your sister in the Trials.”
Andreus seethed. “If Carys were to win the Trials, the Council of Elders could arrange for her to marry Lord Garret. That would help you achieve your goal of putting him on the throne.”
“That was Chief Elder Cestrum’s goal, Your Highness. My goal is to serve the realm, and Eden is best served when we adhere to the law. When I agreed to support Lord Garret as the next ruler, I believed it was the only option for keeping Eden whole during these troubling times.” Elder Jacobs looked around them, then quietly added, “Personally, I was relieved Lady Imogen provided us with another option and have been delighted that you are having such success with the Trials thus far. There are some on the Council who feel the Princess would allow them to gain more power in the kingdom, but you and I both know she is not the ruler this kingdom needs.”
“And I am?” Andreus shook his head. “I find that hard to believe after what almost happened in this very hall.”
“A mistake,” Elder Jacobs admitted. “We all make them. I supported the Chief Elder’s choice of successor. You comforted a vulnerable young lady after the tragic loss of her fiancé.”
Andreus stiffened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you do. You’ll find I make it a habit to discover all I can about those I wish to make my enemy . . . or my ally.”