Jordan’s face fell into the openmouthed stare of a man realizing he’d been busted.
“And that got me thinking,” Cassia went on. “I was quick to blame Kane when the rebels raided our armory, but he said he didn’t tell anyone the location. And Kane doesn’t lie to me. His bluntness is the reason for half our fights. So I believe him. Two other people knew where those weapons were stored.” She pointed back and forth between them. “I didn’t tell anyone. That leaves you.”
Jordan stayed quiet, his face pale.
“Which got me thinking again,” she said. “What motivation could you possibly have to put weapons in rebel hands unless you were a rebel yourself?”
“Cassia,” he breathed. “Let me—”
“Wait, I’m not finished.” She laced her fingers behind her back. “Once I realized you were one of them, everything made sense—like the day you visited me in Marius’s dungeon. You could’ve rescued me, but instead you suggested that I marry him. Then you waited until after the wedding”—she laughed without humor—“long after the wedding, to give me plenty of time to consummate the union so all of Marius’s holdings would be mine. Then, to make sure I was the sole sovereign of Eturia, you turned down an alliance with the fallen kingdoms.”
A ball of emotion rose in her throat. It hurt to put his betrayal into words, but she swallowed hard and kept going.
“The only thing I haven’t figured out is your endgame.” She studied him: the crooked slant of his nose, the eyes that had looked at her so tenderly, the man she’d considered a friend. “I know you planned to make me a widow so I could amend the charter, but what if I refused? Were you going to kill me? Or put me under house arrest? Exile me?”
In a barely discernible movement, Jordan shook his head. “No, I swear I wouldn’t have hurt you.”
But that wasn’t true. He had hurt her. “You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t take your word for it.”
“I’m telling the truth.” He grabbed the bars, bringing his face closer to hers. “I knew you were different from your parents. I saw it that day when I came to visit you. A takeover was the last resort. I was going to persuade you to give Eturia to the people.”
“By manipulating me?”
“Maybe this started as a mission, but I genuinely came to care for you. I never faked my feelings. They were”—he corrected himself—“they are real. If you don’t believe anything else I say, please believe that.”
Cassia stayed silent. She wasn’t sure if it mattered. “Are you the rebel commander?”
He hesitated for a fraction too long. “Yes.”
“You’re lying.” But she knew a way to change that. She glanced across the room at the truth extractor, the one she’d vowed never to use on her own people. Maybe she could make an exception in this case.
“Go ahead,” he volunteered. “Bring it here and I’ll hook it up myself. But learning the commander’s name won’t change anything. There are too many of us. We police the streets, we fund the schools, we rebuild homes and take care of each other. We’re qualified to run this colony, and we won’t give the nobles another chance to ruin it.”
As he spoke, she delivered the necessary supplies. “Go ahead.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“You did offer to hook it up yourself,” she reminded him.
After a heavy sigh, he injected the serum and affixed half a dozen electrodes to his head. Ten minutes later, she began questioning him.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Colter Alexander Jordan.”
She faltered when she heard his full name. She hadn’t known it until now, and she wondered why she’d never asked. “And what’s your position?”
“My official title is director general of the Rose Colonial Army. But fifteen months ago, I joined the rebellion. I hated the way your parents and the other royals ran our colony into the ground. The people deserve to—”
“Did you orchestrate the jailbreak?”
He expelled a breath. “Yes.”
“Did you let Marius go on purpose?”
“No. I meant to kill him, but I lost him in the chaos.”
“Was manipulating me one of your orders?”
“No. My orders were to prepare for a takeover with minimal loss of life. It was my idea to try to influence you. I acted alone in that.”
“What about Kane? Did you try to get him to spy on me?”
Jordan sucked his teeth before admitting, “Yes. And when he wouldn’t do it, I tried to make you believe that he did.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed you to trust me more than you trusted him.” Jordan’s ears turned pink at the tips. “And because I was jealous.”
Her skin heated as she shared his embarrassment. She didn’t ask him to reveal the commander’s name because she had a good idea who it was. Besides, Jordan was right. There was no slaying this beast. The rebellion had become a hydra: for each head she cut off, two more would grow in its place. So instead she asked a question that shouldn’t matter, but did.