“This is where Alistair Teague dumps the bodies of those who die in his warehouse. Leaving Daan here will make it seem like only someone with intimate knowledge of Teague’s business could have killed him. He’ll look hard at his suppliers, his employees, and his competitors in Balavata. Hopefully, he won’t be looking at you or the king.”
“How do you know so much about Teague’s business?” she asked because it suddenly occurred to her that she was trusting him—with her life and with her brother’s—on the basis of a friendship that had been in existence for a week. And while her instincts about people were rarely wrong, this time being wrong could cost her everything.
Sebastian was quiet for a long moment. Finally he said with quiet intensity, “My father works for Teague. So did my brother before he died.” He met her gaze and something fierce burned in his eyes. “You don’t have to worry, Princess Arianna. I’d rather die than follow in my father’s footsteps. You’re safe with me.”
Ari nodded and ordered her traitorous stomach to stay right where it was as she turned toward the body. “I believe you. And this is a brilliant plan, Sebastian.”
“I have my moments.”
He jumped down from the wagon and offered her his hand. “Ready?”
“Ready.” She took his hand and climbed down, and together they moved to haul the body out of the wagon bed and throw it in the ditch.
SIXTEEN
“WE NEED TO talk.” Ari closed the door to Thad’s bedroom suite, locked it, and then pulled his writing chair over to the side of the bed and took a seat. Her brother was ensconced in a mound of pillows, a tiny bottle of willow bark and poppy leaves resting on his nightstand for when he needed help controlling the pain of his broken ribs and lacerated arm. It had been three days since his beating at the hands of the now dead collector, and the palace physician was still unwilling to allow the king to leave his bed.
Three days since Ari had kissed Sebastian with vomit breath and then subsequently skipped going to the arena for lessons because, stars knew, she had no idea what to say to him after that.
Three days and Ari had only checked on Thad from afar. Partially because she wasn’t sure how to approach the problem of Alistair Teague and hadn’t wanted to discuss it with Thad until she had a plan, and partially because it had taken three days for her to stop losing her lunch every time she remembered the sickening crunch of the cudgel hitting the collector’s head.
Especially when that memory was always followed instantly by her mother’s gruesome last moments, leaving Ari shaking and longing to curl up alone in her mother’s old bedroom and cry until she had nothing left.
She needed to be calm and in control for this conversation, because Thad wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear.
“It’s about time you stopped avoiding me.” Thad struggled to sit up, hissing in a breath as he moved his torso. “Cleo tells me that the two of you went to the market without Mama Eleni and asked merchants about Teague. And that Teague’s men accosted you.”
“Why would she tell you that? Is nothing sacred?” Ari glared.
“Because her loyalty to keeping your secrets means less to her than her desire to keep you safe.” He leaned forward and winced. “What were you thinking, asking questions about Teague in Kosim Thalas?”
“I was thinking that I was going to protect my brother.” She held his gaze.
“Ari, this isn’t something you can fix for me.” His tone begged her to believe him.
“Better me than your guard,” she snapped. “It was his carelessness that earned you a visit from Teague’s collector. Ajax is recovering well, by the way, and he sends his regards. Also, he’s still using his contacts on Llorenyae to bring some fae guard beasts for the palace—an idea that will either work brilliantly or will get all of us killed. And he’s still working on a plan to assassinate Teague, but since Teague already seems to know what Ajax is up to, I doubt he’s going to be successful, which is why we need a backup plan.”
His eyes narrowed. “This backup plan had better not put you at risk.”
Ari snorted.
Thad closed his eyes and tipped his head back. “Princesses don’t snort.”
“Princesses don’t kill criminals either, but there you have it.” Her voice was firm. “We have bigger problems than trying to curb all my unprincessy habits.”
“I have bigger problems. Not you. And I’m working to solve it—”
“With your guard, yes. And I hope he really can kill Teague, and that the beasts he’s ordering really can keep you safe. But if that plan fails, we have to be ready because your soul will come due, and I’m not going to stand by and let that happen.”
“That’s better than losing you to Alistair Teague!” Thad’s voice cut through the room. “Please, Ari. I got myself into this mess. I will either get myself out, or I will lose my soul to the Wish Granter. But you . . . you’re going to be safe. You’re going to grow old and happy, and if that means you have to rule Súndraille, then that’s what you’ll do. You and I both know that if you wanted to, you would make an excellent queen. You’re smart, you’re brave, you’re compassionate, and you don’t let anyone intimidate you.”
Ari leaned forward, her hands shaking as she wrapped them around her brother’s. “I’m not going to grow old and happy without you.”
“Ari, listen—”
“No, you listen. We’re a team. We always have been. You and me against the world, remember?”
He opened his mouth to argue.
“You’re the one who plays politics and knows how to be diplomatic. You’re the one who understand the ins and outs of the Assembly and what Súndraille needs to thrive. But me? I’m the one who plans. I’m the one who sees a wrong and relentlessly works behind the scenes to make it right. I’m the one who says what you can’t say because you’re the king. I’m the one who doesn’t pull her punches.”
He squeezed her hands. “This is different from figuring out how to stop boys from bullying me, or how to find the quickest way for me to accomplish a task Father set out to test me.”
She shook her head. “The stakes are higher, yes. But this is a problem, and, like all problems, it can be solved once we have the right information. Maybe we should just pay Ajax and call off the assassination attempt. We have nine and a half years to figure this out if we’re careful. I won’t haphazardly question everyone I know about the Wish Granter—I have no desire to have him sneak up on me in the garden again. And you won’t—”
“He did what?” Thad’s voice shook.
Oops.
“He was upset that Cleo and I were asking about him at the market. He made it very clear that if I didn’t stop, he’d hurt her to punish me.” She swallowed hard against the memory of his hand around her throat and drew in a deep breath to assure herself that she could.