Catastrophic Attraction - Eve Langlais Page 0,79
had it made with the colors of my kingdom.” He did an elegant slow turn. All black—from the tunic jacket to the pants and boots—threaded with yellow and green and brown. The needlework was subtle, but it gave the fabric depth when he moved. It screamed wealth and status.
“I thought we weren’t announcing the fact the Upstart King was in town.”
“Is that what they’re calling me now? I thought they were still stuck on Pretender.”
“Depends on who’s talking. Others are calling you the Wizard of the Bog. I’ve also heard rumors you’ve fathered unverified bastards left and right.”
“I have not,” he hotly retorted.
“They also say you killed the duke’s daughter.”
“And where did you hear that?”
“In the dress shop when I was trying on gowns.”
“That rumor is true. Her name was Maratheona, and her father is the one hosting the ball tonight.”
Chapter 21
Once she realized who was holding the ball, Casey felt like an idiot. How had she not made the connection?
Entering the tunnels again so they could move about unseen, she glowered the whole way to the upper echelon of the city, following Tanzie, who’d volunteered to guide. Casey managed to ignore the cool amusement of the king by her side.
“How long are you going to sulk?” he asked.
“As long as it takes to not want to kill you,” she snapped.
“I don’t know why you’re so mad. I told you she was highly placed Enclave.”
“I didn’t realize she was that high. She was the daughter of a duke. In the power scheme, that’s one step below the king.”
“I don’t see the difference that makes.”
“Because you haven’t been listening to the grumbles in the city,” Tanzie replied. “The duke is poised to take over if the king dies.”
“Isn’t the king’s daughter Shereen supposed to inherit?” Roark asked.
“Only if the girl lives,” Tanzie ominously proclaimed.
“If you’re implying the duke is dangerous, I already know that. I wouldn’t put it past him to make a move on Shereen if he thinks it will net him a throne.”
Casey bobbed her gaze between them. “If he’s making a move on the throne, why come after you? Or Charlie for that matter?”
“Because the duke has no other heirs.” Tanzie’s words hung in the air.
Roark frowned. “What are you talking about? He has sons. Two of them.”
“They both went mad like their sister,” Tanzie noted. “One of them went full-on fireball on the northern bazaar where they keep the herds for slaughter. According to a friend, you could smell cooking meat for days.”
“I don’t think it’s the duke.”
“Then why are we going to his ball?”
“To make sure,” he said with a sigh.
Casey snorted. “What are the chances anyone else cares enough?” She’d chatted and listened to enough to people to realize they really didn’t care what Roark did in the Marshes. They certainly wouldn’t support a war over land they considered useless.
“There’s something about it, though, that doesn’t seem right,” he muttered. “Why now? Why not just have more children?”
“He’s getting old, probably couldn’t,” Tanzie surmised, whereas Casey said, “Or he really wants to get to know his granddaughter.”
That brought a snicker to Roark and Tanzie that left Casey grumbling, “What’s so funny?”
“The only person the duke cares about is himself. That he wants her as an heir, or a pawn, is quite possible but never imagine it is out of affection,” Roark warned.
The tunnel ended in a massive door that took a series of coded knocks to open. They were ushered from a basement lined with dusty bottles through a house that was quiet. Too quiet.
“Where is everyone?” Casey asked, noticing the fine furnishings, the ticking clock, the lack of servants.
“Everyone got the night off while their employers are at the ball,” Roark explained as they weaved through a quiet kitchen and out through a door into a dark garage that showed a strange milky box with windows covered in curtains.
“What is that?”
“Hover palanquin. You didn’t think the Enclave walked, did you?” Roark winked. He glanced at Tanzie. “Do you have the chip to activate the colors?”
“Aye.” Tanzie whipped out a strange disk and slapped it to the side of the box. The opaque surface shimmered and changed from solid white to the undulating and changing colors that matched the threads in his suit—yellow, green, and brown. The hues of the marsh.
“You’re announcing our arrival,” Casey stated. “All that bluster about me drawing attention and you’re going to walk in saying hey, I’m here!”
He grinned. “And now I’ll have to share that attention with the gorgeous