Five Dark Fates (Three Dark Crowns #4) - Kendare Blake Page 0,76

and go within the castle. Lermont House is quiet. More easily watched. Though I do not know what use he will be as a hostage or who would want to take him. He cannot move or speak. We have kidnapped a dead body. Not good protection for your Billy if Katharine comes to terms with that.”

Arsinoe stops eating. “Katharine would never . . .”

“You don’t think so? She is the queen now. She has no time for foolish first loves. If I were on her Black Council, that is what I would advise.”

“So you think she’ll kill Billy anyway.”

“That is what I fear.” She looks at Arsinoe gravely. “But I am sorry, Arsinoe. I did try.”

Quickly, Arsinoe eats the rest of the food. She wipes her mouth with the back of her sleeve. Emilia did try. And Arsinoe will not let that effort go to waste.

“Where are you going?” Emilia asks.

“I’m going to wake up Pietyr Renard.”

Arsinoe has never been to the Lermont house. She has seen it, though, passing by on her errands in that part of the city. The best butcher is not three blocks away, where she often goes to fetch scraps for Braddock, Camden, and the other familiars. But standing outside the gate, she feels out of place. It is early morning, even to those who did not spend the last night celebrating, and the Lermonts are the first family of Sunpool. Who is she to barge in on their household?

As she works up her nerve to march up the flagstone walk, the front door opens and a man steps out. She recognizes him as Gilbert, the oracle who foretold the opportunity for Mirabella’s rescue. She remembers the way his fingers broke the surface of scrying wine that seemed like blood, and now, after how badly things went in the capital, the sight of him brings a sour taste to her mouth.

“Hello,” she says. “Did you foresee me coming?”

“No. But I did see you standing at my gate.”

“Of course.” She walks up the slate-gray stones to shake his hand, but he keeps them folded and instead bows slightly. Then he steps aside and welcomes her into the house. Once inside, she does her best not to gawk. The oracles have such an enigmatic reputation. But the interior of the Lermont house is like any other. There are no garish runes painted on the walls, no bones or beads strung from the ceiling. The fortune-telling shop she found on the mainland had a stranger feel. The only thing that sets Lermont House apart, so far, is a small marble pedestal set near the window in the sitting room.

“Do you use that to scry out of?” she blurts, then hunches her shoulders apologetically.

“Yes,” Gilbert replies. “Though it is easier to use the ones in the sight garden. Here we tend to use a simple bowl of water. Would you like me to take you to him?” He laughs when Arsinoe’s eyes widen. “It does not take a seer to know why you have come. It is this way.”

He leads her through the first floor of the house and up a set of stairs.

“Are you the only one awake?”

“Except for the guards.”

“Guards?”

“You missed them. They knew who you were, of course, and let you pass. Here.” He stops beside a window and draws back the drape to point out a guard positioned behind the hedge, armed with a spear. A bow and a quiver of arrows rests beside her in the snow. “And there, the edge of his shoulder.” He points across the yard. Arsinoe had not had any hint of the guards when she walked by. “Mathilde has gone to her room to bed, and when she wakes, she will likely return to the castle. I think she is satisfied now that Master Renard is safe with us.”

In the hall, he opens the last door on the right and steps back so that she may enter first. Arsinoe walks in and whistles.

“Safe with you and very comfortable.” The room where Pietyr rests has to be one of the finest in the house. The drape is floor-to-ceiling lace, all white, and the bed is hung with white curtains. Beneath her feet, the floors shine brightly, and crystal vases, bowls, and candlesticks adorn nearly every flat surface. The air smells of sugared lemons. She hopes they did not oust one of their own just to accommodate an unconscious poisoner.

“Don’t worry. This room was unused. It was hastily prepared but well,