House of Dragons (Royal Houses #1) - K.A. Linde Page 0,76
out who had killed Lyam or what tribe was going to accept her. She had thought Ellerby would be the answer, but he still hadn’t responded to her letter. He might never respond. She needed to find a way to get in front of tribe members who wanted a Dragon Blessed. Parties were the easiest way to do that, but she’d found Ellerby almost right away and not had to schmooze at any of the parties. Plus, there weren’t any more Dragon Blessed parties until after the tournament was completed.
“You seem distracted,” Fordham said.
“Just two weeks left.”
Fordham remained silent, continuing their walk and turning them back toward the mountain. It had seemed so simple when she made that deal with Helly. But then life had gone down the drain, and though she could see the future, she had no idea what was coming next.
“Are you worried about the tournament tomorrow?” she asked.
“Unless you have some insider knowledge about the second task, I have no idea what’s coming. There’s no reason to worry.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I’ve been through worse.”
“Well, that’s highly logical,” she said with a raised eyebrow.
“This isn’t what has you distracted,” he said.
“No,” she said with a sigh. “Audria came to see me a couple nights ago.”
His back stiffened. “About what?”
“You.”
He gritted his teeth. “And what did your friend from Bryonica have to say?”
“She’s not my friend,” she said at once. “But she was worried about me.”
“Because of me?”
Kerrigan shrugged. “You are from the House of Shadows.”
“Of course.”
“And… there are rumors that you killed Lyam because you are anti-human rights.”
He looked at her, and then all the anger bled out of him. To Kerrigan’s surprise, he began to laugh. She’d never seen him laugh before. Not really. Not like this. It was full-bodied with his head tipped back and his eyes closed. The display was contagious, and she found she was laughing too. She hugged her belly and tried to stop but failed three times before she got it back under control.
Finally, they both straightened, and Fordham cleared his throat. “Rumors are rumors. It’s easy to pin it on me, but why in the gods’ name would I be helping you find his killer if it was going to lead you to me?”
That was a very good question.
“I said that to Audria, but I just wanted you to know.”
“I can handle myself,” he said as easily as she always did.
And she let the subject drop. She hadn’t believed Audria when she passed that rumor on to her. Kerrigan would have been more worried that she and Fordham were working together if her visions hadn’t kept pushing them together. Plus, Gelryn had told her to stay near him. Fordham surely had his own aims for joining the tournament, but it didn’t seem to have much to do with her.
After another long session in the baths, Kerrigan retreated to her room for a much-needed nap. Only two or three hours was all she was getting. It seemed prudent to try to get in as many sessions as she could. Anyway, Fordham was busy the rest of the evening and she’d already received instruction from Bastian about her role in the tournament tomorrow. A nap sounded wonderful.
But when she returned to her rooms, Clover was seated on her bed.
“Hey! What are you doing here?”
She sighed and held up a piece of paper. “Dozan has me sending missives now.”
“I thought you were a card dealer,” she said, taking the letter from her hand.
“I am, but he knows that you trust me. So, here I am.”
Kerrigan waved away the note of concern and instead broke open Dozan’s red wax seal—an arrow through a capital R.
The letter held an address and underneath that:
Tonight at midnight.
Do try not to get killed, princess.
—D.R.
She scowled at the letter. Princess. She hated everything that he called her, but princess was a joke. A stupid joke. Oh, how she regretted confiding in him all those years ago.
“What have you gotten yourself into?” Clover asked.
“There’s a weapons deal happening tonight,” Kerrigan said. Magic flared to life at her fingertips, and she burned the note to cinders.
“So?”
“So, I’m going.”
“What? Why?”
Kerrigan sighed. “Someone tried to kill me the other night. It was the same person who killed Lyam.”
Clover’s jaw dropped. “What? When were you going to tell me this? Do Darby and Hadrian know?”