The Queen's Assassin (Queen's Secret #1) - Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,118
a tragedy,” says Cal. “But I suppose now the duke doesn’t have to leave you for Renovia, since the grand prince has passed,” he says to the duchess.
“Quite the contrary! He’s leaving tonight.”
“Tonight! Why so soon?” he asks, watching Shadow disappear into the crowd again. “What exactly does His Grace do in Renovia? Manage the grand prince’s estate?”
“I suppose you could say that,” the duchess says lightly.
Cal furrows his eyebrows, feigning confusion.
She goes on. “I will tell you a secret! He is leaving to make sure the insurrection continues as planned!”
“Insurrection? Against the queen?”
Duchess Girt laughs. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those Renovian sympathizers!”
He arranges his face to hide his pounding heart. “Of course not! What is the duke planning?”
“Oh, I can’t say, but perhaps I will give you a hint. By tomorrow there will be regime change.”
Regime change? The assassination of the princess? Of the queen? Is that what this nitwit duchess is talking about? Does the duke plan on killing the queen and the princess while they are in Montrice?
Cal feels a cold shock in his chest; he tries to ignore it and remain calm. “You don’t say,” he remarks, voice cracking a bit. Good thing she’s oblivious, the state she’s in.
“I’m so pleased you understand my predicament, about my husband’s absences, I mean.”
“Yes, I do. It’s clear to me now.”
She presses closer to him. “Then you know it’s a terrible trial for me to stay all alone.”
“I see that,” Cal says.
“Anyway, let’s talk a little more on when you’ll join me when the duke is away,” says the duchess.
Cal agrees, and continues to flirt with the duchess while his mind is elsewhere. The duke is leaving tonight, for Renovia, where if the Aphrasians are successful there will be regime change. Is the duke headed to take the Renovian throne while the queen and the princess are in Montrice? In any event, the plot against the princess is underway. He has to stop it. He has to find the duke.
But first he has to go find Shadow.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Caledon
CAL SWINGS THE DUCHESS BACK toward the edge of the dance floor, where an older gentleman stands alone. “My dear,” he says to the duchess. “I have monopolized your company too long.” Before she can protest, he leaves her and heads into the crowd to find Shadow.
The rooms are so packed and the women’s hats and hairpieces are so monstrous that he can barely see beyond what’s right in front of him.
There is no sign of Shadow or her blue dress anywhere, not in the large ballroom nor the small one, nor in any of the receiving chambers or hallways. Did she leave the party because he was dancing too close to the duchess? He shakes his head. Of course not. She wants to discover the plot against the princess as much as he does. So where is she?
He conducts a few more rounds through the party but there is no sign of her. The sound of booming cannons signals the start of the fireworks, and he follows the crowd out to the balcony. He bumps into the earl that she was dancing with earlier, but he is alone.
“Have you seen Lady Lila?” he asks.
The earl looks mortified. “Did she tell you what happened?”
“What happened?!” asks Cal, alarmed.
“Oh, nothing, nothing! I only meant to help with her broken heel,” the earl says. “It was innocent!”
Cal pats the man on the back. “Of course, of course. A broken heel, did you say? She must have gone back to her room to change.”
“Yes, she went off that way,” the earl tells him as he points to the south wing of the house instead of the stairs.
Cal narrows his eyes as he heads toward the south hallway. These are the duke’s private quarters. What is Shadow doing here? He is starting to really worry. If the duke is the conspirator, then no one is safe, not just the princess, but Shadow as well.