hand curved around Lizzan’s side, and with her heart aching, she linked her fingers with his. “But there were others who spoke to me. Because no fear did they have of punishment for hurting someone who did not exist. So when I was a boy, they would tell me to come near, to go to my knees and open my mouth, to bend and spread my cheeks. And when my mother went to a magistrate, no crime could be reported and no help could she get, for I was not a person. That is Koth. Not only the ones who would have abused a child—and those I learned to avoid—but also those who looked the other way. Those who said nothing could be done. You think I will let them decide the fate of those who are tortured and in pain? You think I will let them decide my mother’s fate? These people who look away from suffering out of fear, or greed, or for their own comfort?”
Caeb snarled into the silence that answered that question.
“I will not look away,” Aerax snarled, too. “And I will sink the island, and care not if all of Koth hates me for it and calls me a villain. They ought to be full glad that I did not sink it while they were still upon it.”
Her expression taut, Lady Junica nodded. Beside her, Degg the Red rose and silently left the tent—as if in full rejection of what Aerax had said.
Perhaps they were not so united, then.
But even the others began to stir into conversation again, Degg returned carrying his pack—and dropped a leather pouch on Seri’s lap as he returned to his seat.
“I believe those are yours,” he told her.
The girl gasped, her eyes filling with tears as she withdrew silver claws from the pouch. She clutched them to her chest. “Wherever did you find them?”
“I stole them from the bathhouse,” Degg said, and all went tensely silent. “After we secured Krimathe’s help, the intention was to kill Prince Aerax on the journey home. Captain Uland would do it and make it seem an accident. But then the prince decided to return north on another road, the captain had to stay with the Krimatheans, and so it would fall to me. I planned to poison the prince’s cat after he trusted me to feed him, and then I would lead the prince to him—and while he grieved, strike with those silver claws so that it looked as if he was killed by his own cat.”
Who might have killed Degg now if not for the firm grip Lizzan had taken of his ruff . . . though she was tempted to let go. “Why?”
“He was always with the battle masters, and he’d never taken interest in courtly lessons—but of late, he’d been making more suggestions to the king . . . such as the evacuation. I believed he was preparing to kill Icaro and take the throne.”
Lady Junica frowned at him fiercely. “Were you under orders?”
“I was not. But there are many of us who cannot bear the thought of a feral prince becoming Koth’s king.” He lifted his hands, shame heavy in his voice. “But it has become clear to me since that he is the finest of all Kothans.”
“Lizzan is the finest of all Kothans,” Aerax said, his voice a low growl.
Degg’s throat worked as he nodded. “I only hope that, whatever we rebuild, it is worthy of you both and what you do for us now, as you face this demon. And I will accept whatever punishment you choose.” He glanced to Seri. “For the theft, too.”
His body tense against hers, Aerax asked, “Did you ever give to Caeb a poison?”
The man shook his head.
“Then I care nothing of what you do or what happens to you,” said Aerax.
Lizzan cared. She frowned at the councilor. “Why did you not follow through while on the road?”
Degg sighed. “I came to truly like the cat.”
Who no longer liked him back. And never would trust him again. And who might one day kill him for what he’d intended to do to Aerax.
Which seemed to Lizzan fair enough to let Caeb decide in his own time, but more likely a magistrate such as her mother would take up the matter if Koth and the realm’s laws survived what came next. For now, they had more pressing matters to attend.
Such as deciding the best way to return undetected to the island—and how soon they would