A soft noise rose from Vale’s throat, but it was barely more than a whisper. Her wide eyes darted around the room as if searching for some kind of escape, but she couldn’t move anything beyond her eyes, heart, and lungs.
“I steeped dried Roshika Rose petals in with our tea. The result is a little bitter, but that bitterness gets lost in the raspberry as well as the honey you added. In case, you’re wondering, Roshika Roses are fatally poisonous.”
Vale’s eyes dropped to Rayne’s teacup, which was half-empty.
“Yes, I drank it as well, but there’s an interesting fact about the Talos royal family. They can’t be poisoned. Several have died in battle and been assassinated through history, but not one poisoned. I figure that has to be due to their bond with the Goddess of Life. I wagered that I had just enough of that power running through me to keep me safe.” Rayne smiled and slowly lifted one hand up to shoulder height. “Looks like I won that bet.”
Her lips moved, but no sound came out. It was enough though for Rayne to make out that she had said a single name: Eno.
“Eno? No, this isn’t about Eno. I’ll admit that I was jealous and frustrated on that front, but I wouldn’t kill you out of jealousy.” Rayne picked up the notes he’d set aside on the table and shuffled through them until he came up with a single slip of paper that was crumpled and dirty. Of course, it had traveled across half of Zastrad with Vale. He held it up so that she could see it. Tears immediately slipped down her flushed cheeks.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t believe your story. It was just the right amount of heart-wrenching and desperate. Enough to make your actions…forgivable. So, I searched your things before we reached Temit and found this. The dispatch is from Prince Shey himself.”
Rayne turned it around, his eyes skimming the message he’d memorized by now. “I’ll give you that he’s improved his private code, but I helped him develop his first one, so this wasn’t hard to decipher.” He paused, trying to get a handle on the rage that he’d kept buried, but it was bubbling up and hardening his voice. “You asked him for permission to use Caelan as bait to lure out the smugglers. Shey emphatically denied the request. He even demanded that the entire team escort us to Mrtyu. What did we get? Just you. No team.”
Lifting his eyes to Vale, Rayne had to once again tamp down his rage. “You sent the message to Shey while we picked up supplies in one of the towns. We waited an extra day under the guise of needing more horses so you could get his reply. When it wasn’t what you wanted to hear, you decided to hand us over to the kidnappers anyway. Maybe you thought they’d get you Kamal. Maybe you simply wanted us out of your way. You betrayed your prince, and your actions could have killed the King of Erya.”
A harsh rattle echoed from Vale as her breathing grew more ragged and labored. Her parted lips were turning slightly blue. Rayne neatly folded up the incriminating paper and tucked it into his pocket before rising smoothly to his feet.
He crossed over to the table where he’d prepared the tea and pulled out a shot glass he’d also prepared ahead of their conversation. Wrapping his fingers around the half-full bottle of whiskey, Rayne brought both over to the sofa. He sat on the cushion next to her and filled the shot glass.
“I do sympathize,” he murmured gently. “You’ve been trapped here far from home for too many years. Much of that was likely alone. All you wanted was to go home, and then these Erya bastards arrived to carry you even farther from your goal.” Rayne picked up her right hand and firmly wrapped her fingers about the shot glass. He helped her lift it to her lips. “Drink. It’ll help, I promise.”
Rayne tilted her head back as he assisted her in dumping the whiskey down her throat. He held her wide gaze the entire time, never flinching or shrinking from the fear he saw there.
But it didn’t compete with the pain and fear he’d seen in Caelan when Rayne had woken at the camp and seen the destruction wrought. It didn’t compete with the fear he’d felt at nearly losing his king. And it was nothing compared to what might have happened to all of Thia if she’d succeeded in killing Caelan.
The Kiss of Death he’d coated the shot glass with worked quicker than the Roshika. Vale’s entire body relaxed on him, and her breathing became infinitely fainter. Rayne held her hand out over the edge of the sofa and allowed the shot glass to drop to the floor with a light thud. Rising to his feet, he gently laid her on the sofa, her head resting on the pillow. He propped her feet up on the opposite end, ensuring she was as comfortable as he could make her before kneeling at her shoulder.