It was the perfect gift for Delta—a new weapon, one that would make her feel strong again when she seemed so defeated. Bri’s frown deepened. Maybe Saika really did love Delta . . . but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be a traitor too.

Plucking another cake off the tray and eating it whole, Bri stared around the room, trying to think of who to talk to next. Cole had been more than helpful in disclosing the poison’s secrets. The servants didn’t seem to know anything. Darrow was gruff and mean, but in a fatherly way that told Bri he would do anything to protect Lina, and Tem seemed besotted with her. The new Captain of the Guard was top of her list now.

She leaned on the table, her eyes tracking the conversation between Carys and Saika, though she’d stopped listening. Her mind combed through the information she had and still came up lacking. Nothing was certain in this place and a looming dread hung heavy in the air. It felt as if they all were permanently bracing for another attack.

Chapter Nine

They found the new Captain of the Guard, Yaest, in the armory near the training rings. Bri and Carys stepped into the round stone room, cooler than the rest of the palace and filled with racks and racks of pole axes and swords. The floor had never been paved but instead left as red earth, and the room smelled of sweat, blood, and soil.

It seemed Lina was stubborn enough to stay camped out in her chambers rather than allow Bri to follow her around the grounds. Bri let the Princess stew. It would be easier to question the other suspects while the Princess was safely in her room guarded by a dozen soldiers.

Yaest stood in the middle of four haggard-looking guards as he instructed them on blade-sharpening techniques. He was tall and wide, a bear of a fae, with muscled arms and shoulders perfectly honed for swinging a long sword. The younger guards around him listened as they rested their tired arms on the hilts of their weapons.

Sweaty faces whipped toward Carys and Bri, frowns pulling on the guards’ lips as they spotted the pair.

“I was wondering how long it’d be before you two came looking for me,” Yaest said in a deep, gravelly voice. He casually wandered over to where they waited, muttering something over his shoulder that sent the other guards back to work.

Bri spotted the lines around his eyes and silver streaks in his black hair, though his countenance and physique were so formidable she’d have guessed he was younger from afar.

“Why did you think we’d come looking for you?” Carys asked, crossing her arms and tilting her head.

“I’m the new Captain. I stood to gain the most from Delta’s injury . . .” He glanced back over his shoulder at the four guards. His voice dropped, barely audible over the shing of sharpening swords. “I assume you know who my brother is?”