“Generals are coming to town this week. That’s nothing new, but the Commander ordered a feast, so something’s up. Something significant. But I haven’t been able to figure out what,” Rand said.
“Let me know as soon as possible,” Star replied. Then she paused. “Maybe Yelena knows what’s going on.”
My heart lurched when I heard my name. Run away, run away, run away, my mind screamed, but I only pressed my forehead harder on the wall.
“I doubt it. She was surprised when I mentioned the feast, so I didn’t ask her. She might know more later this week. I’ll try again.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll ask her myself.” The sleek tone of Star’s voice implied that she had concealed this revelation until the time when exposing it would cause maximum damage.
“Yelena?” Rand sputtered. “Working for you? Impossible. That’s not her style.”
“Are you suggesting she’s working for Valek?” Alarm tightened her voice.
Equally upset, I glanced at Valek. He shook his head, waving his hand in a “don’t worry” gesture.
“No. She wouldn’t.” Rand had recovered. “I’m just surprised, but I shouldn’t be. She could use the money, and who am I to think any less of her for it?”
“Well, you shouldn’t be thinking of her at all. As I see it, she’s disposable. The only concern I’ll have when she dies is, who’s going to replace her and how quickly can I bribe him?”
“Star, once again you’ve shown me in the most repulsive way that the sooner I pay off my debt to you the better. How much credit do I get for tonight’s information?”
“Two silvers. I’ll mark it in my book, but it won’t make much difference.”
“What do you mean?”
“Haven’t you figured it out by now? You’ll never pay off your debt. As soon as you get close, you always gamble yourself right down another hole. You’re too weak, Rand. Too swayed by your own emotions. Easily addicted, and lacking in willpower.”
“Oh, that’s right. You claim to be a magician. Have you read my mind, Captain? ‘Captain Star’—what a laugh! If you really had magic, Valek would have taken care of you long ago. I know you’re not as smart as you claim.” The heavy uneven tread of footsteps resounded through the wall as Rand started to walk away.
I was astounded. I had never heard Rand speak with such harsh sarcasm before, and more than that, if Star was a magician, I could be in serious danger. My mind spun, but it was all too complex to contemplate at this time.
“I don’t need to read your mind,” Star called after him. “All I have to do is review your history, Rand. It’s all there.”
Silence settled. The only noise coming from Star’s study was the crinkle of papers being turned. Valek stood, pulling me up with him. His man had returned. Handing him the notebook, Valek descended the steps.
I followed Valek through the dark streets of Castletown. We kept to the shadows, avoiding the patrolmen. Once we had escaped the city’s limits, Valek relaxed and walked beside me on the main road to the castle.
“I’m sorry,” Valek said. “I know Rand was your friend.”
His use of the past tense jabbed like a knife’s point between my ribs.
“How long have you known?” I asked.
“I’ve suspected for the last three months, but only procured the hard evidence this month.”
“What tipped you off ?”
“Rand and his staff helped me with that poison test I gave you. He stayed while I laced the food with poison. I left that goblet of peach juice on my desk to keep it clean. It was a fair test. Blackberry poison was in that cup, but I didn’t put it there.” Valek paused, letting the information sink in.
“An interesting property of blackberries is that only when they’re prepared in a special solution of grain alcohol and yeast and cooked with extreme care to the proper temperature are they poisonous. Most cooks, and certainly not their assistants, don’t possess the skills or the knowledge to achieve that result.” Valek sounded as if he admired Rand’s ability to brew the poison.
The full understanding that Rand had tried to poison me almost knocked me off my feet. I stumbled as a surge of nausea boiled in my stomach. Dashing to the side of the road, I vomited into the bushes. Only when my body had ceased its convulsions did I realize Valek was supporting me. One of his arms was wrapped around my waist, while a cold hand pressed against my forehead.
“Thanks,” I said, wiping my chin clean with some leaves. With trembling legs, I let Valek lead me to the castle. If he hadn’t continued to support me, I would have curled up on the ground and called it a night.
“There’s more. Do you want to hear it?” Valek asked.
“No.” The truth, but as we drew closer to the outer wall of the castle complex, I made an ugly connection. “Did Rand set me up at the fire festival?”
“In a way.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“The goons that nabbed you waited for you near the baking tent, so I suspected that Rand had told Star you would be there. But then he wouldn’t let you out of his sight. It was as if he was protecting you. Remember how upset he was when he couldn’t find you. How relieved he was when he spotted you alive and whole?”
“I thought he was drunk,” I said.
“I suspect Rand is an unwilling participant. At the time of the poison test, he hardly knew you, but as your friendship grew, I imagine he finds himself in a difficult situation. He doesn’t want to hurt you, but he needs to pay off his gambling debt. Star has an extensive organization, with plenty more thugs to replace the ones I took care of, thugs who would be willing to break a few bones for their boss. Does that make you feel any better?”
“No.” My reaction to Rand’s betrayal seemed extreme even to me, but I couldn’t switch it off. It wasn’t the first time someone had played false with me and it wasn’t going to be the last. Brazell had deceived me. I had loved him like a father, and been loyal to him. In the end, it took almost a year of enduring his experiments before my feelings dwindled to the point where I could see him as he really was. But I had always known my young devotion to him was one-sided. Since he had never given me any reason to think he cared for me, his actions had been easier to stomach.
Rand’s friendship, on the other hand, appeared genuine. I had begun to feel as if I had finally made a decent-size hole in the stone barricade I had built around myself. Big enough for me to slip through and enjoy our time together. Now the wall was crumbling. I felt stones pelting me and burying me deep beneath the rubble. How could I trust anyone again?
“Anything else you want to tell me?” I asked Valek as we stopped a few feet short of the castle’s south entrance. “Did Ari and Janco set me up for Nix’s attack? Do you have another test of loyalty for me up your sleeve? Maybe the next time, I’ll actually fail. A prospect that seems appealing!” I pushed away
