Chasing Shadows (36 page)

“I hope my sister-in-law is not boring you with an accounting of Serimone’s history,” Cadius said with a pinched smile that Sarah imagined was laced with condescension. She suspected he had been handsome in his younger years, but his features had hardened through the decades and made him appear cold and intimidating. 

The queen shifted uneasily beneath his gaze, and then she quickly straightened her back, taking on a mask of indifference. “No, brother, we were—”

“Discussing the way she and the king met,” Sarah jumped in. She leaned forward, hoping the accusation wasn’t apparent in her eyes as she watched Cadius for his reaction to her next words. She feigned innocent curiosity, though her temple was throbbing at the anxiety coursing through her veins. “I was also asking her about the circumstances surrounding the king’s death. It struck me as odd the way he died.” She could almost heard Damien swallow beside her as his body tensed.

Cadius steepled his fingers, resting his hands on the table as he leaned, almost imperceptibly, toward her. She sensed the movement was meant to intimidate her, and she had to force herself not to pull back instinctively or reveal the sudden spark of trepidation she felt. “My brother’s passing was very difficult for us all,” he said, his voice smooth and diplomatic. “Why would a foreigner show such interest in his death?”

“Inquisition is woman’s greatest virtue,” the prince threw in, his words heavy. He smiled lazily at Sarah, and she wondered if anyone else had noticed that he’d had a little too much wine.

Sarah swallowed convulsively when she looked back at Cadius, barely maintaining eye contact with his piercing gaze. “I guess I’m just naturally curious.” Her voice squeaked on the end. She tried to shrug innocently, a dumb smile on her lips as she backed down. Her pulse thumped rapidly as Cadius’ calculated gaze weighed the truth of her statement. It appeared he thought curiosity more a fault than a virtue.

Her smile faded, and she shrank back a little. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset anyone.”

“What an inquisitive companion you’ve found in your company,” Cadius observed, his thin lips barely curving in a smile of amusement as he swung his stormy eyes to Damien. There was something dangerous in his gaze, and his smile reeked of court-trained charm. “How
delightful
to discover one so free with her thoughts?” His lowly spoken compliment came out sounding more like a question. A test, Sarah realized. She looked up at Damien, gut twisting.

“Yes.” He smiled at her, but it looked strained. When he turned back to Cadius, his eyes changed, flickering with an emotion Sarah couldn’t decipher. “She is very smart, as well.”

Cadius leaned back against his chair, looking faintly pleased, though his eyes remained narrowed. He raised his glass and said lowly, “How fortunate for the pair of you.”

~Chapter 31~

The rest of the evening dragged on painfully. Sarah picked at her plate, but her appetite was lost. The prince had excused himself an hour ago after Cadius whispered a few brief words to him. She could only assume he had told his nephew to leave the public eye before anyone else noticed that their future king was drowning his torment in drink. The queen was a gem and kept Sarah engaged in conversation throughout the meal, though it was apparent that she was in need of distraction as much as Sarah.

Damien offered little conversation, appearing distracted for most of the evening. His eyes occasionally flickered to Cadius, who made a point of avoiding his gaze and remained otherwise occupied by discussing politics with the man beside him.

Sarah felt bad about ruining the perfect evening Damien had imagined, but she’d had to take advantage of her first and possibly only encounter with Cadius.

For all the good it had done.

Her suspicions were increased after speaking with him—the way he never referred to the king by his title and seemed immediately defensive and suspicious—but all she had were her instincts and conjectures.
What did you expect, Matthews? For a cold-hearted murderer to confess his crime to a freshman?
She realized the absurdity of it now, but she had done all she could to get a rise from him. Aside from asking him outright if he had killed his brother, what else could she have done?

Her shoulders sagged in disappointment. She had failed yet again.

At last, Damien rose and gave his excuses to the queen and Cadius, dipping his head to each of them in turn. Sarah nearly jumped from her seat in her eagerness to be away from the gray-haired man’s cold eyes.

Knowing it was expected, she curtsied to the queen. “It was a pleasure, my lady.”

Meredith smiled with genuine warmth. “The pleasure is all mine.” She lowered her voice. “And you have my gratitude for the offer of your company this evening. Perhaps we can take a stroll about the castle during the week.” Sarah nodded. The queen looked like she wanted to say more, but then her eyes flickered to Cadius and quickly away. Her mouth closed.

“I am certain we will meet again, milady.” The words came out smoothly. Sarah’s throat constricted as she turned to acknowledge the man. Cadius stared back at her, the corner of his mouth tightened in what she imagined was supposed to be a congenial smile, but she thought she detected an underlying threat. Maybe she was being paranoid, looking for ghosts where there were none.

With a quick nod, Sarah allowed herself to be escorted from the room. The doors closed behind them, but Damien didn’t slow until they were well into the corridor. He pulled her suddenly into a darkened room, and she gasped. He gripped her upper arms, and she could barely make out the shake of his head in the faint light that managed to lessen the total darkness of the room.

“I told you to drop this,” Damien said, his voice a harsh whisper.

“I just—”

“And what do you do?” he went on as though she hadn’t spoken. “You confront the man you’re accusing of murder, and murder of the
king
. That isn’t just a hanging offense, Sarah. A man can be strung up and left on a cross for days for committing such a crime against the kingdom.” Damien made a sound in his throat and released her. She heard him stride across the room and lost sight of him before he paced back.

“What were you thinking?” he whispered. He no longer sounded angry, but rather distraught with worry.

“I’m—I’m sorry.” Sarah swallowed guiltily, wanting to explain her actions. “It was the only way I could think of to catch his reaction. What should I have done?”

He shook his head slowly, and then a hand came up to gently stroke her cheek. “I’ve lost so much, and I can’t . . .” His voice faded.

Sarah knew that if a near stranger had pulled her into an abandoned room and was touching her as Damien was, she would have started screaming and clawing her way out of there. But the truth was Damien was not like other men, and she felt safe with him.

And the rest of the truth was that the feel of his fingers on her skin had her rooted to the spot.

Her lower lip drooped in surprise. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” she whispered, voice quavering. Her windpipe didn’t seem to be working properly.

Damien exhaled. His thumb ran over her cheekbone. “I know,” he murmured. “But you don’t understand these people like I do. Politics, money, position—it changes you, makes you paranoid. If a suspicious person feels threatened, they can become like a cornered animal, and an animal in the midst of panic can only react instinctively. They
attack
, Sarah; it’s all they know to do.”

She hadn’t realized it would upset him so much, though if she was being honest, she hadn’t given his feelings a second thought.

Shoulders sagging, she whispered, “I’m sorry.” She seemed to be saying that a lot today. “My intent was to find the truth.”

“At the cost of your life?”

Sarah searched the darkness for his face, but the light from the hall didn’t reach this corner of the room. “You seem certain that my life’s in danger.”

“Men like my father—” He seemed to struggled for words. “I’ve seen how a man driven by lust—for power or otherwise—reacts when he feels vulnerable, when those things he holds most dear are in danger. I don’t want you to end up like that.”

“What? A man driven by lust?” she asked, defensively striving for humor. But her knees were shaking at what he implied.

Damien’s hand retracted from her cheek. “A victim,” he answered grimly.

She swallowed, knowing he sensed real danger. She knew his paranoia was well founded, if the cold looks Cadius had given her during supper were any indication.

“I will be more careful,” she promised. “I can’t drop this completely, but you have my word that I will avoid confrontation with Cadius at all costs. I’ll keep out of his hair.”

She heard him sigh. “I have a feeling that’s all I’m going to get from you. Perhaps I’d be disappointed if you acquiesced so easily.” He sounded vaguely amused. Reaching out, he took her arm and guided her from the room. She blinked against the torchlight and saw a man hurrying down the hall towards them.

“Timmons,” Damien greeted, though his voice was tinged with wariness.

The thin man’s gaze shifted nervously between the two of them. “May I speak with you, my lord?”

“Sarah,” Damien began slowly.

Sensing the newcomer’s urgency, she shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I can get to my room just fine.”

Damien lifted her hand and quickly kissed the back of it. She felt a little thrill shoot up her arm. “Thank you. I shall look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

She smiled at the two men and then made her way down the corridor alone. She heard the shuffling of boots behind her and glanced back just as Damien and the mystery man stepped into one of the side rooms.

“What news?” Damien’s whisper echoed off the stone walls and reached her ears. She forced her feet to keep moving, but she froze in place at the man’s words.

“Two bodies were discovered in the river about an hour ago, sir—washed up on the banks sixty yards apart. A man and a woman.”

Damien cursed. “Do they suspect foul play?”

Sarah realized she was still eavesdropping, but she felt rooted to the spot. Two more people were dead? It couldn’t be connected . . . could it? Pressing her back against the wall, she strained her ears to hear the man’s faint response.

“I didn’t get a good look at the bodies because the guards were on patrol and discovered them quick enough. But from what I saw, it looked like a tumble over the falls was what killed them, but it’s too hard to be sure at this point.” The man hesitated. “I thought you should be the first to know, sir.”

Something in Timmons’ voice seemed to strike a nerve in Damien. “Have they identified the man?”

“As I said, I didn’t get a good look before the patrol took the bodies back here for identification. They want
you
to identify the man for them, sir.”

“And the woman?” Damien asked, sounding eager and wary.

“Can’t say for sure,” came the mumbled reply. “But I’m almost positive the girl was one of them tramps down on Bowler Street. Looks like the two lovers took a fatal fall.” Their voices dropped to low murmurs, and Sarah only managed to catch snippets of their hushed conversation.

Her mind wandered distractedly. Something the man had said caught her attention, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Was Timmons an informant? Sarah had watched enough shows to know that it was common for informants and spies to apprise their masters of seedy events. But why the rush to let Damien know about a prostitute and a man falling off a waterfall? She wondered if it was the same waterfall Will had shown her earlier.

Will.

Her breathing turned shallow. Will had promised that he would meet her at the brook no matter what he decided, and she knew he was good on his word. The sincerity in his eyes had told her that nothing could have kept him from coming, but he hadn’t shown. What if he hadn’t been able to?

Sarah closed her eyes and leaned the back of her head against the cold stone. Her knees threatened to give. Had he been with Jade? What had happened that led to both of them going over? Her mind raced so fast it began to ache, and she pinched the bridge of her nose, telling herself it was just conjecture—Will was not
dead
. He couldn’t be.

“I want you to take me to them.” Damien’s voice startled her, and from the sound of it, they were headed her way.

“Yes, my lord.” Timmons’ boots scuffled across the floor as they hurried down the corridor.

Picking up her skirt, Sarah dashed down the hall with light feet and dove into a deep alcove she nearly missed in her haste. Holding her breath, she watched as they walked quickly past her and down the corridor opposite. Their frames flickered in and out as they moved from torchlight to shadows, growing smaller the farther they went. Sarah told herself to breathe evenly and stay put, though she was itching to make a break for the stairs. A faint clanking sound echoed down her way, and she knew one of them was searching for a key. After a moment, the door opened, revealing muted light from within, and both men slipped inside, quietly closing the door behind them.  

Sarah counted to ten and then bolted up the stairs. A few servants were milling about on the landing, and she quickly slowed her steps, ducking her head as she forced her quivering legs to take the stairs two at a time. She hurried down the hall and then up the next flight, breaking into a run when she spotted her room. Throwing the door open, she dove inside, sliding down the door when her legs could no longer support her.

Breathing heavily, she closed her eyes and splayed her legs out. She was jumping to conclusions. There was no reason for the band that tightened around her chest, making it difficult to breathe. Will was still alive. Edith had just died, and there was no chance that he would suffer the same fate within twenty-four hours. It just wasn’t possible.

But she couldn’t ignore the aching suspicion in her gut. And what was Damien mixed up in? Receiving information like that could be innocent enough, but instinct told her that he knew more than she had heard. Why would he need to identify the victims?

Her eyes snapped open in decision. She had to see those bodies. Not tonight, because Damien and the patrol would be there with the fresh corpses and there was no reason for her to be caught snooping around. But tomorrow she would try to find out where they had stashed the bodies, and until that time, she would choose to believe that Will was still alive.

It isn’t him
, she told herself, her body shaking uncontrollably. But she had to know, and the only way to do so was to find those bodies.