THE UNFINISHED SENTENCE

Elaris's POVl

Averic sees no reason for me to leave the inner chamber.

Following the discovery in the east cloister he ordered the rescued attendant secured in a distant wing of the household and surrounded by three warriors. And a healer was sent to view the woman, and no servant could get near her without his permission.

I asked Averic how we knew she was conscious.

"She is."

"Can she talk?"

"She can."

I sighed in relief.

"Then let me see her."

He shook his head.

"Not yet."

"She knows what happened."

"And that means I must protect her from everyone who wishes she would keep it to herself."

I followed his gaze to the secured door.

"You believe someone will come for her?"

I think whoever tied her up knew what she had hidden."

He said nothing more, merely told me he would inform me when there was news I needed to hear.

I didn't like it, but I understood his reasoning.

Before he left he paused to view my stomach.

"The guards will stay with you."

"I know."

"And if someone gives you a note, you will show it to me."

I met his gaze.

"Even if it is about Virelle?"

Averic's response was unexpected.

"Especially then."

For the first time I did not hear the subtle defense of Virelle in his voice.

It stretched out unbearably.

Neryss was eventually allowed in for short visits, bringing me the news from the palace.

The household knew there had been an attendant dragged from the cellars.

Rumors had spread faster than even the guards could control them.

Neryss lowered herself onto the chair at my bedside.

"Some say she was caught trying to escape after poisoning your tea."

I blinked at her.

"Did she?"

"No, and that is why they say it."

I frowned.

"This sounds more like what she would have done if Virelle had not stopped her."

Neryss nodded.

"Some say she was silenced for discovering something about the palace."

I glanced at the woman laying bound below the east cloister.

"She was about to be another addition to the palace collection."

Neryss grimaced.

"And now everyone is trying to guess who wants her dead?"

I inquired if Virelle had said anything to Neryss.

The woman was unusually quiet.

"Quite the opposite, actually."

"She has been unusually silent this morning."

That troubled me.

"Unusually silent?"

"Most of the morning she has been surrounded by the councils representatives, and she keeps a hand over her stomach as if she is the one in need of protection."

I stared at the secured door.

Of course she is.

Neryss lowered her voice.

"Elaris, people are starting to believe the palace is turning against itself."

I said nothing, but my thoughts were confirmed.

"It already has."

Neither of us spoke of it after that.

The whispers were becoming something more than mere gossip.

More of a weapon.

And so Averic left shortly before noon, his news grim but not surprising.

The attendant was conscious.

His voice was rough, but I could still hear the careful weighing of his words as he continued on.

"She doesn't remember much about the cellar."

"Does she remember who bound her?"

There was a long pause before he answered.

"She remembers enough to be afraid."

Of what,

I wasn't sure.

He told me she had recognized the unfinished note script, and he had compared it to records kept in her household, before examining the third broken chain clasp.

It was, he said, identical to those found in the other two.

Exactly?

Same craftsmanship, engravings, unusual break.

I felt the words settle heavily in my chest.

Averic placed the clasp on the table but refused to allow me to examine it.

The woman had refused to say Virelle's name aloud.

"Does anyone know why?"

"She becomes agitated whenever we ask her about the one who gave her the instructions.

So she knows.

Yes.

And she is afraid to say the name.

Averic's gaze was steady when he looked at me.

"So it is what you believe as well?"

I shook my head.

"You mean that is what we suspect."

His eyes stayed locked on mine.

"You have been listening."

"I've had to be."

Perhaps it was a new understanding, or a new acceptance, but for once neither of us pretended that suspicion and fear are separate things.

And I wanted to see the woman for myself.

Averic refused.

"No.

"She may tell you things she would not tell a man demanding answers."

"She may stop speaking the moment she realizes who is here."

"Then let me hide."

It took him a moment to grasp what I was suggesting.

It wouldn't interfere with questioning.

I only wished to hear what the woman would say.

If she looked at me and realized what had happened she could become frightened and stop talking all at once, so I needed to remain unseen.

Averic studied me for several seconds.

Then he nodded.

"One condition."

"What?"

"You stay behind the screen."

"I will."

__

“You don’t speak.”

I nodded.

__

“You don’t react.”

I smiled.

"Then I understand.

"And if the healer tries to tell me you are becoming distressed, I leave immediately."

I hesitated, considering arguing the point, then I remembered the child and said, "Fine."

He opened the door for the guards as I stepped out of the chamber.

As I turned away I realized this is the first time he has allowed me near any of the evidence without placing my own hands at the center of it.

Perhaps it means something.

Perhaps it does not.

I refused to believe either without proof.

The wing was not as large as I expected.

There was a partial screen dividing off a section of the room on one side.

I was brought to the back of it with Neryss and a healer nearby.

The woman was across from Averic, her wrists secured with soft material to prevent her from injuring herself in a weakened state, but she was no longer bound as she had been when I first saw her.

Her face was swollen and blood stained one side of her hair, but her head was bowed.

Averic did not shout at her.

"Tell me what happened at the east gate."

Her lips trembled.

"I opened it for her."

"Why?"

"I was told to."

"By who?"

The woman said nothing.

Averic changed the subject.

"Did you place the wolfsbane beneath my door?"

"Yes."

My fingers curled against my dress.

__

“Did you alter Lady Maevra’s medicine?”You gave it to me every time?"

The attendant swallowed.

"No.

"How often?"

"I don't know.

"You kept a record."

The woman looked up at him.

"I was told to."

Averic laid the stack of dates on the table in front of her.

"Are these yours?"

Her eyes lingered on the parchment before she nodded.

"Why were you keeping track of my medicine?"

The woman began to shake.

"Because I was told to know when I was alone."

It was a statement that chilled me to the bone.

Averic moved closer.

"With whom?"

She closed her eyes.

"No answer."

Averic paused.

"Who gave you the orders?"

Her breathing hitched.

The healer moved forward but Averic raised a hand, signaling the woman to wait.

Not yet.

He wanted her to say it, to say who she was working for.

Averic asked about the west wing.

"Who did you see there?"

The blood drained from the woman's face.

"I shouldn't have gone."

"Who was there?"

"The lady.

Averic's voice remained even.

"Which lady?"

"The one in the west wing."

I could hear the beat of my pulse in my ears.

Averic inquired, "Did she promise you anything?"

The woman nodded.

"What?"

"A place.

"In the new household?"

The woman nodded again.

"She said things would be different.

"For you?"

The woman's fingers curled against the chair.

"Yes.

"And what did she ask of you in return?"

The woman gripped the edge of the seat.

"To make the second mate disappear.

Averic's voice was quiet, but no less firm.

"How?

"The second mate was never supposed to die.

"What were you to do, then?"

"I was to make everyone believe she was dangerous.

Averic glanced toward the screen.

My skin was still tight over my bones.

The woman continued.

"The lady said no one would question her place once the second mate was gone.

"And she promised to protect you?"

The woman nodded.

"From what?"

"From the council, from the Alpha, and from anyone who questioned why I helped."

The woman's voice cracked.

Averic asked the question we were both avoiding.

"Was the lady Virelle?"

The woman shut her eyes tight.

She did not deny it.

Averic placed the third broken chain clasp on the table.

The woman flinched when she looked at it.

He inquired about the note I'd found in my chamber.

"Why did you write the unfinished sentence?"

Her mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.

Averic waited.

"You wrote that someone told you the second mate's blood is the price.

The woman began sobbing.

"Please.

"I need the truth.

"They'll kill me."

"Who?"

The woman shook her head.

"Who will kill you?"

"I don't know.

Averic's tone was gentler than I expected.

"If you tell me the truth I can protect you.

The woman looked at him, her expression filled with something very close to disbelief.

"They promised me that as well.

Averic's gaze darkened.

"Who promised?

The woman turned toward the screen.

For a heartbeat I thought she could see me.

Then her eyes found Averic's.

"She said the child was the reason.

Averic stiffened.

"What child?"

The woman's voice was barely more than a whisper.

"The Alpha's child.

My hand went instinctively to my stomach but I forced myself to sit still.

Averic placed both hands on the table.

"What did she tell you?"

The woman shuddered.

Then she began to speak.

"She told me the second mate's blood is the price for the child's place."

Averic's face tightened.

"Explain.

The woman swallowed.

"She said because of the blood moon it would appear natural.

I did not move behind the screen.

I barely remembered to breathe.

It was not a surprise. I have seen the medicine, found the wolfsbane, and seen the warning beneath my door, but hearing the justification for each made the events take on a new meaning.

The woman continued.

"She said the fear would make you weaker.

Averic inquired, "Who?"

Again the woman refused to name the person responsible for her actions.

"She said if you became sick everyone would believe your body was failing you.

I kept my hand over my stomach.

"She said the child would be blamed for taking too much of you.

Averic's voice was quiet as he asked, "And the blood?

The woman whispered, "A little at first.

My stomach twisted into knots.

"Then more.

The healer peered at me over the edge of the screen but I shook my head to let her know I would not leave.

Not yet.

Not while there was still an answer to be heard.

The blood moon was important, said the woman, because the weakness, the pregnancy, the old superstitions surrounding the lunar gathering would make it easy for anyone to believe one of us was behind my death.

Averic inquired if she was ordered to kill me specifically.

"No.

"What was the end goal?

The woman looked down at her hands.

"To make your body fail you.

Averic was growing impatient.

The woman began shaking violently.

The healer rose to her feet.

"Enough.

Averic nodded.

He ended the session before the woman was seized with another fit of nerves.

The guards gathered the papers from the table and the clasp was placed in an envelope marked evidence.

Averic ordered the woman taken to an isolated chamber so that no one would speak to her without his express permission.

The captain asked if that included the council representatives, and Averic said, "Especially them."

I remained behind the screen until all the men were gone.

When Averic returned for me I did not say anything.

Neither did he.

He led me out the passage secured by his warriors.

It seemed surreal to see the palace with its usual indifference.

The servants walked with their trays, the warriors patrolling the halls as if boredom permitted.

Somewhere a child was giggling.

I do not think I breathed during the entire walk back to my chamber.

Averic opened the door and I stepped inside.

He followed me in and for several seconds I could not find the words to say.

Then he told the guards to wait outside the room.

The door shut and he turned to look at me.

"The confession was not complete," said Averic.

I looked at him.

"She confessed to everything but the name.

"Yes.

She practically described Virelle to us."

The frustration in his voice was unmistakable.

Even now Averic was struggling to understand what the woman had said.

I inquired, 'Even after everything?"

No, said Averic, she can say the woman promised her protection, describe the location of the west wing, confirm the clasp belongs to Virelle, but she won't say the name.

I took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"So you won't use it."

"I will use whatever survives interrogation.

"And if the council questions who gave the orders?"

"I will tell them I have a witness who fears identifying the person responsible.

I frowned.

That hardly sounded like an acceptable defense.

It is not what you are looking for, replied Averic.

I told him it could weaken the argument being presented to the council.

Averic warned me that if Virelle alters her story to avoid censure, she may well gain immunity simply because of her position.

"Because she is lying?"

__

“Because she’s terrified.”

I glanced toward the secured door.

"What if someone interferes with the woman?"

"That will not happen."

"You said that about the palace.

Averic did not argue the point.

I inquired if he believed the woman.

Averic studied my face.

"I believe the clasp," he said.

He continued, "I believe the gate records, I believe the wolfsbane, and I believe the medicine.

The list?

I believe that as well, and the note.

I waited for him to finish.

"And you still do not believe Virelle could have ordered it?"

A long pause.

No. Said Averic, staring at me. You are asking the wrong question.

I repeated, "Who is giving them access?"

I look up at him.

"I think that is when Virelle stopped being a threat and started being something more.

Averic moved closer to the door.

Before he exited he said, 'You were right about one thing."

I waited.

"The attacks were never random.

Then he left me alone with my thoughts.

I was still sitting on the edge of the bed, one hand over the child, when a sharp rap echoed throughout the chamber.

Before I could call for the guards one of the interior wardens opened the door.

Another soldier was waiting just outside.

"Alpha," said one of the men.

Averic turned.

"What happened?

"Lord Sennik has arrived.

Averic's expression changed immediately.

"He was not scheduled to arrive until the morrow."

"He came early.

"Why?

"He says the council has learned of the attendant."

I rose to my feet as the soldier continued.

"He is already in the main hall.

Averic inquired, "Who told him?

The soldier shook his head.

__

“He didn’t say.”

Of course. Information was still slipping out.

And now Sennik wanted to see Virelle when the attendant's testimony was given.

Averic looked at me.

For a second neither of us said anything.

Then Averic turned to the door.

"Stay behind the locks."

"And if Sennik demands to see me?"

"He can demand.

"And Virelle?

His hand was on the doorframe.

"She stays where I can see her."

One of the warriors moved inside the room.

"I will protect her, Alpha.

"No, said Averic, turning out the other guard. This is no longer only inside the house.

The moment the door shut I heard the sentries take up their posts.

Then other noises reached my ears from the hall outside.

The council had arrived early, and Virelle was walking toward the hearing with the palace's newest witness, still alive, inside the building.