Page 91 of Wings of Ice and Steel

‘Mel told you… did she?’ His voice caught a little on the words.

Ariadnne growled. ‘You should have tried harder to end her before she had the chance.’

His eyes widened. ‘End her? You think I killed her?’ He squeezed out his chair and backed away, putting a few feet of air between them. Ariadnne’s skin shimmered in rage, fed by the tang of his fear.

‘I would never—I can’t believe—’ Sol raised his palms. ‘How could you think that.’ His jaw fell slack and Ariadnne froze. His face was too open. Too innocent.

No. No. It had to be him. For Nieve’s sake.

‘I don’t believe you,’ she snapped, clutching at her anger. ‘Melixanthe—you hated her. You turned your back when she was stabbed at the plateau. The whole thing was probably set up by the Council.’ She lifted a lip. ‘And the poisoned arrow… you just happened to be there? I bet you accepted the Council’s proposition with open arms. What did they offer you? Position? Power? Or a chance to prove that my sire would be the better choice to control me?’

Sol shook his head. ‘You’ve got everything wrong. Gods alive.’ He wiped his forehead. ‘I’ve no idea what led you to believe me capable of this! Mel…’ He choked on her name. ‘Mel was a dear friend.’

This was bad. Very bad. Sol’s grief confronted her like a slap to the face, deepening the seed of doubt Nieve had planted.

Her limbs tingled unpleasantly as he continued, ‘I cared for her. Me, your handler? The very idea! No…I’d never leave Lucius—Mel was welcome to the position. The gods only knew it wasn’t easy for her. And the plateau…shit, I felt awful when she was injured. All my focus in that fight was on trying to control Lucius. His concern for your safety was making him erratic and he kept putting himself in danger.’

Ariadnne stared, the seed sprouting into a fully formed, budding tree whose roots wound around her heart and squeezed, making it hard to breathe through the pressure in her chest.

Sol rubbed his temples hard enough to turn his fingertips white. ‘I’ve been nothing but concerned for Melixanthe’s safety. I tried to warn her… she refused to listen. We argued. I had concerns that someone in your company was in the Council’s pocket, but she wouldn’t hear of it.’ He stepped forwards. ‘And hate you? Ariadnne… do you know how hard it is to have a daughter who has no idea you exist? To watch her grow and be nothing to her? Each time I looked at you was fresh agony when I knew I could never tell you who I was. I could never hate you.’

Fresh guilt shivered up Ariadnne’s spine as Sol pulled at his sleeve, fumbling for his next words.

‘I was frustrated with Melixanthe at times. She got to know you when I couldn’t. I… I was furious when she took Nieve. That knight is a rare talent—I’d hoped she would replace me one day if the need arose. But it was just that. Frustration. I would never have wished her harm.’

Sol lifted his hands and, gods save her, she believed him. There was no guilt in his eyes, no lie or snide comment to grip on to. The plug had been pulled on her anger leaving a yawning emptiness where it had been.

‘Fuck.’ She gripped her head. There wasn’t enough time to find the truth. Ten days before Nieve’s trial, or… she couldn’t think of it. She wouldn’t let Nieve die.

She backed onto a couch and slumped, shoulders trembling as nausea and grief fought for supremacy.

‘It wasn’t Nieve,’ she muttered into her hands. ‘She… she’s my mate. She wouldn’t do that to me.’ Ariadnne’s hands dropped into her lap, and she looked at Sol, noting the lines of pain etching his eyes. She shook her head, saying, ‘If you repeat that she’s my mate to anyone I’ll kill you.’ But her heart wasn’t in it.

Sol raised his hands again. ‘I wouldn’t.’ His lips curled in a wry smile. ‘When Melixanthe kept her I thought she was punishing me for overstepping. I’d complained to her about not being allowed a relationship with you. But in reality she’d probably sensed something between you two.’ His lips twisted. ‘She was canny like that, but not nearly careful enough.’ His shoulders dipped. ‘I miss her already.’

‘So do I.’ Ariadnne’s lips tightened. ‘But if I don’t find who killed her, Nieve will die.’ She closed her eyes. ‘You said you thought there was someone in our company who was in the Council’s pocket? Do you have any idea who?’

‘I’m afraid not, Lucius overheard some snippets between Council members that alluded as much. He came straight to me as anything that concerns you worries him immensely.’

Ariadnne snorted and Sol gave her a sideways look.

‘What?’

She grimaced. ‘Nothing. He can just be a bit much at times.’

Sol frowned. ‘Lucius?’ He sat on the bed beside her. ‘Lucius cares about you a lot, Ariadnne. But from your expression I feel you might have read that the wrong way, too.’ He threw a quick glance at Ariadnne, who raised her eyebrows, before continuing, ‘I don’t think you fully understand the loyalty the other varanyen feel towards you. It’s built into their make-up. You are their queen, no matter how much the Council would like to prevent those bonds from forming.’ A flicker of amusement crossed his face. ‘They don’t all want babies with you, or I’d have my work cut out as your father.’

Ariadnne’s spine straightened. Sol’s attempt at levity was drowned by the words he’d said. Queen? That was a rather unsettling thought. Ariadnne’s skin tightened as she thought about the way Lucius’s eyes always followed her, as did all the varanyen. She didn’t have time to unpack these new thoughts. If the traitor was closer to home than she’d thought, she’d been blind to it. The idea that someone she had trained alongside and trusted might have reported her relationship with Nieve turned her stomach—that they had then been ordered to kill Melixanthe, and when their subtle accidents failed, murdered her in cold blood, was worse.

‘I’m sorry...for all of it,’ Sol said softly.

Ariadnne ground her teeth. ‘It’s not your fault.’ She didn’t look up, she was too lost in her thoughts, but she murmured, ‘I believe you. Gods help me, I do.’

Sol’s eyes bore into the back of her neck. There would be pity in his eyes if she looked, and she would be forced to acknowledge that he actually cared. Not something she was ready to do.

With a frustrated noise she rose to her feet. ‘It seems I have a lot to consider.’ She avoided his eye. ‘I need to go. Sorry… about the door.’

He tried to step toward her again, but she couldn’t. If he touched her, she might disintegrate into parts.