Page 15 of Ruling the Green

He didn’t need to elaborate. There was only one reason the military would want that kind of tonic: to silence people being tortured.

I exhaled hard, wondering how many other horrific things my father was guilty of.

“How long does it last?”

“It depends on the dose,” Vishen told me. “I’m assuming he gave her enough to keep her silent until tomorrow.” At my blank look, he added, “Until the marriage is consummated.”

A silent consummation.

I couldn’t think of anything worse.

Aside from, of course, forcing a random woman he, I assumed, kidnapped into that consummation.

I mentally added Grimwood to my list of those who would suffer for their crimes when I was ruling.

“How did he expect to get this past my father long-term?”

“Fuck knows. I don’t think we want to know. But we might want to make sure she’s kept away from the servants.”

“You think he has someone inside the palace willing to, what, keep drugging her?”

“It would be easy for him to say his daughter is suffering from some sort of affliction to excuse it.”

I looked over at the woman. “You want to have the drugs wear off?” I asked. She nodded, eyes going wide. “Then don’t eat or drink anything that I or Vishen haven’t given you.” I waved to my guard. Turning back to him, I asked, “Can you do an audit of the servants who have access to my quarters?”

The list was small, compared to how many worked at the castle. I’d whittled them down to three—two maids for cleaning and the laundress.

“I will. But I don’t think I need to tell you how devious people can be if coin is on the line. And if Grimwood is involved, trust me, coin is on the line.”

That was true.

Of all my father’s allies, Grimwood had to be in the top five when it came to wealth. The other three had already tried to align with us in marriage. The fourth had no daughters.

He could easily offer life-changing coin to someone inside the palace to do his dirty work. Enough coin that it would be worth risking my father’s discovery to go through with it.

“Do the best you can to get to the bottom of it.”

“I will. Might I suggest you restrict access to your rooms to times when you and your wife are out? There’s an easy enough explanation for a newlywed couple to desire privacy.”

“Right. That makes sense.”

“Don’t go now.”

“Why not?”

“Put on the show, Jet. Go out there. Be seen. Eat. Be a prince now, or no one will accept you as a king in the future. I will see to setting up the new rules about your quarters.”

I looked over at my new bride. “I’m sure you haven’t been fed.”

She shook her head.

“I know you aren’t here willingly. But I will try to make this tolerable for you.”

Her gaze was wary. I couldn’t blame her.

“Let’s play our parts right now.”

I offered my arm.