Page 7 of Horde King’s Obsession

“Visla, what is it that you did for Magdul?”

“I worked at the palace, that is all,” I said. “In the kitchen…and the fields,” I added, thinking he would decide that I was useless for his needs. I wasn’t a pleasure slave. I’d never be.

He blinked twice and something told me that he knew I was lying.

There was a knock at the door and then someone flung it open. Another hordesman peeked inside.

“My king,” he said.

“Yes, Thanu,” Khol replied without turning around.

“We found that wenches arm ring in the palace. She dropped it while she was fighting with Doa’tek. She’s Magdul’s master jeweler. She’s the one who distracted Oderas’s nephew with her pieces while they poisoned his drink.”

I gasped. That was non-sense. What were they talking about?

“Here,” Thanu shoved my crushed arm band into Khol’s outstretched palm.

“Is this true?” Khol asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know what he’s talking about. It’s a lie.”

Khol raised an eyebrow. “Is it also a lie that you worked in the kitchens and the fields?”

My lips parted and heat crept up my spine as I realized that I’d been caught in a stupid lie. Khol would never trust me. “I have nothing to do with Magdul’s treachery. I swear it,” I said. “I don’t even know Oderas’s nephew.”

“You make jewelry,” Khol said, inspecting the damaged armband.

“Yes.”

“Then you don’t remember the meeting Magdul had with Zarras.”

I shook my head. “Zarras…?”

“Zarras—Oderas’s nephew. He visited here two weeks ago and returned to King Oderas with a treaty that had been tampered with, a bag of jewelry much like the one’s you wear on your person, and unfortunately, a poison was already taking over his system before his nurses could stop the effects. He was dead within hours of arrival.”

“Are you saying my jewels caused his death?”

“There was a conspiracy in the room that day. If you are the master jewelry as we suspect, then you were there. A spy for Oderas says that you distracted Zarras with jewels while Magdul’s other maids offered him drinks. This was after Magdul tried to convince Zarras that he wasn’t trying to betray our King. He knew Zarras was onto him, so he must have poisoned him. Zarras fell ill only after his visit to another settlement, at which time, that leader was blamed but effectively exonerated himself when he pointed out with substantial proof that Magdul approached him about an effort to overthrow Oderas.”

“I knew nothing about that. I’m the master jeweler, okay? Not a kitchen maid. I make jewelry for all of Magdul’s special guests, but I played no part in any conspiracy. I presented the pieces to Zarras, proved their authenticity, and then left the room. I didn’t even know he was related to King Oderas. I’m never given that kind of information. It wasn’t my place to ask. I just did what I was told.”

“She just lied to you about working in the kitchen,” Thanu stated. “How do we know she’s not lying through her teeth again? Like the others we locked up in the prison, she may have very well worked closely with Magdul to overthrow our Kunwe spo Kunwei.”

“No…I didn’t.” My heart beat a million beats per second. I was sure these men picked up on every nervous tick of my pulse. Khol didn’t look convinced and Thanu was just downright suspicious. I was doomed from the moment they captured me. If not as one of Magdul’s former servants but as the jeweler who was in the room when they claimed that Zarras was allegedly poisoned.

Khol was still suspicious enough to eye me like hawk. He took in everything, as if reading me. In a matter of under two hours, my life had turned upside down. After fighting to get away from one of his warriors and stabbing him in the worst split second decision I might have ever made, I probably looked guilty as hell.

Another one of Khol’s warriors stuck his head into the hut. “There you are. We’ve found Magdul’s former ambassador.”

“Where?” Khol asked.

“In a nearby village. He’s surrendered himself willingly. He’s asked to speak with you, but no one else.”

Khol’s brows furrowed but he didn’t take his gaze off me. “I’m busy here with another matter. Send Ghid.”

“He doesn’t wish to talk with Ghid. He’ll speak with no one but you, my King.”

Khol finally turned and gave instructions to Thanu and the second messenger in his Aurrakian tongue. He picked up the belt he chucked aside earlier and wrapped it back around his waist.