Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) by Jessie Eaker (best novels in english TXT) 📕

“Thank you,” said the vision of Zofie.

Nadine stepped back and clasped her hands in front of her. “I do hope you will invite me to the wedding. I know my husband has made it difficult for us to be high on the guest list, but I, for one, would love to attend.”

The vision of Zofie hesitated. I could tell Fumiko was unsure how to respond.

But Nadine shook her head and held up a hand. “There is no need to answer now. I realize you are months away from making your list, and you must choose carefully who you invite. But if not my husband, please do consider me. I would so love to see you and your attendants walk to meet your groom.” She smiled. “I bet you’re going to choose that bodyguard of yours as your first. What is her name? Risten, isn’t it?”

I tried not to show any reaction. Risten had been born a bastard child of the king’s brother, Bernard Xernow, and she had never known her birth mother. The woman’s identity was a mystery. However, when Lady Merrick had hidden Galvyn and me, I had put the pieces together and figured out Nadine was Risten’s mother, and that over the years, she had been watching Risten from afar. It was yet another secret that I carried. I wondered if I would break under their burden.

Zofie’s illusion gave a chuckle. “Risten is indeed the one I was hoping to pick. But I’m not sure she could tolerate being in a dress for that long.”

Nadine smiled. “That indeed could be a problem.” She paused. “I had heard she was away. I hope everything is all right with her. You need your bodyguard back.” She looked over at me. “Nothing against your knight, of course.”

Zofie’s illusion smiled. “While he’s nowhere near as good as Risten, I still plan to keep him.”

Then Nadine suddenly grew serious. “And please be careful, your highness. I heard there was an assassination attempt on you. So don’t wait too long to bring your bodyguard back soon. You must be protected.”

Zofie gave a nod. “I will indeed be careful. Plus, I have my trusted knight, which I plan to keep constantly by my side.”

Nadine turned to me. “And you too Coren, please be careful.” She surprised me by pulling me into a motherly hug. “And don’t forget your promise.” With that, she disengaged and stepped toward the door.

“While I would love to chat longer, my husband will be perturbed with me if he finds me distracting his guests too much, so I must leave.”

And with that, she slipped out of the room.

Fumiko and I looked at each other. That had been strange.

But we didn’t have time to ponder it as Lord Merrick himself strode into the room. He gave a perfunctory bow to Zofie and completely ignored me. “Apologies for keeping you waiting, your highness. Business has been challenging lately, as I’m trying some new ventures. Now, what can I do for you today?”

The disguised Fumiko spoke. Her voice the perfect commanding tone Zofie used when dealing with troublesome subjects. “I would like to use the Wayward’s Finder. There is an ancient artifact I need to locate.”

Merrick considered her for a moment. “I’m assuming you’re aware of the fee for using the finder. It has been customary for generations. Your father knew, but I wasn’t sure if he passed down that information.”

I tried not to show any emotion. Zofie had been holding tightly to our remaining gold since we were so short.

The disguised Fumiko didn’t say anything at first, merely stared at him. “How is your export business coming?” she asked softly. “I had heard a rumor that a person was found inside one of your company’s shipping crates. I assured that person it must to be a mistake. That Lord Merrick had surely learned his lesson on dealing in humans.”

The tension in the room shot up. As the two stared at each other, Lord Merrick’s face stayed unconcerned. “For past royal consideration, I would be willing to let you use the finder for a mere token of a few gold royals.”

I swallowed. A single gold royal was worth a smallholding by itself. I think our treasury only held a few now, if that many.

The disguised Fumiko remained still, not moving a muscle. I glanced down at her feet and noticed a slight waver. She was tiring. I counted up the time since we had stepped out of the carriage. It had only been half an hour ago, so Fumiko must be more out of practice than she thought. We had to wrap this up quickly.

Fumiko fixed him with her gaze. “Perhaps what your businesses need is someone to help with your accounts. I could lend you my secretary. She is excellent at ledgers. I’m sure she could help you find missing inventory or lost funds. Making correct entries can be so difficult. And we both know the value of keeping good accounts. Especially when one has loans to the other lords. I imagine they would be quite outdone if your accounts were ever discovered to be less than accurate.”

Merrick remained expressionless; however, a bead of sweat on his forehead betrayed him. “That won’t be necessary, your highness. In fact, what are a few royals among friends? Why don’t I just let you use it? You never know, I might need a favor in the future.”

The disguised Fumiko gave a cold smile. “I think that is an excellent idea. Gold should never come between friends.”

Merrick started moving toward the door. “I will be back in a moment.” He left, and only a few minutes later returned with the finder. He held it out to us. “Would you like to do the search?”

The disguised Fumiko smiled. “Would you be so kind as to do it for