The Traitor

and called his name. Still, he stared. Again, and again she shook him. Cold water drenched his face, and he snapped awake.
“What? Why am I all wet?”
He looked to see Kendra’s face.
“Nola did something to you,” she whispered. “Last night, I gleaned your room. You were on the balcony, and you were talking, and then she kissed you—twice. I could not believe my eyes. I did not know what to do.” Kendra’s eyes were wide with panic.
Kai recoiled at the thought. “That cannot be true,” he insisted. “I love Rayna, and Nola is, well, married to my father. I would remember . . .” His stomach tossed at the possibilities.
“She has you under a spell. Like Iver, she has done something to you.” Kendra ran her fingers over her lips and then pointed at his. “Your lips, they are stained red, same as last time you missed the better part of a day.”
Kai licked his lips and tasted the wine. Small crystals around his mount tingled on his tongue. “There must have been something in the wine.” He tried to recall the previous night, but his mind hit a wall. “I do not remember anything. I remember you bringing a tray, and I remember her sitting at the table we talked, but that is all. What else did you see?” He feared her answer but braced himself for the worst.
Shame crept over Kendra’s face, and tears welled in her eyes. “There was an accident,” her voice shook, and she wrapped her arms around her body. “I spilled hot tea on Cordelia.” Tears ran down Kendra’s face. “I wasn’t paying attention to how much I was pouring. I was gleaning your room, and . . .” she sobbed again.
Kai did his best to comfort her. “You didn’t mean to do it.”
She wiped her face and continued. “I love Cordelia as if she were my own. I have spent every day with her since she was born. I ran to the hallway and shouted for help screaming for Nola, and the guards opened your door. Nola came running out of your room. I thought she would murder me on the spot when she saw the girl’s hand and leg. Cordelia said she spilled her cup, but I know better. I believe Nola did, too.”
He could see Kendra’s love for his little sister. “So, I have been sitting here all night and half of today?” he asked, but knew it to be accurate by the stiffness he felt in his body. His head hurt, making him wonder just how much wine he consumed and what Nola had laced in the cup. And more importantly, what might have happened if Kendra had not interrupted.
“This is the first time I could leave your sister. Nola is with the council, and I came through the secret passageway from the library.”
Kai thought about the possible lingering effects of the wine and whatever Nola used to cloud his mind and the potential outcome linked to his vision. He could not allow her to control him. This had to be how she planned to force Kai into killing his father. “If Nola did use an elixir to induce a trance, I need to get it out of me and avoid her until the effects wear off. Have you ever seen an herb called lobelia?” Kai asked, developing a plan of his own.
Kendra nodded with recognition. “I know it. I believe Sigry keeps some, but why would you want a poisonous flower known to induce vomiting?” She glared at him with concern. “Sigry will never give it to me, and he rarely leaves his medical room these days unless to tend to Iver. He studies journals and rare books, searching for a cure for your father.”
A smile crept over his face. “You are going to do me a favor. I need to search for Riome tonight; I promised Yulia I would help find her daughter. I need to know what Riome discovered about Nola’s plot to kill my father. But how can I if Nola intends to return to my room every night? Besides, I cannot wander around the city slums and tunnels with Diu guards following my every move. I need to be irrefutably sick for the next several days.” He thought of Rayna and her study of herbs. She would be pleased he remembered the name and its use. Now he had to hope he remembered how much to take safely.
“When you bring my evening meal, place the lobelia in the flower bouquet; I will do the rest.” He patted her hand and pointed to the secret passage hidden behind Gianfranca’s portrait.
Once Kendra left, Kai set to play his part. With a splash of water around the hairline and collar, he appeared sweaty and exhausted as he opened his door. “I am unwell and unable to take my daily stroll through the gardens,” he complained to the guards. “Please extend my apologies to Seth, we were to go riding this afternoon.”
Confident he had them convinced, Kai waited for Kendra’s return. Like Iver, Kai took to pacing to sort out his mind. His stately room suddenly became too small for the problem he faced. How could he tell Rayna that he had kissed Nola? The more he walked, the smaller his room became—and the bigger his problem.
Gleaning the small baker’s home within the palace grounds gave him no peace. Rayna sat with her family; his wolf, Smoke, sat at her feet. She looked sad, like she had been crying. Since the day they rode into the city, he had not spoken with her. Although Kendra said she was free to move without guards, to his knowledge, she had yet to step more than a few feet outside her parents’ cottage. Doubt caught in his chest. Had he truly forced her from her parent’s home all those months ago? Did she regret their move to Katori?
When a