SAND TRAP

VI

Each bite of deliciously tart cake made Mainu more convinced. Torval was up to something. It was only when the manservant had appeared that he'd felt the unmistakable sensation of magic behind him, and Torval had seemed suspicious from the beginning. He could easily be hiding the fact that he was a mage. And if he was a mage, he could have magically poisoned the wine that he had been watching so intently.

It seemed that the king had found out what Torval had done not a second too soon. Unless his sudden realization had been a coincidence, but that seemed unlikely. More probably, there had been threats involved, and Ipris's glass had been the one poisoned. She was the one who was supposed to be in danger, after all.

The pieces started to fit together. Torval was close with the royals. Enough to know what he needed to know to take out Ipris, and maybe the whole royal family, in one fell swoop, given the chance. This probably wouldn't be his last try.

But that left the question of when and how he would strike next, and if he would at all. It was entirely possible that Mainu was extrapolating too far. Hesykhia had told him to protect the princess from danger, and he might have done that already. In that case, he was well within his rights to request his reward, head home and leave this mess behind.

"Mainu?"

Ipris was leaning in front of him and waving a hand in front of his face. He blinked. "Yes?"

"Fates, I thought you were dead," she quipped, sitting back in her chair.

Mainu glanced down at the cake on his fork, then up at the concerned faces around the table. King Enri was unamused. "Sorry," Mainu muttered. He quickly finished his cake.

At Aries's request, they gathered in a sitting room after dinner to listen to him play the lyre. While the prince plucked about somewhat aimlessly, but at least in tune, Mainu sat down next to the king and tried to catch his gaze. When that proved useless, he cleared his throat and said softly, "Your Majesty, what happened with Torval earlier?"

Enri looked back at him, eyes wide. "He had a private matter to discuss with me."

"I meant about the wine."

"Ah, yes. Too bad about that," Enri grumbled, scratching his beard. He glanced away from Mainu and back at Aries, who was starting to put on quite an impressive show, though his brilliant eyes never once looked down at his swiftly moving fingers or closed to become lost in the music. Virgo was enthralled and grinning proudly at Ipris's side, and Queen Caecia watched from a politely lounging position on a sofa. Torval was nowhere to be seen.

"With all due respect," Mainu huffed, a little louder, "you don't need to play dumb with me. I know that was all Torval's doing."

When Mainu mentioned Torval's name again, the king relaxed slightly. "I see."

"He's threatening you, isn't he? Why didn't you tell me before?"

Enri drummed his fingers on his knee and kept his focus trained on the rest of the room. Eventually, he said under his breath, "Ipris adores him. I couldn't risk being overheard."

Excitement crossing his face, Mainu asked, "What do you know about him? Anything helps."

The king smiled slightly. "I know nearly everything about Torval. We've been friends since childhood. But he always had an affinity for magic, and power."

"So, he's a mage."

"Yes. And mostly self-taught. I would not wager on you in a fight with him."

"All right," Mainu said, running his fingers down the carved ridges on his staff. "I'll see what I can do."