Throne of Secrets by Maniscalco Kerri

Author:Maniscalco,Kerri [Maniscalco, Kerri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2024-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FIVE

Prince Gluttony

A twig snapped on the garden path a few paces behind me. I whirled, dagger drawn, and squinted into the shadows. I expelled a breath.

“Mrs. Everhart.”

I’d been distracted by my conversation with Miss Saint Lucent and hadn’t been paying attention to the slight prickle of awareness that indicated I was being watched.

“Your Highness.”

Eden’s mother tucked a long quill into her coiffed hair, adopting a look of innocence that was as believable as a viper claiming it wasn’t venomous as she stepped out from behind the silverfrost bush and onto the path.

“I was just admiring the gardens. I’ve never seen so many silverfrost flowers in bloom. They’re as lovely as I’ve read about in the scandal sheets.”

She hadn’t lied, but there was an air of falseness that rang in her statement. I glanced down at her hands. Ink smudged her fingertips.

How very curious. From my first impressions of her, I wouldn’t have taken her for someone who’d ever deign to dirty her hands. Unless it somehow served a greater purpose for her—like securing a royal match for her daughter using any means necessary.

My instincts went on high alert.

It seemed there truly was a snake in our midst.

“You appear to have taken a turn and lost your way.” I held out my arm in a show of princely charm and manners. Though nothing disguised the edge in my tone. “Shall I escort you back to the dining hall?”

Her gaze lingered on where I’d left Adriana.

Something about her hesitation slowly raised my hackles.

With a pinched look that made her appear slightly constipated, Mrs. Everhart took my proffered arm. She couldn’t be more different from Eden or Adriana if she tried.

“How exceptionally kind of Your Highness to offer to escort me. I needed some air and wandered a bit too far, it seems.”

A dark suspicion rose as I glanced back at the ink on her hands. Adriana had accused me and my court of feeding information to her editor, but for once that wasn’t true.

There were two other witnesses in her home who had details of the items I’d given her.

Eden. And Sophie Everhart.

All at once, I understood. Sophie had been spying on her stepdaughter, hoping to sell more information to the gossip sheets. How utterly ruthless.

Silence stretched between us, one I purposefully refused to fill. I found the guilty often prattled on, hoping to distract from their wicked behavior. Soon enough, Sophie broke.

“Did you have trouble with my eldest, Your Highness?” she asked. “Adriana is not blood related, thank the gods for that. She’s entirely too high-strung and opinionated to be an Everhart.”

I kept my pace slow, my muscles loose. Inside, annoyance ignited in a blaze, and I didn’t bother to stomp it out.

“Disowning someone based on the notion of blood and speaking about it so freely to a stranger is a sin I find far more appalling than a woman who speaks her mind.”

Sophie’s mouth snapped shut so loudly, I heard the clack of her teeth.

I hid my smile, not quite finished.

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