The Fairest Poison by Lauren Skidmore

Author:Lauren Skidmore [Skidmore, Lauren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cedar Fort, Inc.
Published: 2016-05-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Aiden was waiting for us at the docks, as I knew he would be.

He stood with his back straight, alone, and wearing the green mask he favored when sneaking out of the palace. I’d seen him in so many different masks that I would have recognized him no matter what he wore. But it was nice to see one so familiar.

Joch came to stand beside me, leaning against the wooden railing with his back to the shore and crossing his arms. The closer we’d gotten to Venesia, the more tense and still he’d become. Whereas Aiden paced when he was anxious or upset, Joch seemed to be the opposite and grew incredibly still. More than once I’d walked above deck and not noticed him until he acknowledged my presence.

“Is he out here?” he asked.

I nodded. “Alone, though, if that eases your conscious at all.”

He scoffed. “I still feel like a mouse walking into a trap.”

“A very tall mouse.”

He blinked at me.

I offered him a small smile. “Just trying to lighten the mood somewhat.”

He grunted. I could tell I needed to try something new.

“I could tell you embarrassing stories about Aiden as a child. Would that help calm you down?”

“I don’t need to be calmed down.”

A bald-faced lie if I ever heard one. He stood as still as a statue, and as rigid and cold as one as well.

“He used to sneak out of the palace all the time. He did it so frequently that my parents assigned a young guard to be his double, so when he went missing, no one else would know. But, oh, how he’d be punished when he finally came home.”

Joch didn’t say anything, but I could tell his interest was piqued. I waited patiently with a smile until he finally gave in and asked, “What kind of punishments?”

“They never really found one that was effective, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. First they tried confining him to his room, but that was pointless; he knew exactly how to escape. They tried giving him more lessons and responsibilities so that he’d be too busy, but that only gave him more things to run away from. They tried taking away sweets, then giving him extra if he promised to behave. They tried guilting him, shaming him, bribing him. None of it worked. To him, nothing was worth staying inside.”

“He’s stubborn.”

I laughed. “You don’t know the half of it. If he gets it in his mind to do something, there’s no stopping him. He had a tutor who said he was too impatient to memorize our history, so he memorized the royal family line back as far as we know out of spite. He used to be awful at fencing, but he was determined to be the best and practiced relentlessly. Now there are few that can match him.” I shrugged. “But he’s also nearly drowned more than once by thinking he’s a stronger swimmer than he actually is. And few people will bother to argue

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