Astra Forthin's Arc

Chapter 2 of 4

Astra had just closed the hidden panel when boots sounded in the corridor. More than one pair. Moving with purpose. She smoothed her red robes and set her diadem straight in the mirror. The courier's body had been found. She had known it would be. She had not expected the search to reach her wing so soon. A fist struck her door three times. Not a servant's knock. She opened it herself. Damion filled the doorway, sword at his hip, green eyes fixed on her face. Two guards stood behind him. Her older brother did not step inside. He studied her the way he studied a map before a march. "A man is dead in the west corridor," he said. "Poisoned. He was carrying something for me." "I heard the noise," Astra said. "I assumed a servant had fallen." "You assumed wrong." He did not move. "Father is coming to question you himself." Her stomach tightened. "Me." "Your rooms are nearest the body. He wants answers. I will not stand between you." He held her eyes. "If you have something to say to me, say it now." She thought of the letter behind the wardrobe. The chest. The maps. One word and she could hand him the offer, wound him with it, watch him choose. One word and she could beg his protection. She did neither. "I have nothing to say." Damion's jaw shifted. "Then good luck." He turned and walked away, leaving the guards at her door. Her father arrived within the hour. Vladimir wore his black robes and the golden crown with its red stones. He did not sit. He did not greet her. He walked once around her chamber and stopped at the wardrobe. "A courier died at my son's door," he said. "You were the last to pass that corridor." "I passed many corridors, Father." "Open the wardrobe." Her pulse struck her throat. She stepped between him and the wood. "My robes are inside. Nothing else." He looked at her for a long moment. His green eyes held no anger. They held nothing at all. "Prove it." She opened the wardrobe. She did not touch the panel behind the hanging robes. She pushed the fabric aside and let him see the back wall. He ran one gloved hand along the wood. His fingers passed within an inch of the seam. They did not find it. He stepped back. "If I learn you lied, I will not treat you as my daughter." "I understand." He left without another word. The guards followed. Astra locked the door and stood against it until her hands stopped shaking. Damion had given her to their father. He suspected her. He had chosen to let her stand alone. The letter was safe. She was not. Her secrecy had held, but her brother's love had thinned to a blade's edge, and now she knew which way it would cut.