Nash is polite, but distant. I wonder what he's thinking, but it's hard to focus on that. My jitters from seeing Daros are too great. I shouldn’t have let him enter. It doesn't matter, though. Even if I didn’t let him in, he’d find a way to me, and it would end much worse.
Not that I left him on a good note. He's bound to be raging now. I clench my fists just thinking about it. I've dealt with his wrath too many times for it not to affect me.
There's a knock at the door of my sitting room. I clamp my jaw shut. They wouldn't let Daros back in, would they? He can't have gotten his claws in the guards this fast. Unless they were there to begin with.
I stand, unwilling to face him sitting down. I force my fists to relax, taking three even breaths to calm myself.
“That should be Jaku, Head of the Guard,” Nash says, speaking for the first time in several minutes. “He's here for the meeting you requested. Would you like me to leave you to it?”
I'm so thankful it's not Daros. I sink into my seat. There's a note of something in Nash's voice. A distance. I wonder if I hurt his feelings, sending him away when I was agitated before. “Please remain.”
His lips twitch, but that's the only hint I get to what he's thinking. He bows deep from the waist and goes to open the door. “Presenting Jaku Hanka, Your Majesty.”
Jaku walks in, his presence commanding, if not as great as Daros's. He has dark-brown eyes, brown hair, and a smile that doesn't look as if it belongs to the Head of the Guard. It’s too sweet. Nash shuts the door behind him.
Jaku bows. After I tell him to stand, he says, “Your Majesty wishes to speak with me.”
“I did. Sit.” He chooses the chair directly across from mine, though it's the whole length or the room away, and I continue. “I want to know why the assassins were able to attack me.”
He pales but doesn't shrink. “I'm afraid Your Majesty can lay the blame on me. Our guards noticed nothing out of the ordinary. All I can think is that the first used a secret path that is unknown to me. The second one broke through our lines, knocking out the guards so they couldn't come after him.”
“Are his words true, Nash?”
If Nash is surprised by my inviting him into the conversation, he doesn't show it. “He speaks the truth, My Lady. I was on guard that day and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I questioned those around me, but no one else saw anything either.”
He went so far as to question his peers. Interesting. Perhaps I was wiser than I thought, picking him as Head Advisor. Not that I put much thought into it, other than the feeling that I could trust him. It's probably wrong; that feeling always is. Still, I don't regret it.
“How can we find these secret tunnels, to keep this from happening again?” I put my life on the line enough as it is. I don't want someone else taking it from me. At least, that's what my actions say.
“There's no guarantee we will find something new, Your Majesty,” Jaku says. “Forgive me for being so forward, but people have been trying for generations to find all the secret passageways in and out of this place, and they have yet to succeed.”
“I prefer forward people. I feel we must try to find those passages, though. In places I will frequent, if not elsewhere as well.”
A muscle in Jaku's cheek twitches, but he appears calm otherwise. “I promise to do what I can, Your Majesty.”
Is that enough? “What do you think, Nash?”
“I agree with Jaku. We can do our best.”
“The first time I was attacked was in the queen’s bathing area, and no one saw anything suspicious. Either someone is lying or there is at least one secret tunnel in there.” Not that I will ever go back there. As relaxing as the bath was, I don't trust the place.
“I will send my best men to comb the area,” Jaku says. “Except for Nash, as I recently had to relinquish him to you.” He sounds rather put out.
“Nash has been a great asset.” Though he bombards me with boring information, he's the only person in this place who seems to care enough to give me that information. Whether or not I'm interested in it or ready to use it is a different question entirely.
“I'm certain he has been, Your Highness,” Jaku says.
I study the Head of the Guard. Is he hiding something? Silly question—everyone is hiding something. But is he hiding something that could affect my life? No way to tell. He holds my gaze steady and surely doesn’t act like a common criminal. He probably has enough experience to obscure such things.
“If you're certain there's nothing else you'd like to add, Jaku, you're free to go,” I say.
He stands and bows. “Please let me know if there's any further way I can assist you, Your Majesty.”
Nash opens the door for him, then closes it after him. “Forgive me, my lady. I didn't know you were going to question him on the attack.”
“What did you think I wanted?”
“Truthfully, I thought you were going to release him from his position.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Most queens change the heads of their departments. The guard is usually the first to go. Plus, the attacks happened on his watch.”
The thought didn’t cross my mind, other than with Ranen. He's the only one who makes my skin crawl to that point. Not that I trust the others, but there's no sense replacing someone I don't trust with another I don't trust either. Besides, I know no one to take the jobs. “Is that what you wanted to happen?”
“No, Your Majesty. I believe Jaku will serve you well enough.”
Well enough. Now there's an endorsement if I ever heard one. I'll have to keep an eye on him. I'll have to keep an eye on them all if I want to be safe. The thought alone exhausts me. I'm used to obeying orders. This role is far beyond me.
“Is there anything you need?” He's closer than before, his voice soft.
I can only stare. Is he serious?
“Anything at all?” he asks.
Words finally come to me. “Why do you ask?”
“Because you are my queen. I promised to serve you, and…”
When he doesn't finish, I say, “And what?”
He shakes his head. “I will help you any way you need, Your Majesty.”
It seems like there’s more he's not saying. I wonder but don't feel like pushing. Not now, when there are assassins after me. I have to find out who's leading them, not spend time finding out more about Nash.
Killers after the Shadow Wraith, though I doubt they know it's so. I didn't think the day would ever come. Daros always protected me from others coming after me. Threatened them if anything happened to my life. They didn’t know who I was, just that I was untouchable.
Such thoughts do me no good. I need to focus on the here and now. “Thank you for your willingness. The only thing I need is to find out who is sending these assassins.”
“I will do everything in my power to help you find them.”
Something about the tone of his voice has me believing him, whether that’s smart or not.