Trev looked at his father, who seemed just as confused as he was. Trev was there when his father had written the note to call off the assassination. He had personally chosen the soldier sent to deliver the letter. The man had reported back that the message had been delivered. What had gone wrong?
“I applaud your efforts. It was a seemingly good plan. Invite me to the wedding then use the element of surprise to get me when I would least expect it. The only problem with your plan was that you underestimated my men. And me.” Adler smiled smugly.
“King Adler,” Carver shifted his weight nervously, “if there was an attempt on your life within our kingdom, I will do everything in my power to identify and punish the guilty. And we are, of course, deeply relieved that you escaped unharmed. But we had nothing to do with any attempt on your life.”
Adler laughed. “Of course you would deny it.”
“There are many people who could have done this. Why would we try to”—King Carver leaned in close so nobody could hear their conversation—“kill you? We are in the middle of a wedding.”
“I wondered that same thing myself.” Adler lowered his icy gaze on King Carver. “But then again, you never planned on me surviving and showing up here to confront you. It’s like you want to start a war between our two kingdoms. First, you accuse me of kidnapping those girls by the border and now this.” He leaned in closer between Trev and his father, whispering so only they could hear. “If I were you, I’d play nice. There are rumors that I have sophisticated weapons back in Tolsten. I’m dying to try them out.”
King Adler’s laugh was cruel and wicked, making the hairs on the back of Trev’s neck rise.
“What did you do?” Trev asked an hour later as he paced the king’s office.
“I didn’t do anything.” His father looked to Commander Pryer for help. “I called off the assassination. You both saw me.”
Trev wanted to believe him. “Then explain to me why Adler is accusing us of attempted murder.”
“I . . . I . . . honestly don’t know.” For the first time, his father seemed speechless.
“He’s not just accusing us. He knew the details, how we were targeting him at the Dawsey Inn. How could he know that unless it was true? Unless one of our men tried to carry out the plan.” Commander Pryer swore under his breath. “This is a disaster! And now he’s here.” His arms flew into the air. “How can I protect Albion from Adler when he’s here?”
Trev pointed at his father. “If I find out that you two are lying to me, that you two went behind my back on this plan, I swear I will—”
“We didn’t,” his father said, interrupting him. “Something is wrong. Pryer, bring the man to me who was sent to deliver the letter. I want to question him personally. And find the men that were stationed at the hotel, the ones that were going to carry out the mission. I want to question them all.” His father was beginning to yell. “I want to know who attempted to kill Adler against my express orders!”
Commander Pryer scrambled out of the room.
Trev looked at his father in a severe way. “You promised, if I married Seran, you would call off the assassination. You gave me your word.”
His father rubbed his hand on his face before raking it through his graying hair. He looked older today than he ever had before.
“I didn’t do this.”
Trev shook his head. “I don’t know if I can trust you anymore.”
“Don’t do anything foolish with the wedding. Let me figure out how this happened.” The king’s voice sounded desperate.
“You need to tell King Bryant about this. He needs to know.”
“No, not yet.” His father shook his head.
Trev threatened, “If you don’t tell him, I will.”
“Just give me more time.” The pleading on his father’s face should have made him feel something, but it didn’t.
“Tell him before dinner tonight, or I will.” Trev slammed the office door behind him as he left and walked down the hall. He turned the corner and nearly collided with Joniss.
“Ezra!”
“What do you want, Joniss?” How was the man so annoyingly everywhere?
“Oh, nothing. I just arrived early for the dinner tonight. Is everything all right? Things seemed kind of tense with King Adler out in the courtyard.” Joniss seemed to be enjoying Trev’s distress.
Trev masked his fear and kept walking. “You know King Adler; he can be difficult.”
“I hope everything is okay,” Joniss called after him. “I would hate to have something ruin your wedding.”
I’m sure you would.
“Do you think your father is lying?” Drake asked. They stood in the corner of the great hall so they could talk freely. Around them, guests finished dinner, laughing and drinking, unaware of the political tension in the air.
Trev took a drink. “I don’t know. He seems completely distraught by everything, but I can’t tell if that’s because he doesn’t know what’s going on or because he got caught.” He eyed King Adler cautiously. His fine, mint green suit stood out across the room, a cloud of smoke billowing around him as he puffed on a cigar. Cigars weren’t essential. They were illegal, but Adler had the audacity to smoke one in front of all the other leaders in the room.
“Does King Bryant know?” Drake asked.
“Yes, my father told him just before dinner. He’s not happy about any of it.”
Drake rubbed his chin. “But does he believe your father?”
“He seems to.” Trev shrugged.
Drake folded his arms across his chest. “So if King Carver didn’t do it, then who did? An informer?”
“I’ve thought about it, but it doesn’t make sense.” Trev had gone over it in his mind a hundred times. “Spies or even an inside informer would know what we’re planning, and might give away our secrets, but they wouldn’t carry out our plans.”
“True.” Drake nodded.
“What about Joniss and his father? The idea to kill Adler originally came from Maxwell. Do you think they are trying to frame us to win the election?”
“Possibly, but that seems risky. Wouldn’t they be worried about Adler coming after Joniss and Albion once he was king?”
Trev scratched the back of his neck, trying to sort his thoughts out. “Maybe.”
Drake lowered his voice even more. “What about Commander Pryer? He was the only one who knew that the assassination plan had been put together and then called off again. He was for the assassination, and I’m sure he didn’t like your father calling it off because of you.”
“That’s what my gut is saying too, but my father would never hear it. They’ve been together for thirty years. Why would Pryer turn on us now?”
Drake raised his shoulders. “Maybe he thought he was doing the right thing. He probably thought the mission would be successful, and King Adler would be dead. He could never have foreseen the plan not working and Adler showing up here like he did.”
“You’re right.” Trev put his glass down on the table in front of him. “I need to go question Pryer.”