The Traitor Queen

Chapter Eleven

Over the next few days leading up to the ball, we scoured over every piece of information we could get our hands on and still we didn't find anything. Just when we thought we were nearing the end, the table becoming clear once again with all of the stacks of paper on the floor, servants arrived with even more information for Kayne and I to search through. Just how many interactions had Racaea had with Icrodeia?

During the evenings, I returned to the blacksmiths to see Auron and Trik with concerned and suspicious looks upon their faces. I never had time to talk to them though, all I did was sleep and head straight for the archives again as soon as I awoke. Thankfully, the castle provided us with meals to eat as we worked and they were some of the best meals I had ever eaten.

It left the two males guessing as to what was going on. They whispered to each other, occasionally stifling laughter as I walked past, discussing what they thought was happening in my life. Auron had more of an idea, but I still didn't know if he had told Trik of my engagement to Kayne.

Occasionally, when I returned to the table piled with papers in the morning, I would find the prince asleep where he sat. His head would either be settled against his chest uncomfortably, or it would be resting against the desk. I tried to draw a moustache above his lip the first time I had caught him with the pen I always kept on me, so I would have something to entertain myself as I worked, but he awoke before I could succeed.

While Kayne always appeared to seem bored beyond comparison, I enjoyed looking at the snippets of information from Icrodeia. It was fun learning the small details about my homeland. The names of spices that could only be grown in the kingdom's cold climate, how the most common trade between our two lands was wolf pelts. I felt as if I was growing closer and closer to knowing what it was like to live there.

Now, it was the morning of the ball and we still had yet to find anything. My gown that Miss Brynn was supposedly making still hadn't arrived and I had to admit I was becoming a little nervous. Would it even arrive before the ball commenced? What would I wear if it didn't? Perhaps we had been too absorbed in searching for clues to the motive for Icrodeia's plans that we had forgotten to be briefed on how the night would go.

Twisting my head from side to side to relieve the tension in my neck and stretching my arms out in front of me, I adjusted my position so that I would be more comfortable. My eyes mindlessly scanned the page I held, tracing over the list of imports and exports from particular regulars. It was difficult to decide what was deemed important and what was irrelevant, especially when obscure items were being traded such as supposed enchantments and magically bound objects.

As I came across a certain word that stood out to me, I sat up stiffly in my chair. Trik Whitmore. He had so many trades with Icrodeia, so much so that it took up pages and pages to list them all entirely. They consisted of metals that could only be bought in that kingdom, expensive jewels from rich families to be used on the fancier items he made, and, of course, the exports of the products he made for customers located there.