Read Online A Royal Affair by John Wiltshire - Free Book Online Page B

almost his first words to me been most of us are trying to leave ? Why would he say that about his own country to a complete stranger he had no expectation of seeing again unless it was true? Wanting to leave was very different from committing regicide to gain power. Perhaps I could cross him off my list? But then there was Anastasia. Perhaps she was the power behind a would-be throne. What princess would not rather be queen? Eliminate her rivals one by one? Perhaps she had not been the ingénue she had appeared. Perhaps my pathetic attempt to charm her to annoy Aleksey and appear not concerned by the discovery of his engagement had merely given her the opportunity to fool me and appear what she was not.
    I looked over my list. I could cross no one off; everyone was suspect. It rather left me with only one option: I would have to isolate the king from everyone and everything here at the castle. If I had him entirely to myself, he would recover. I doubted he would ever be the vigorous man he had once apparently been, but some semblance of health and life could be returned to him. I was determined to try. But it had to be all or nothing. If I left any gap in my regime, any access for someone to reach him, then it would appear as if my methods had failed. Ridding the body of poisons through sweat and the application of certain foods worked. I knew this. I had proved it to myself and others many times. But… how did you isolate a king?
    Either I mistook a knock for the rhythmic banging I had been trying to ignore, or Aleksey did not knock when he entered my study. I filed this away, making a mental note not to be doing anything in my rooms that might embarrass me should he repeat such behavior. Not only did he come in without waiting for me to give him permission, he began to wander around touching things, examining them. I did not fear for my notes, even though I had written him in as a possible suspect, for I had written in my own shorthand. Not only would it be entirely indecipherable to anyone who pried, it was usually entirely indecipherable to me.
    Finally he glanced over. “How long have you been back?”
    “I’m sorry?”
    “I thought you might come and find me and tell me what your examination uncovered.”
    I genuinely had not considered this. Thinking everyone a possible murderer, I had forgotten that there might also be a concerned son. “I’m sorry. I should have….” He heard something in my voice, something that told him my news was not good. Before I could say more, he glanced at me despairingly.
    “Not here. I can’t stay inside a moment longer; I will go insane. Do you ride? Of course you do. You rode here. Would you like to ride? Now?”
    I stood up, laying down my notebook. “Yes. I would. Shall we ride to an inn?”
    He jerked his head back, and I heard the implication in what I had said. “I’m hungry!”
    “Oh.” He chuckled. “In that case, yes, I will take you out so you can eat . Is our food not to your liking? But I would rather eat at an inn anyway. Come, what do you need?”
    I grabbed my coat, pulled on my riding boots, and I was ready. We took the stairs toward the stables, Aleksey in the lead. My ability to navigate around the castle was still severely limited. I glanced behind me. “Where is the wolf thing?”
    He narrowed his eyes, as if communing with the damn beast. “Faelan, thank you for asking, is visiting with your horse.”
    “What!” I had a horrible vision of just what a wolf visit to a horse could entail.
    “They are discussing us, I believe.”
    “Are you completely insane, or is this just something you do to amuse yourself?”
    “Xavier has many interesting things to say about you. I suppose he would, after having you ride him for so long….”
    I didn’t rise to this. Perhaps I was imagining the flirting, the continual language translation needed between us making me misconstrue his innocent chatter. “How do you know his name? I have not told anyone what he