The words were written in Kaulish and although Matteo had studied the language for many years, he was not fluent in it. He had to read the note several times before he understood the meaning. Because he didn’t want to believe what he was reading.
The words from Nora’s note repeated in his head:We have been betrayed.
Betrayed.
He took a deep breath and then exhaled it slowly. He kneaded his chest with one hand. Only a few people knew that Elea and Nora were returning to Urka on a merchant ship instead of the main ship in the Urkan armada. Elea had thought to trick the Kauls and secure herself a safe passage home. It had been a clever plan. Only five people at the castle had known about it: Elea, Nora, Matteo, Isabel, and Xavier. Two women dressed like the princesses with dyed purple hair had left from the main port in Precio, while the two real princesses had departed from a smaller city port used primarily for smuggling.
It beggared belief that the Kaulish Navy would attack such a small ship unless they knew of its cargo. And the only way that they would have known is if Xavier had told them.
Xavier.
Matteo didn’t have a memory without his best friend in it. They had learned to swim together. Fight together. Dance together. Flirt together. Xavier had grieved with him when his father died. He had helped Matteo carry the coffin to the crypt. Then he had held Matteo in a tight hug as he cried like a child. Xavier was like a brother to him.
He knew all of Matteo’s deepest secrets . . . and Xavier had sold them to the highest bidder. He’d betrayed their friendship. Their country. And their king.
“Quiet, pigeon brain!” Xavier said with a yawn as he sat up. “We’ve only gotten three hours of sleep. . . . Where’s your note, little bird?”
Matteo held it up.
“I have it,” he said, his voice growing rough and thick.
Matteo’s vision blurred for a moment, but he could still see the blood draining from his friend’s face. Yet Xavier managed a smile. “Give it to me. You know a good spymaster never gives up his informants.”
Matteo tossed the rolled note onto the bed.
“I daresay the exchange of information between you and Candide is exceptionally profitable,” he said, folding his arms. “How long have you been selling my secrets to the highest bidder?”
Xavier glanced down at the note. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve probably misunderstood what you’ve read. You’re Kaulish is only academic, after all. Trust me, you do not speak the vernacular very well.”
“My grasp on Kaulish is good enough to understand that you betrayed Nora,” Matteo said, staring at his former friend coldly. “I want to know how much her life was worth. How much they paid you to betray me.”
His spymaster’s hands were shaking as he unrolled the note and he gasped as he read the contents. Then he dropped it as if it were on fire. “Nora’s being tortured.”
Matteo grinded his teeth. “And it’s your fault.”
“I did not know that they would harm her. You have to believe me.”
“I have believed your lies long enough,” Matteo said, stepping toward him menacingly.
Xavier scrambled to his feet and held up his arms, as if to defend himself. “It was never supposed to be Nora. It was supposed to be Elea, and you hated her. Why would you care if she married the Dauphin of Kaul?”
“Because I had a treaty with Urka. An alliance of protection against Kaul. One that I always intended to honor, even without the marriage by proxy. And because they trusted us, and you betrayed both princesses, possibly to their deaths.”
His former friend took a step back. “I saved your life last night. I fought with you and for you. My loyalty has always been yours.”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word.” Matteo picked up his sword and pointed it at his friend. “Because of your betrayal, nearly forty of my best soldiers are dead, and more will die in the coming days.”
Xavier shook his head. “You were the one who wanted to go to war, not me. Their deaths are on your head as well.”
Matteo started naming the fallen: “Moreno. Romero. Rodriguez. Garcia. Lopez. Hernandez—”
He covered his ears with his hands. “Stop! Just stop.”
Matteo pricked Xavier lightly in the shoulder. “You may grab a weapon. We will settle this in the courtyard, where I will make you bleed for each of them.”
Xavier glanced down at his underwear. “In only our breeches?”
“I could slaughter you in your bed, but I prefer to give you a fighting chance before I run my blade through the place which should have held your heart.”