Chapter 65

I press end and go to collect my bags, but Edam’s already carrying them up the stairs. No one speaks as we board. It’s a nice plane, roomy even, at least, until Frederick fills every seat.

“Wow,” I say. “This is a top of the line jet, Noah.”

“I’m blessed, that’s for sure.” Noah hands me a menu. “Feel free to order anything that looks good. I’ve noticed you don’t peck at things like a bird.”

“I think I’m being insulted,” I say.

“All this flirting is giving me a headache,” Edam says. “And we need to practice a few moves and then you need a nap.”

I fill Noah in on the basics of what’s going on while we wait for our sandwiches. I tell him a little more about my mom’s death, how she changed the heirship documents, and how my sister challenged me. I tell him I suspect my sister killed our mother, and that she’s planning to bomb an open area to cement her rule.

“Wait.” The color drains from Noah’s face. “Didn’t you say the only open area is in China?”

He catches on too fast. “Don’t worry,” I say. “I’ll stop her.”

He lifts both eyebrows. “You also said she’s a warrior and you’re not.”

I open my mouth to argue, but he’s right. I might lose. Actually, the odds are probably stacked against me no matter how you look at it. He should worry.

Noah gulps. “Do you know where in China?”

“I wish I did.”

“You’re flying back to try and stop this attack, and you were going to leave me behind?”

“But I didn’t leave you, and if I lose, you can warn your family immediately.”

“Warn them of what?” he asks. “Tell them to hide in a bomb shelter while everyone else they know dies?”

“It’s not ideal,” I say, “but at least you can tell them to evacuate from any metropolitan areas.”

His knee bounces up and down frenetically during takeoff. Once we’re in the air, he stills entirely.

Edam stands up and pulls me to my feet, too. He shows me the moves he mentioned earlier.

Noah watches us stoically.

Once I sit back down, he asks, “Do you really have a chance of winning?”

Edam growls. “Of course she’s going to win, you idiot.”

“What?” Noah asks. “I don’t know anything about this. Last time we spoke, you were marrying Rocky here so he could fight for you.”

“Change of plans,” Edam says. “But she’s got this.” Noah opens his mouth and Edam cuts him off. “Unless you badger her with questions and she can’t sleep.”

Noah’s mouth clicks shut, and he leans back stiffly in his chair.

I breathe in and out a few times and close my eyes before my phone starts jangling in my pocket. Caller ID says it’s Alora. I’m surprised I’ve got reception, even with a satellite phone. I hit talk.

“Alora?” I ask. “Is everything okay?”

“Chancy? Can you hear me? Are you in the air?”

“I am.”

“Marselle needed to talk to you again.”

“Okay.” I wait.

Marselle says, “Chancery? I’ve been looking into your mom’s murder ever since it happened. You already know my suspicions.”

Angel. But even if she administered the poison, she may just be the delivery person. My heart stutters. I think my twin killed our mom, but part of me still hopes she didn’t. “What have you learned?”

Marselle clears her throat. “How much do you know about how our immune system works?”

“Not a lot,” I admit.

“In order to poison one of us, the poison must be very strong and fast-acting, or it must accumulate slowly with one type, and punch through with another. If death is caused by accumulation, it requires consistent small doses to weaken the system first, then a significant dose of something strong to push our body over the edge. Accumulation is more commonly successful because usually the strong acting poisons are detectable, either through use of dog testing or smell, or texture.”

“Okay,” I say.

“The poison that killed your mother was exceedingly rare and difficult to detect, but it was neither strong nor fast acting. That means—”

“She was dosed over an extended period of time, and then hit right before her death with a separate toxin.”

“Yes, we believe so. But the only poison registering in the examinations is the accumulation variety, a marine toxin we thought had long been extinct. I have no idea where it could have been procured, but Chancery?”

“Yeah.”

“Someone very old was involved.”

A chill runs down my spine. “Someone old?” Judica is many things, but she isn’t old by any standard.

“It had to be administered over at least two months, which means substantial quantities over an extended period.”

And the poisoning began long before I reacted to the ring. “That means it was someone who had access to her consistently. Or possibly two different people.” I close my eyes, unmoored, confused.

“It would have had other side effects, things you might have noticed,” Marselle says.

“Such as?” I ask.

“Most of the side effects might have been dismissed or hidden by Enora if she feared they were signs of aging.”

“You’re saying it would have caused fatigue or body aches?” I ask.

“Sure, but some of the side effects would have been stranger. For example, it can cause contraceptives to fail.”

Which means the poisoner might have actually caused the pregnancy I thought prompted the assassination in the first place. Judica might have been telling the truth. Or she might have done it, but recruited help.

“Wait, why did you say someone old was involved?”

“The identity of that poison was difficult to figure out, but once we did, it’s easier to track because it’s nearly impossible to obtain. Especially in the quantities used.”

“You mentioned it was rare.”

“I looked into where it might have come from,” Marselle says.

“Any luck?” I ask.

“We found someone who supplied about half of what would have been used.”

Whoa. “That’s good, right? Can they identify the purchaser?”

“Maybe,” Marselle says. “If the supplier hadn’t died before we could learn much. The only thing we forced from her was that the buyer wasn’t young. They met for the first time more than two hundred years ago.”

I want to put my hand through the wall of Noah’s shiny jet. “Did you learn anything useful at all?”

“The ledger contained a single notation regarding the purchase. Does the word Nereus mean anything to you?”

“No. Does it to you?”

“No,” Marselle says, “but I looked it up. In Greek mythology, Nereus is the son of Gaia and the sea. He ruled the oceans of the earth.”

“So the marine toxin is fitting,” I say.

“That’s everything my agents were able to pass along,” Marselle says. “But I’ll keep digging. Let me pass you back to Alora.”

“Okay,” I say. “Thanks.”

Alora says, “I’m sorry we don’t know more yet,” at the same time Noah’s flight attendant shows up with our sandwiches.

Noah jokes with her while he takes them.

“Who are you with?” Alora asks, her voice strained for some reason.

I glance around the plane. Edam’s listening and shrugs.

“Edam’s here.”

“Where did you procure the jet you’re taking?” she asks.

“I’m safe,” I say. “I’m with a friend from school.”

“So you know.” Alora makes a strangled sound. “That’s why you didn’t take my plane. I assumed Inara sent one.”

My appetite evaporates. “That would have taken too long.”

Alora cries softly into the phone, and the truth slaps me in the face. Alora’s been my best friend other than Lark. I thought she loved me as much as Mom.

But she betrayed me to Judica.

“Why?” I ask softly.

“I’m so sorry, Chancery,” Alora says. “I would never have done it if I had a choice.”

So much for her advice.

“Hang up on her,” Edam says.

“Chancy,” Alora pleads, “don’t hang up. I need to explain. You weren’t Heir, so you don’t understand—”

“You’re right,” I say harshly. “I wouldn’t understand. I was never Heir. I was always a nobody. No one ever cared what I thought or did, and apparently you still don’t, even now.”

I hang up.