Free Web NovelChapter 334: Chapter 334
Ragnar advanced a few steps into the parlour.
It was only then that the figure rose from her seat in a smooth, unhurried motion. As she turned, the firelight caught the deep blue fabric of her dress. The hood still concealed the upper half of her face, and the only thing visible were her lips, a sharp jaw, high cheekbones.
Ragnar recognized her instantly.
"Did anyone from the palace see you coming here?" he asked as he moved deeper into the room. "I did not just escape a beheading just to be discovered colluding with one of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting."
She lifted her hands and pushed back the hood, revealing the rest of her face. Golden hair she gathered in a single braid over her shoulder.
"I can be very discreet," Seraphine said calmly. "You forget that I have far more to lose if this little meeting of ours is ever discovered."
That much was true.
Since Irah’s death, Seraphine had taken over as head lady-in-waiting, a position that placed her constantly within the queen’s reach. Any hint of betrayal would not be forgiven.
Ragnar waved a hand, dismissing the matter. "Go on. Tell me what you came for."
She did not hesitate.
"On the same day Irah was murdered," Seraphine said, "Hairan was with his betrothed. Their carriage was attacked with arrows just outside the inner district."
Ragnar’s expression did not change. He already knew this.
"Lady Elka was harmed," she continued, "but she has since recovered. The queen suspects the attack came from Aeron Tavish," Seraphine said. "And it appears she may be right. They met not long after, just the two of them. I overheard everything."
That caught his attention.
"It seems," she added carefully, "that her majesty and the Tavish brothers are experiencing a few altercations."
Ragnar hummed quietly, his gaze drifting to the fire as he considered this new thread of information. The queen and House Tavish had proven themselves to be the sharpest thorns at his side. Their alliance had been relentless, their attacks coordinated and merciless. Even earlier that day, the queen and Laheir Tavish had stood united as they sought his blood.
But perhaps that unity was not as solid as it appeared.
If cracks had begun to form, if mistrust had taken root then this knowledge could be very useful. It would be easier to take them down individually than it would be if they were a group.
He looked back to Seraphine, studying her face for any sign of deception, any crack in the carefully arranged calm she wore so well. Thus far, she had been a reliable informant, his own shadow embedded deep within the queen’s inner circle and she was frighteningly proficient at it. Seraphine kept him abreast of Nheera’s movements, her shifting alliances, the names of those she plotted with and those she quietly sharpened her knives against. Because of her, Ragnar had managed to stay at least one step ahead of the queen more times than he could count.
She had even warned him recently that Nheera was laying the groundwork for something far more permanent than political embarrassment, a scheme meant to remove him from the board entirely. Yet even Seraphine’s reach had limits. She had been unable to uncover the full scope of the plan and, as a result, hadn’t known that the queen would attempt to frame him for treason.
Nheera had grown cautious of late, particularly after Irah’s murder. The queen no longer spoke freely of her plans, not even among her ladies-in-waiting. It made Seraphine’s task infinitely more dangerous and far more difficult. Skilled as she was, Ragnar had never been able to trust her completely. Not her loyalty, nor the true motives behind her betrayal of the woman she served.
"This is a dangerous thing to bring me," Ragnar said at last, his voice measured, his gaze never leaving her face. "And I fully intend to use it to my advantage."
Seraphine’s lips curved into a smile that failed to reach her eyes. "I hope you do," she replied softly. "My only wish is that I live long enough to see the queen stripped of everything she ever held dear. It’s what she deserves for what she did to my sister."
Her sister, Emery.
Once, Emery had been celebrated as one of the most beautiful women in the capital. And as it had gone for so many women like her, the king had taken notice. Drawn in by her beauty and emboldened by his authority as king, he had pursued her with shameless persistence, entirely disregarding the inconvenient truth that Emery was married. His attraction had been brazen, one-sided, and impossible to ignore and it had enraged Nheera.
The king had cared little for appearances, nor for the fact that Emery began actively avoiding him in an attempt to protect herself. His attention alone was enough to ruin her. Whispers spread through the court, twisting the truth until she was branded a wanton woman, an adulteress who had seduced the king with her feminine wiles. The queen, seething with jealousy and spite, ensured the damage cut far deeper.
Nheera made Emery’s life unbearable. She seized half the lands belonging to Emery’s husband, sabotaged his ventures, and maneuvered his businesses to the brink of collapse. Their fortune dwindled with alarming speed, and the humiliation was relentless. In the end, battered and cornered, Emery and her husband had no choice but to flee the capital entirely, disgraced, their reputations in tatters, leaving behind everything they had built simply to escape further cruelty.
But the queen had not been satisfied.
Seraphine herself had been summoned before the court and forced to publicly denounce her sister, to sever all ties with her as though Emery were a stranger, not of her own blood.
Before nobles and commoners alike, Seraphine was made to condemn her sister’s supposed whorish behavior while Nheera watched from her throne, lips curled into a sly, satisfied smirk.
She did it because Nheera gave her no choice. Compliance was the only way to remain a lady-in-waiting. Defiance would have made her the queen’s next victim. freēwebnovel.com
Ragnar had been little more than a child when it all unfolded, but the bitterness it left behind had never faded. It still festered within Seraphine, raw and poisonous. That was why she had never so much as blinked when betraying Nheera again and again.
After a long silence, Seraphine spoke once more. "Did you know that I was the one who gave Jayran the ring?"
Ragnar shook his head slightly. "I did not."
She let out a quiet chuckle. "I didn’t think he would tell you. I’ll admit, I was quite confused when he came to me asking for help stealing a ring. My first thought was that he’d squandered all his funds." Her eyes gleamed faintly with amusement. "Then I wondered whether whores had become so expensive that he’d resorted to stealing his mother’s jewelry."
Ragnar stiffened. He knew exactly where she was going with this, and he didn’t like it.
"But then," she continued, unfazed, "after I took it, he left the palace in such a rush. And the way the queen reacted when she discovered it missing..." Seraphine tilted her head. "That confirmed it for me. It wasn’t just a ring, was it?"
The question lingered between them, heavy and expectant. Ragnar did not answer. fгeewebnovёl.com
Seraphine studied him for a moment, then smiled again when it became clear she would get nothing more from him. "Very well," she said lightly. "You may keep your secrets."
She drew her hood up, covering up her features as she turned away. "I’ll relay anything else I learn."
