“So what does Evan suggest?”
“He’s having each one of them followed to see who they interact with and then we will try to trail those people, but at some point, that won’t be sustainable. I believe he’s trying to focus on the most likely candidates—so those who have wealth and access that could pay for assassins and to cover it up.”
Teddy squeezed her arm a little tighter. “We had a scuffle with the Roach and his friends leaving the bar last night.”
His mother smiled and waved at a well-dressed lord and lady who walked by them. “We?”
“Stella and I.”
Jessamin’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh? You were leaving together?”
Teddy rolled his eyes. “Not like you’re thinking. She walked me back to the castle because I was drunk and she was not and—” He tapped his chest and lowered his voice. “She just didn’t want to feel me make a fool of myself.”
“I don’t know. I think that girl has a good bit of her mother in her,” Jessamin said. “Cece has always been concerned with everyone else before herself.”
“Except Father.” The words were out of his mouth before his sluggish brain caught up.
His mother stopped short and glared at him. “I won’t hear that from you. You are young and don’t know what you’re talking about. You can hate her all you want for being the hero when you think your father should be, but I have taught you better than to ignore the deeds of women in history in favor of what men decide is important.”
Teddy looked down at the ground, chastised. “I’m sorry.”
If his father was the one constantly reminding him to be impeccable, his mother was the one who was always praising him for his wisdom and temperance and allowing him a place to express his frustration and anxieties. She was also the one to remind him that his father hadn’t mastered everything all at once. It had taken Xander a long time to come into his own as a ruler. Jessamin was a woman of grace and gentle encouragement, unless he needed a firm push.
But Teddy was so tired of the pressure already and he wasn’t even king yet. He didn’t know how either of his parents had managed to not be completely burned out on court life by the time they were his age.
His mother took his chin in her hands and forced him to meet her eye. “It’s fine. You’ve had a stressful few days. Now, you must prepare yourself for this interrogation. You can’t act out. You can’t react at all. I hate to pressure you, especially when you’re in a state, but if ever there was a time to be perfect, this is it. Endros will try to bait youwith everything you expect him to. You can assume he knows the truth about our family, but it’s best you play dumb.”
Teddy rolled his shoulders out and took a deep breath.
She cupped his face in her hands. “I know that you are your own man now, but this is a moment when I need you to bemyson. Be as still as the mirror surface of a lake. No matter what is going on beneath the water, you must remain placid. We don’t know what game Endros is playing, and until we do, things need to remain business as usual.”
“Yes, Mother.”
He knew she was right. His mother was an amazing strategist, and he had enormous respect for how calm she could remain while listening to men take credit for the success of her ideas. He’d watched his father smirk at her across war strategy tables for years, a silent conversation passing between them, Xander animated and obviously annoyed, Jessamin reminding him not to show it. Though their relationship was unconventional, they made an excellent team.
As good of a team as Teddy and Grace would make. His stomach dropped as he tried to shove the sadness to the farthest corner of his mind.
Teddy frowned. “One question, though—how is Endros managing to run the interrogation himself? He can’t possibly expect to stay corporeal here long enough to speak to all twelve of us who remain in the Games.”
Jessamin glowed with pride. “Good catch, darling. Evan and I suspect that’s exactly the point he’s trying to make. They believe the faith of the Sons of Endros has strengthened his ability to stay in this realm for longer periods of time. We think he’s trying to show off—intimidate us with his looming presence.”
Teddy swallowed hard. That was an unnerving possibility. All the living gods had been killed and had ascended to the Otherworld, the realm of the gods. Their power could be felt in small ways in the living world, and they could stay for short periods of time to visit with their subjects, capable of using a limited amount of their magic on the world. But conducting a full-day interrogation of theremaining twelve competitors should have been beyond Endros’s capability.
The god of war and discord thrived off instilling fear, so this was probably just another tactic.
His mother led him down a candlelit corridor. She squeezed his arm and his chest warmed. “You should be up next. I’m not sure where Rainer and Cece are, but Endros is in there with Stella now.”
“Endros? Is in there? With Stella?” Teddy didn’t think. He charged toward the doors.
Rainer and Cecilia weren’t out here waiting because Stella had most definitely not told her parents she was being interrogated by the god of war.
His fingertips brushed the handle, and the door swung open.
Stella stared at him, her face awash with surprise and relief. Endros appeared over her shoulder. Teddy lost his composure. Seeing the god looming over her filled him with protective rage.
“YourHighness,” Endros said, the title meant as a taunt more than anything else, but Teddy’s focus was immediately drawn to Stella.
Their bond buzzed with warmth. That’s what he’d felt a moment earlier. Not his mother’s comfort, but the nearness of Stella.
