He summoned Nyoka during breakfast. The forest nymph seemed cautiously excited to be there, despite the presence of the hounds, ever inclined to hunt her for their morning exercise. Eris ordered them to his study and closed the door.

“Take a seat. Break your fast with me. We haven’t been spending enough time together lately.”

“Indeed we haven’t. You have been … distant,” she said as she spread berry jam over a thick slice of bread. There was some hesitancy in her movements, in her words, not the usual giddy excitement to spend the morning with him.

“There has been a lot on my mind.” Eris stabbed a few olives with a skewer and proceeded to pick them off with his teeth one by one.

“The Oracle?” Nyoka asked cautiously.

“That and more.” They sat in silence for a bit, picking at the breakfast spread. Eris filed through everything he knew about Nyoka, all her tells and wants, all the work he’d done to turn her into a decent spy. He would have to take her by surprise and stick to yes or no questions. If he didn’t let her mix truth and lies he could easily figure her out.

“Did you bring the pelt to Vel’s room on the morning of her leave?”

“No. I already told you it was there when I came to bring breakfast.” Nyoka seemed entirely displeased to be questioned but there was something else, something that Eris couldn’t quite pinpoint so he pushed further.

“Your scent was on the furs as if you’d carried it.” Ruby had been especially interested in sniffing at Nyoka when she came in, not as prey, but as a warning. The hound had sat by the furs afterward, staring pointedly at Eris.

“She had thrown it on the back of the couch, like some rag.” Nyoka’s nose crinkled but Eris wasn’t sure if it was due to the perceived slight of Vel’s poor manners or because of a lie. “I found it rude to leave it like that so I folded it and placed it on the desk.” He’d have to try a different angle.

“Did you tell anyone that she was going to leave?”

“She asked me not to.” Nyoka looked away, her features schooled into neutrality. Eris could tell that she was concentrating on every muscle in her face.

“That’s not quite an answer.”

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Nyoka sighed and conceded. “I told the High Lord. He commanded me to inform him of everything she said, word for word.” Eris’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“Is there anything else you’ve been doing for the High Lord?” She stared at him for a long moment, weighing her options.

“Promise me you will forgive me for what I’m about to tell you.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know I cannot do that. Just tell me the truth without making it more difficult for me and I will at least appreciate you for that.”

She picked at a bowl of nuts and avoided his gaze entirely.

“The High Lord. He made me add something to the Oracle’s food and drink. There was this blue powder that I had to mix in with every meal. His lordship said it would make her more cooperative.”

Eris racked his brains for information. Blue powder. He remembered the scar on her palm. The wound from his dagger had taken longer to heal than it would be expected and it left a thick white mark where there should have been none. Ash wood would have stopped healing, they had plenty of it in the armory, despite the weapons being banned. But he’d never heard of it being used as a poison and it would have been a white powder not blue.

“Did he say anything else about this powder?”

Nyoka shook her head. “It felt all wrong … when I touched it I mean, it felt … strange, like my body was repulsed by it. And Vel … she started having headaches and bad dreams. At first, I thought perhaps they would’ve been related to her powers but …” Eris was leaning, elbows on his knees, almost ready to jump up and shake Nyoka. “But then the High Lord summoned her that night, and I led her to his study. He called me back only an hour or so later. She was gone and he told me to take the furs to her room and never say a word about it, especially not to you.” She gave him a pointed look.

“Cauldron boil me, Nyoka why haven’t you said anything earlier before it had gone so far?” Eris took one moment to reassess everything he’d found out. “How long have you been working for him?”

Tears were welling in her eyes. “Everything I did … I did it for you … for us. You think me naive, with all the honeyed words you’ve been pouring in my ear. But I know we could never be together if you became High Lord. Lesser Faeries do not become consorts, it would start a scandal.” Nyoka sobbed and Eris went to sit next to her, offering a handkerchief. “He said, if I helped him with Vel, he would be able to remain High Lord forever. That would mean we could get away from here, and lead a nice quiet life away from court. You’d never have to worry about all of this ever again.” She looked up at him, her eyes big and wet and he tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Isn’t that what you’d like? To be free of your father?”

Eris ignored her question. She knew damn well that he wanted his father gone, not to flee from him.

“Let me ask you something Nyoka. If you had to run away and start life anew in another court, would you do it?”

“Without you?” He nodded. “Of course not!”

“Even if I begged you to?” She seemed to pause to consider if Eris had ever begged for anything in his life. He had, many times, in his youth when his father would whip him for disobedience, for amusement, or simply because he was bored. Eris never quite understood his father’s reasons. Nowadays he never gave the bastard the satisfaction of begging, which only made Beron more angry and more violent. When Nyoka didn’t answer he pushed. “Even if your life was threatened? Even if you would die if you stayed?”

“I would never leave you, no matter what.” He hated Nyoka. He hated his father. And more than anything he hated himself for what he had to do.

Eris reached out and brushed his fingers over her tanned cheek. Her eyes shone with the remnants of tears, but also with emotion – hope and longing. Hope for a future that couldn’t exist and longing for a person that he was not. And she had done so much, gone so far for those two things. He pulled her into a hug and stroked her back. Nyoka’s body shook with a heartbreaking sob.

“I’m sorry. I wish it could have been different,” he whispered as he slid the dagger between her ribs and into her heart.