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Totally unfair.
We turned a corner and Bishop stopped short. Without warning, he started rushing backward, coming straight at me. I backed quickly, but my boots tripped me up and I lost my balance. Before I could fall, Bishop caught my waist with one arm and slammed his palm over my mouth with the other to stifle my cry of alarm. With his full body, he pressed me into a crevice between a knight’s armor and the alcove where he’d been stationed.
I narrowed my eyes at Bishop. “You have a lot of nerve, buddy.”
Truth be told, with his hand covering my mouth, it definitely came out a lot more garbled, like Charlie Brown’s teacher but ticked off. Who did he think he was, shoving me into the shadows and pretending like we were—
“Shhh!” he cautioned. “I heard someone.”
“So what?”
He must have understood me even with my voice muffled by his hand.
“So, you’re not supposed to be over here. I swear it was the queen and I don’t like our odds if we’re found out, that’s what.” He drew closer. “Now be a good girl and shush.”
I wanted to fight back, maybe lick his hand to get it off my mouth, but he made some valid points. I wasn’t used to not being beloved by my friends’ parents. Everyone loved me. What was up with Fitz’s mom?
“I want it there on time, do you understand?”
“He’ll suspect, Your Majesty.” The feminine voice sounded familiar, but it was still too far away to place it.
“Not a thing,” the queen insisted. “I need you to do as I ask, do you hear me? My husband will get what’s coming for him if it’s the last thing I do.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Midnight, tomorrow in the east loading bay.” Her voice darkened. “He won’t be king forever. That’s a promise.”
The footsteps moved away, but I dared not so much as breathe. Had we heard what I thought we heard? Was the queen really plotting to kill the king?
Though Bishop’s body pressed against mine, his stare was a thousand miles away. I hadn’t heard anyone wrong. He’d reached the same conclusion I had. As his hand peeled back and he edged out of the alcove, I remained still. Forget the queen not liking me because I was American, knowing that I’d overheard her plotting would only darken the target over my head. Bishop’s fingers raked through his hair, reminding me immediately of Fitz when he got stressed out. When they linked behind his head, they looked like twins.
I kept a hand on the knight who stood guard so that I wouldn’t accidentally knock the whole thing over. Call it self-awareness. If anyone could bring five-hundred-year-old artifacts to the ground, it was me.
“You heard that, right?”
Bishop snapped back to face me, as though my appearance surprised him. He started to talk but shook his head. “I don’t know what I heard.” Reason started to filter into his expression. “And you’d be smart to forget it.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a warning, Bird. If anyone knows you heard that… Leo would never forgive me if I got you kil—” He stopped early as if it would be unlucky to say it out loud. “You should get back to the others, so no one suspects you were here.”
He had a point. If I hurried, I might be able to pinpoint the voice who’d talked with the queen. But the second I took a step toward the door, I hesitated.
“Wait.” I turned back to look at Bishop. “Why were you in the hallway anyway?”
The slightest flare in his eyes told me I was onto something. “What are you asking?”
“I mean… what are the chances you were only a couple turns away from a clandestine meeting?” I narrowed my eyes as I grabbed hold of the thread of evidence. “And just sitting there… waiting.”
“Are you accusing me of involvement?” His indignance rose with every word. “You’re as bad as they are.”
“You misunderstand.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down with a look my mom called ‘The Breaker.’ A combination of tough cop, angry librarian, and sympathetic teacher, cocked eyebrow, tight lips, and soft eyes. The perfect mix of mean and tender, meant to coerce information from the most stubborn. “I don’t think you’re involved, but I think you knew it was going to happen. Didn’t you?”
“You’re bonkers.” He turned as if he planned to leave but spun back to face me. “And if you’re getting some hairbrained idea about talking with my cousin about what you just heard—”
“Of course, I will.” I couldn’t keep this from Fitz. “He deserves to know.”
“We don’t know what we heard, Michaela. It’s a risk to tell him before I gather evidence.” Muscles flashed across his jawline as he clenched his teeth. “It’s too soon. All the work I’ve…” He stopped short before he could give anything else away, but it was too late. I’d heard enough.
