Chapter 196

I left my shoes at the entrance to the temple’s interior and traded them for some of the reed sandals offered to guests. Then, I followed the monk deep into the inner recesses of the moon temple grounds.

They had small gardens, still bare because of the elevation. Spring wasn’t even close to on its way here, but at least it was ice-free. When we reached the moon pool, a man with silver hair tied back in a ponytail at the back of his head cleaned debris from the water with a skimmer.

The monk who led me up there cleared his throat. “Monk Blythe,” he said. “You have a visitor.”

After exchanging bows with Monk Blythe, the monk who showed me in, turned and left.

Monk Blythe let out a sigh. “You’re from Packhaven, aren’t you?”

“I am,” I confirmed.

“Then, my past has finally caught up with me.”

“No, no, no. Not at all. Not like what you think,” I hurried to reassure him. “We only found you because your mother-in-law trusted us and sent us your direction.”

“My mother-in-law?” Monk Blythe said.

“Yes.”

“But I’ve never been married,” he insisted.

He let out a sigh and turned away from me, his hands trembling in his hold on the net.

Clearly, this man wasn’t just going to trust me because I asked him to. But I couldn’t really blame him. I knew the kind of people that would have come after him. And if he still had children in hiding, then I would want to stay as hidden as possible so as not to bring attention to them, as well.

I would have to be the one to open up to him first.

“Monk Blythe,” I said, “I’ve traveled a long way to see you. And I understand that trust is something that needs to be built. Is there someplace that we can talk? I’d like to tell you my story first.”

He paused a moment and then slowly nodded, his grip on the handle of his net going white at the knuckles. “After your journey, I suppose the least I can do is listen,” he said. “Come.”

I followed him to a small shed where he put away the net. And then he led me inside one of the numerous buildings.

Despite Theo’s assurances that the monks in this temple were safe, I couldn’t help the nervous trip of my heart. Or maybe I had just gotten so used to being escorted by a security guard everywhere that I no longer knew how to be by myself.

Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, I’d be able to go about my business as usual, and this feeling wouldn’t be so unaccustomed. I wouldn’t have to be afraid without a guard. And I wouldn’t have to know how to function without somebody following me around.

The room Monk Blythe showed me into was some sort of study room for the monks and initiates at the temple. There were numerous desks spread out with maps and books in careful stacks.

“Please don’t touch any of the other monks’ works,” he said. “Some of them have been organizing what you see on the tables for weeks or even months.”

“I won’t touch a thing,” I promised. “Is this an okay place to have a conversation, though? If it’s a workspace for so many…”

He nodded. “There are specific hours set aside for studying, but they aren’t until later. It’s an evening activity after supper for the monks,” he explained.

I took the offered seat and waited for him to make himself comfortable. He sat and stared at me expectantly.

I launched into my story, going all the way back to when Charles took over at my work and the whole thing with Culpepper blew up in our faces. Outside the windows, the light went from afternoon to evening and darkened into night.

Still, he listened politely, quietly nodding along but not interrupting. When I finished with the visit with his mother-in-law, Monk Blythe let out a long sigh, leaned back in his chair, and eyed me carefully.

“Are you willing to help me?” I asked.

“I can see the honesty in your eyes and smell it on your scent,” he said. “Yes, I will trust you. I know that both my mother-in-law and Queen Yarrow have warned you. Yet. I feel especially strongly, as a former physician, that it is my duty to continue to warn you about the dangers you’re sinking yourself into.”

The door to the study room opened, and another monk poked his head in. Monk Blythe held out a hand to him. “Could you pass along to the other monks that I’ll be needing the room for a while tonight? They have my apologies.”

The monk at the doorway nodded his head, and the door clicked shut again.

“I am aware of the dangers,” I said. “I feel like I have this conversation all the time with everyone.”

He smiled at me. “Then it’s good that you have so many people in your life who care that deeply about you. You’re doing their feelings for you justice in your actions?”

“I think I am. Even if my life ends, I think it’s worth it. But don’t tell my fiancé or my bodyguard that I said that. They might disagree.”

He smiled at me. “You follow a noble calling. I understand. I had that once in my own life. But then I had to choose to protect my children.” He waved his hand around the room. “I ended up here.”

He pressed his lips together, dead seriousness taking over his expression. “Everything you fear is true. Queen Rosemary was poisoned. I tried to make my notes in the Alpha Archives at the time reflect that without openly saying it. I hadn’t fully hidden my wife and children yet, and I couldn’t risk their lives.

“Because the king is not a good man. The state in which so many of his companions and attendants came into my office sickened me. But when a man like that has absolute power, it’s very difficult to step in. I thought rather than calling him out on his behavior, the way I could serve him best was to try to protect those around him and patch them up to the best of my abilities.

“But when he decided to be rid of Queen Rosemary, there was nothing I could do. The particular poison that he had chosen to use isn’t something that I could flush from her bloodstream, not if he was going to continue to give it to her.”

By this point, I felt rather down. “Did you ever warn her?” I asked. “You should have.”

“I didn’t need to. She knew. Queen Rosemary begged me to just save her baby. I had guessed that she was pregnant.” He nodded, lost in the past. “I despaired of being able to fulfill that promise. It was one of the lowest points in my medical career. I promised that poor woman that I would save her baby, and yet I knew that there was nothing that I could do with all of that poison in her system. I was shocked the infant had survived as far into the pregnancy as it had.”

“Then the baby died?” I asked, hope deflating within me. “There is no heir?”

He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling, his expression suggesting his thoughts were far away. “I honestly don’t know what happened to the baby.”

“How can you not know?” I asked, feeling frustrated, like I had reached yet another dead end when the goddess had specifically pointed me to this man. I hadn’t pictured her as a prankster, but this was cruel.