James‘ question caught me off guard. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean,” he sighed. “Talon took the witness away to talk to him in private the other day. Why?”

“Because the man was overwhelmed by all the people in the room,” I explained.

“By all the people, or by you?”

I knew there was no point in arguing about it. Not only because James was a competent king, but also because he knew me well

– he knew us well.

I sighed and looked away. “One person‘s word wouldn‘t

have been enough to leap to any conclusions. I didn‘t want to cause panic or suspicion in the...