The Eyes of the Dragon

39

I had nothing to do with this, Anders,” Peter said. He had recovered himself, but his face was still pale and wretched, his eyes a deeper blue than the old judge-General had ever seen them.

“The box is yours, then?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you deny that you had such a box?”

“I forgot. I haven’t seen this box in probably eleven years or more. My mother gave it to me.”

“What happened to it?”

He’s not calling me “m'Lord” or “your Highness” anymore, Peter thought with a chill. He’s not calling me by any term of respect at all. Can all of this really be happening, I wonder? Father poisoned? Thomas terribly ill? Peyna standing here and doing everything but accusing me of murder? And my box-where in the name of the gods did it come from, and who put it in the secret compartment behind the books?

“I lost it,” Peter said slowly. “Anders, you don’t really believe I murdered my father, do you?”

I did not… but now I wonder, Anders Peyna thought.

“I loved him dearly,” Peter said.

I always thought so… but now I wonder about that, too, Anders Peyna thought.