Matias's hands trembled with rage as he turned Aleksasha's face away from the carnage. She didn't protest as she rested against his chest, her thoughts racing.
"It's been ten years. Why are these people protesting our marriage now?" Aleksasha asked quietly. "Why threaten us like this?"
Matias didn't answer her, he looked to Turold with a displeased frown. "Have someone clean this up. Call a priest to reconsecrate the grounds," he ordered.
Turold bowed his head. "You grace, I have an answer to the question the Duchess asked the other night."
Aleksasha lifted her face toward Turold, peering at him from the safety of Matias's arms. "What did you discover?"
"It was raining in East Fallion the night the courier arrived. We believe he came from there," Turold replied.
"Thank you, Ser Turold." She pursed her lips together as she considered what the implications were. She remembered something from her correspondence from Matias. "Matias…. Didn't your supplies on the battlefield channel through the ports of East Fallion?"
Matias glanced down at her as he started escorting her away from the graveyard. "Yes." His expression was thoughtful. "That would be a possibility. Let's return to the estate and get started on the investigation like we discussed."
Aleksasha nodded. "We'll discuss it more there, less ears and eyes upon us there," she agreed.
—
Once they were alone in her study, Matias locked the door behind them. He parted from her long enough to walk the perimeter of the room checking behind all the curtains and under furniture it for something she didn't understand. She watched him as he searched every nook and cranny for a few moments before she finally asked. "What are you looking for?"
He looked at her and raised a finger to indicate that she should keep quiet for now. She frowned but nodded.
After he returned to her he took an object from his pocket and placed it on her desk, depressing a round jewel in its center. Matias let out a long sigh. "I was looking for a listening stone. I have a detector in my pocket." He commented. He pointed to the pocket he placed on the desk. "That is a suppression device. No one will be able to hear what we discuss while that gem is depressed."
Aleksasha lifted it up carefully, it looked like an exquisite brooch set into a silver filigree with a sapphire set in its center. It was something she wouldn't have paid too much attention to if Matias wore it on his jacket, it matched what she expected of him to wear as a duke who favored minimal ornamentation. "It's magic?" She asked softly, though the explanation he gave her could only be that. "You think someone has been spying on me?"
Matias crossed his arms as he watched her. "Yes on both counts. A spy on the inside might not need be even present if they can place the right magical artifact in a key location without you noticing." He sighed. "If I have to consider all possibilities of how our cipher got leaked, this would be one that might not be readily apparent."
She frowned. "Is this why you recognized what was in the graveyard as black magic?" She asked, her tone a little sharper than she meant.
He stared at her a moment and nodded. "Yes. Part of my investigations into what happened with our fathers has led me to some obscure places. For them to mention the curse ties it all together in a way that feels too convenient."
"But it does the right amount of hurt to me," Aleksasha snapped, she pushed closer to Matias, pressing her finger against his chest as she stared up at him. "Matt, you need to tell me what is going on before this gets any more out of hand. Selene repeated the curse to me verbatim last night in the old tongue. That is not casual knowledge. What does she have to do with all of this? Why is she really here?" Her voice raised with frustration as she demanded more answers from him.
Matias looked at her with that cold unreadable expression on his face. It was infuriating but she met his icy gaze. "Matias. Please. Are you sleeping with Selene?"
He blinked at the question, caught off guard by it. "Why do you think that we are?"
Even now he's denying it!!
Her eyes widened and flared with anger. "You really dare asked me that? I walked in on you two in the study that first night! Why did she have a knife at your throat and you did nothing? I am not being unreasonable, Matias. I demand you tell me what your relationship with that woman is."
He stared at her, tilting his head to one side, weighing his options as his wife demanded answers. He placed his hands on her shoulders, pressing gently down as she glared up at him. "It's complicated."
Aleksasha batted Matias away, stepping back. "Don't give me that. That's not an answer and you know it!"
He grabbed her wrist, catching it lightly and holding it without pulling on her as he watched her anger. "I'm not sleeping with Selene." He commented casually like he was saying he wasn't folding his laundry. "No matter how much she'd like for that to not be true." Her arm relaxed as she stared at him dumbstruck.
"You jerk. Two days! You didn't say anything about it for two days and the answer was no?" She fumed, allowing Matias to tug her closer as he wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm sorry for that. I didn't realize it would go this far." He replied quietly, looking down at her with that unreadable mask in place.
"What would go this far?" She frowned at him, uncertain of what other things he was keeping from her.
"This has everything to do with the curse but nothing you did or didn't do, Alek." He replied. "They're afraid of what you will do."