Chapter 13 - Double-edged Dagger

Julia slammed the tumbler on the table after drinking up. She was happy. This was not the kind of wine you could find anywhere else than in an Alpha King's heir's chamber.

"Do you want to drink more?" James had been treating her nicer than before since they came back from the deserted cave in Northlake.

It was completely opposite of how she thought he would be, after Harold had pointed accusing fingers at her.

"Hmmm" she moaned. She couldn't resist the taste of this wine even if she would get drunk and misbehave.

"It's alright" James smiled and poured wine for her again.

She drank up again.

"Imagine if that was poisoned?" James chuckled.

"Poisoned?" Julia was startled. She looked at the tumbler closely.

"No, it wasn't. I'm just saying if it was" James asserted.

"Then I will be dying by now" she smiled. She held her belly like she was feeling pain, she broke into laughter.

"You deserve it" he paused. "To die by poisoning" he affirmed with a frowned face.

A lots of thoughts raced across Julia's mind. She didn't know which to believe or hold on. She felt James might have really poisoned her.

"I'm just a maid. I will know peace once I can hold on to the belief" she replied casually with a smile. She didn't understand anything in what he had just said.

"You are a maid but not mine. You are a mole in here. So tell me why I shouldn't kill you" James said seriously.

"There is nothing that can stop you from killing me once you have decided to do that" she pretended.

"What if I do not kill you but hand you over to the law instead, which do you prefer?" James pressed forward.

"I do not understand and I do not yearn for clarification. You decide my fate" Julia stood up as a sign of respect and that she was ready for anything he wished to do with her.

"You understand every bit of this. I saw Michael coming out of the stables and I wondered what he had went in there to do but when I came back into my chambers. I became cleared" he put something on the table.

"I got this from the hem of your dress and that could only be picked up from the stables" he revealed.

Julia looked closer at the long thin stick on the table. It was a strand of fodder. Her dress must have caught that during the romp.

She gasped. She had to deny this. She picked up the and checked it like she did not believe James' story.

"I was not in the stables. My dress could have picked up this anywhere outside" she defended herself.

"You could have picked that up from anywhere honestly, but does that explain the dirt on the back of your dress?" James laughed. He must have felt he had surely hooked her.

"I do not care what happened down there,I didn't want to think about it, so I consoled myself and forget about it" James continued after Julia had become dumbfounded.

"And then we journeyed out to Northlake, immediately after planning it and still Michael got the news and send someone ahead of us" he chuckled.

Julia couldn't say anything. She just kept staring at his mouth as he kept talking. The journey to Northlake was a trap for her.

"Only two of us knew about it, Harold and I and it seemed you are probably eavesdropping on us, the only way Michael would have known about it" he concluded.

"I am not a spy. I am just a maid that wanted to do her duties" she said remorsefully.

"A maid. I know how hard it is to disobey your master. I only need you to be honest with me. You are working for Michael or not?" he asked sternly.

"I have committed a crime and I should be sentenced to death" she sobbed.

"No, you are not dying. You will continue doing your work for Michael" James seemed not to know what was coming out of his mouth.

"For Michael?" Julia stared at him in surprise.

"Yes, for him. But from now on. You will tell him what I want you to tell him and you will tell me what he is planning" he explained.

This was obviously going to be hard. He wanted her to spy on Michael while Michael would believe he was doing his work.

"You want me to spy on him?" she asked slowly.

"No. I want you to bring him down and be his downfall" he asserted and stormed out of his chamber angrily.

Julia had no choice. She must do this. James was surely going to keep an eye on her.

****************

The next day, in the morning. James was in his chamber. He heard the door opened behind him. He was sure that would be Harold.

"You are right, Harold" he said without looking at him.

"Yes. I am. I have always known I'm right" he acknowledged. His voice seemed to be furious despite his nice words.

"You seemed upset" James turned to him and smiled.

"Upset? No. James. Your actions and words are just contradicting each other" he explained.

"I should say that to you, Harold" James chuckled and walked closer to him.

"You said I am right, that is, she is a mole. Then why are you still keeping her around you. For her to conclude her mission?" Harold fumed.

"Do you want me to kill her?" he asked slowly with a smile like he was teasing Harold.

"You don't have to care about what happens to her. Just get her far away from you before she delivers your doom" he warned frantically.

"If I send her away" James threw his hand forth to illustrate. " Do you think Michael won't find someone to replace and carried out her assigned duties?" he incurred his thoughts.

"That's true, but it doesn't mean you should risk her because of unforeseen circumstances" Harold advised.

James stopped for a while to look at him. It seemed he was never going to agree with him on this.

"If Michael put another spy on me. It is going to take time before we find that one too if we are to find the spy" James professed again.

"You should realize all what you are saying was prevailed by the word 'if', you are unsure any of it is going to happen. But this, Julia is already happening. It makes no sense to let her remain close" Harold was adamant.

"I made a deal with her. I think you will like it if you relax and hear me out" James said calmly.

"I'm all ears" he affirmed.

"Julia has to remain with me, that way Michael would be relaxed. If we could trick her to fall for the trap of Northlake. We could trick her into any bait" he explained.

"The girl is very dangerous and tricky than we think we are. Have you tried to find out how she knew about Northlake. I made sure it was known by only the two of us. If she could get that kind of information. She can get anything" Harold pointed out.

James didn't feel there was any big deal with the way she discovered their journey to Northlake. She is a woman and they were talented in gossiping and eavesdropping.

"The best thing is Michael remains in the dark that we have caught her. That gives us an advantage" James assured again.

"Is that the deal you made with her? Not to tell Michael?" Harold cackled. It seemed funny to him.

"She tells me what Michael is planning for her not to be executed on the spike for spying on me" James spelled out.

"That's a good one but believe what she tells you at your own peril. She is now a double edged dagger and Michael is holding the hilt" Harold spilled and made to leave the chamber.

"Michael should also believe what she will be telling him as from now on because she is a poisonous snake and he is hiding her in his pocket. It must bite him to make its way out" he laughed as he walked with Harold back to the door.

"Be careful with her. I see how you look at her. That is not fake. You love her and want her. Don't let her get into your head in the name of keeping Michael in the dark" Harold was obviously thinking James kept her around because of his feelings for her, not all the deal he was talking about.

James opened the door for him without saying a word. He wanted him out right now. He found what he just said painful.

It was the truth though. He really loved Julia the same way he felt for Molina but Harold had undermined him by thinking she would get in his head.

That would not happen. He knew what he was doing, where he was going and what he needed to do to get there.