Queen of Fate (Fae of Woodlands & Wild #3)

Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

“Come. I’ll show you a faster way to exit my tower.” Jax tugged me down the hall, going the opposite way of where we’d arrived. Behind us, the circular stone stairwell that we’d climbed to reach his suite grew farther away.

Near the hall’s other end, he stopped at a large painting. The artwork was of the countryside, a beautiful rendition of the Wood full of vibrant color. Jax hooked his finger behind the frame on the top right. A click came, then the painting swung open. It moved on hinges as though it were an actual door.

“What in the realm?” I whispered.

A floating platform, encased within the stone wall, waited behind the painting.

Jax grinned. “It’s a lift. If you’re ever too tired to climb the stairs, you can simply take this.”

I snorted. “Now you tell me.”

He laughed and clasped my hand. We stepped over the tall stone lip to stand on the platform, and a fairy light instantly ignited, brightening the space around us. Stone walls encased the lift, no more than an arm’s length away on all sides.

Jax swung the painting shut, and a moment of fear hit me that we were locked inside, but he quickly showed me the latch that would open the painting again. “Just press here.”

He touched a small pad on the side, and the portrait immediately swung open. He even waited for me to try it too, seeming to sense that I was afraid of becoming trapped in this stone cylinder.

Once my fear abated, he grinned. “Ready?” As soon as I nodded, he stated, “Lift, take us to the first floor.”

The platform instantly began to lower, and the stone walls rushed past us. But it didn’t move so quickly that my stomach dipped, and it was definitely faster than taking the stairs. Similar to most lifts that inns and businesses used, we quickly passed multiple floors.

Laughing, I said, “I’m assuming this lift is enchanted, like Bastian’s suite, if all you had to do was call out your wish?”

“It is. Just tell it what floor you want, and it’ll take you to the correct painting to exit.”

We passed floor after floor of paintings on our way down. Their frames and the backs of each piece of art were visible as we glided past them.

When we descended seven floors, the lift stopped, and a pulse of green light emitted from the frame’s release pad.

I cocked my head. “What does that green light mean?”

“It indicates that there are no servants or fae in the corridor. Nobody will see us if we exit now.”

I gaped. “Does anybody know about this lift?”

He shook his head. “No, only me, and of course, now you.”

I warmed internally again. Like his private chambers, I was once again being welcomed into his secret space, and that invitation was for me and me alone. “Does that light emit another color if someone’s about?”

He nodded. “If you get a pink light, you need to wait until it turns green.”

I cocked my head. “So if nobody but you and me know about this lift, who created it?”

“Me. I installed it when I created Bastian’s suite.”

My eyes bulged. “You? Truly?”

He laughed. “Don’t look so shocked. I’ve been told I’m quite skilled when it comes to inventing magical creations.”

I laughed with him, and his look turned entirely devious. “And as I told you, the west tower is my private residence. I’ve created many things within these walls that neither the servants nor my parents know about.”

I laughed anew, his sly demeanor making me giggle. “But how did you construct it?”

“A lot of magic. A lot of cursing. And a lot of trial and error. The first lift was a disaster. I was locked in it for six hours until I could undo the magic I’d created to seal it.”

My heart pattered faster just imagining that.

He drew me close and kissed my temple. “Don’t fear, my love. It’s fully functioning now.”

“But if only you know about it, are you sure it’ll work for me?”

“Of course, it will. I changed all of my wards and spells the day after I brought you to the palace. Well, all except for the door to Bastian’s suite. I kept that one locked.”

“The day after...” My jaw dropped. That’d been when I’d still been locked in Bastian’s chambers, when I’d been convinced Jax and I would never see each other again after I did his calling and he rid me of my collar’s suffocating hold to the best of his ability. “But we were going to part ways then.”

He nodded, and his eyes dimmed. “I know. I knew it was safest for you if we did. As the Dark Raider, you’re automatically at risk if I’m ever caught, but I couldn’t help but hope that maybe someday that would change. That our paths would cross again when I was no longer the Raider and you no longer hated me. I didn’t know if that would ever be possible, but I wanted to be prepared for it just in case.”

“I never hated you.”

“You did. When I took your sight and sound on our way into Jaggedston, I felt your fear and utter anger. It nearly undid me.”

“But that wasn’t hate. I could never hate you.”

A teasing smile lifted his lips, but it failed to reach his eyes. “Your scent spoke otherwise when I commanded Nellip to return you to your chambers and keep you there after you tried to escape.”

I sighed. “Okay, maybe in that one moment, you’re right, but that was only because you were controlling me as badly as Guardian Alleron had.”

A look of utter guilt crossed over his features.

I squeezed his hand, my eyes misting. “But I’ve fully forgiven you now.”

He leaned down and kissed me softly on the neck, then reached for the pad to open the portrait. “That’s all in the past now,” he whispered. “I will never hold you against your will again.”

The painting swung open, and he made sure my flowing gown cleared the first floor’s entrance before pressing the tab to close the painting behind us. Once it locked, it was entirely innocent-looking.

“You’re very good at keeping secrets,” I whispered.

“Yes, I am, but I’ll never keep secrets from you.” He tugged me forward, and we finally began to stride down the corridor.

I took in my new surroundings and knew we were still in Jax’s private tower since I hadn’t passed through another ward, but the double doors at the far end of the hall promised that our privacy would be ending soon.

“The dining hall is in the palace’s central area, right?” I asked and tried to recall everything that Alec had shown me. If I remembered correctly, the large, opulent dining area overlooked the palace’s central courtyard.

“That’s correct.”

With each step that our shoes made on the stone flooring, the tension around Jax’s shoulders grew. Before my eyes, the crown prince of Stonewild was emerging, his more carefree counterpart—my mate, Jax, and the Dark Raider—vanishing.

“We’ll find a way to convince them to accept me, my prince,” I whispered, falling back into the role that was required of me. Outside of his private wing, I could no longer call him Jax. In public, he was either Prince Adarian or my prince.

He inhaled sharply. “Indeed.”

At the hall’s end, he swept open the doors and ushered me through them. The second we stepped into a common walkway, the doors to Jax’s area sealed behind us, another ward falling into place that prickled the skin at my back.

Voices drifted to us from farther down the halls, and a servant passed us, carrying a large bucket with cleaning charms and supplies.

The second she saw us, she paled and scurried away.

Jax’s brow furrowed, watching her. My mate’s hand clamped even more around mine, and together we strode down the center of the hall.

My long navy gown swirled around me, moving easily with each step. I knew I looked the part. This gown made me appear as though I belonged here, but deep down, I knew I didn’t.

Nerves began to tumble in my stomach, but for the first time in my life, my collar was no longer adding to my inner anxiety. I only had my emotions to deal with now since the suffocating collar was gone, and I took some comfort in that.

Jax led me around another turn, and more servants appeared. Each one that saw us either stopped in their tracks, jaw’s dropping, or they turned and hurried away.

I frowned. “Why are they all acting strange?”

Jax’s forehead furrowed. “I was wondering the same thing.”

“So that’s not normal?”

“No.”

“Do you think it’s because word’s spread that I’m your mate and your parents found out and are angry?”

His nostrils flared. “Even if they are upset, that doesn’t change anything.”

We rounded the final turn to the dining hall, and the guards standing near the entrance doors both stiffened, their shoulders drawing back.

“Prince Adarian,” the one on the right called. “Your father’s been looking for you.”

“I’m sure he has. We’re scheduled to meet him at eight,” Jax replied, breezing right past the guards.

My heart began to pound frantically as the energy in the palace grew stranger with every step we took.

We swept through the narrow hall into the dining room, and the large chamber spread out before us. But instead of only the king and queen being in attendance, as Jax had requested, the entire hall was filled with noble fae.

But none of them were talking. Dead silence greeted us.

And at the center of the room, standing near the king and queen, waited my guardian.

I froze mid-step and blinked.

Then blinked again.

But Guardian Alleron was still there . He was free of his chambers. And he was here , with the king and queen.

Disbelief shook me first, but panic descended just as fast. At my side, Jax’s entire body went rigid.

Footsteps came from my left and Jax’s right. Before I could so much as glance to see who was approaching us, the king of Stonewild Kingdom leveled me and his son with a penetrating stare.

“Adarian, you have some explaining to do. This male is insisting that you’re the Dark Raider and that you abducted him and have been holding him captive in your tower.”

My jaw dropped as an explosion of fear rose and whirled inside me. My magic responded just as fast, chasing and clawing through my limbs. Shadows unfurled within me, but somehow, I managed to lock them down until I realized the footsteps closing in on us weren’t servants or guards of Stonewild palace.

They were kingsfae.

Two dozen kingsfae circled around us.

“Oh Gods.” My gaze darted around the room, soaking up every detail rapid-fire.

Standing by the far wall, all of Jax’s friends—Lars, Phillen, Lander, Bowan, Trivan, and Alec—stood with their heads dipped and their hands lassoed in magical bands.

“Stars Above,” I whispered.

Jax’s grip around my hand tightened. “Father, what is the meaning of this? Why are my guards and friends detained?”

“That’s what we’re hoping you can explain,” the king replied, his eyes as cold as ice. “You told us you met Elowen in Fosterton, but you never said that you rescued her from the Dark Raider, yet that’s exactly what a letter from King Paevin claims you told him. Yet this male, who was found in your tower, is claiming that’s because you’re the Dark Raider and that you never rescued Elowen at all.”

Jax seethed, and his grip on me tightened even more. “I didn’t feel it was necessary to reveal every detail about how Elowen and I met, and I have no idea who that male is or why he’s accusing me of such things,” Jax replied, pointing at my guardian. The lies rolled off his tongue so easily. So quickly. Once again, I was reminded of the many masks my mate wore.

Guardian Alleron glared at Jax but didn’t speak. Heightened energy and crackling magic swirled around the kingsfae as they encircled us, and one thought and one thought only penetrated the fog that threatened to fill my mind.

Nobody would believe us.

Guardian Alleron had escaped and had somehow communicated what’d been done to him, which meant the kingsfae were here to arrest my mate.

They knew he was the Dark Raider. They knew Jax was lying now.

And it was all because Guardian Alleron had broken free and told them everything he’d seen.