Chapter 10 #2
“Yes, he is. He is the evil I bore, and I will not have any more darkness in this royal family. I see it in you, Meredith. It lurks.” She straightens up.
“A princess should know to apologise. You do not interrupt me. You were born as a human. Even with your new titles, I will not have you stand there and interrupt me several times as you did before. You will learn respect and listen to me.”
“And you will learn, mother, not to lay a single finger on her—unless you don’t want any fingers left.” Orion storms into the room, and the ground shakes beneath my feet. Vines coil up the walls, cracking, wrapping around the paintings and snapping them in half one by one.
“Stop it!” she screams at him, her own vines rising to fight his. Orion is the Champion now, and that gleaming mark glows on his neck. His power overwhelms hers in a second, until all the walls are covered in vines, the paintings destroyed and broken between them.
Silence echoes as Orion gets to my side and lifts my chin, rubbing the blood from my bottom lip with his thumb before turning to her.
“The only reason you are still breathing is because of the royal laws of killing the previous alpha. If you touch her again, I will fuck it all, title and everything, to take your head. Then Elizabeth will be the only heir to the pack.” Gaia looks horrified.
“Talking of my half-sister, I am taking Meredith to see Elizabeth. I’m not asking for your permission. ” He holds her gaze. “Are we clear?”
Gaia’s gown billows as she turns and walks away without a word until she slams the door hard.
“Your mother is—” I murmur, but my cheek really hurts.
“Delightful and cheery?” Orion deadpans. My lips twitch, but the motion causes pain, and I wince, closing my eyes. When I open them, Orion is right in front of me.
“What are you doing?”
His power lingers in the silent room, full of destroyed vines and broken earth magic.
“Earth magic is more than this.” He gestures around him.
“It’s the feel for every living thing. Reed may be able to heal with a kiss, but there are ways I can heal you too.
I have to feel you to do it. I’ve done it once before. ”
“When?” I frown.
“In the Maiden test. When you came out of the sea—your clothes were all ripped, you were badly injured and drowning. Several of your ribs were broken. You had internal injuries from the sea. So I used it then.” He looks down.
“I should have known then exactly who you were. But I didn’t. ” His eyes snap to mine. “I do now.”
His hand cups my face, and his power slams into me.
I feel like he turns every vein in my body into a vine of pure magic, echoing with mine.
Something in my heart purrs. I feel my shadows rise up, but instead of pushing him out, they embrace him—until there’s nothing but shadows and earth swirling around me before he suddenly lets go.
His eyes are glowing faintly as I touch my cheek and realise it doesn’t hurt anymore.
“Let’s go and see Elizabeth,” he says.
“Why did you bring her here without any regret, and now you’re allowing me to see her?” I ask.
“You said you wished to stand in her defence at the trial. No one else is going to stand at her side. You’ve been allowed visits—this is part of it.
” He glances sideways. “My mother might have decided not to mention that. She really dislikes you.” He looks up at the wall where the painting once was of his complete family, before walking ahead.
I catch up, following him out of the room and towards the throne room, but we head behind it to one of the treed walls.
We go down a series of steps leading farther and farther into the earth, with pale green lanterns glowing on the walls as we go.
Eventually, we reach the bottom, and Orion puts his hand on a wall covered entirely in dirt.
The dirt fades away, falling to the ground as if it were never there.
Four guards in green armour from head to toe step aside, bowing their heads when they see Orion.
“One of these guards will take you back to your room when you’re done.
” He looks around before lowering his voice.
“When you’re going for a walk alone around these grounds, tell me.
My mother may have promised you safety from everyone in the court, but she never promised it from herself. ”
He walks away, and I watch him go until I’m left alone with the guards and very mixed feelings about the heir. He has been hated since he was born, overshadowed by something he couldn’t control.
“Princess?” I jump and turn, seeing a guard waiting in the path for me.
He points down the corridor, and I nod before leaving in that direction, my mind still on Orion.
I can see a flickering green light at the end, getting brighter the closer I get.
I feel like I’m encased in the earth as I head towards it.
Eventually, the green light gives way to a small room.
There’s a bed, a shower, a toilet in the corner, a desk, and nothing else except for the green lantern hanging from the ceiling.
On the bed, curled up, is Elizabeth. She is still in the same clothes I saw her in last. Her daggers are gone—no surprise there—but there is an empty tray with remnants of food, and she isn’t hurt.
Elizabeth lifts her head, a smile beaming across her face when she sees me. Only for a second. My shoulders drop. I don’t have any good news for her. “I’m working on getting you out.”
“I don’t think you can do that. I always knew I’d end up here, Mere.” She sits up. “I always knew I’d end up dead, and I still made my choice.”
“I’ve had enough friends die, don’t you think?
” I sit on the bed next to her and take her hand.
“I know nothing about being a defence for someone at trial, but being a princess has to come with some benefits. I promise I’m going to figure it out.
You need to tell me everything that happened. Why you did it.”
“I vowed to tell only Orion. I want to tell him all of it, but he won’t listen.
If you could get him down here—please try.
” I sigh. Unless I flash him my boobs and use them as snake charmers to get him to follow, he won’t come.
“But there’s someone else who could tell you too.
My wolf won’t let me break my vow not to say anything—it’s the only reason my wolf is in charge when it comes to this.
But there’s someone. He’s a cook, a shifter, but he works in the kitchens with the humans and basically manages them, sorts out recipes and things.
He knows. He knows all about it. You need to find him. His name is Frank.”
“Time’s up,” the guard shouts down to me. It feels like hardly five minutes.
I hug her once. “I promise I’m going to get you out and find this Frank. I’ll work on Orion somehow, but he is the most stubborn male I’ve ever met.”
“Don’t be too mad at him for bringing me back here. All of us have to face what we’ve done in the end.” She hugs me like she never wants to let go.
I squeeze her hand once before walking out, seeing tears in her eyes, and it hurts to leave her there.
I tell myself she is alive and I have time to figure out a way to free her.
I’m not leaving this pack until I do. The guard stays with me, escorting me all the way back to my room and leaving me when I go inside and shut the door behind me.
The room has a big four-poster bed, leaves falling from the canopy over the top of it, matching the dark green sheets. On the end of the bed is a tray with silver pots on it. I walk over and lift the lid. I see ice cream—every single flavour, lined up in every pot.
And there is one note, simply signed O. I laugh before digging into my ice cream and thinking about how I’m going to fix this mess.