CHAPTER TWENTY ISI
CHAPTER TWENTY
ISI
“Get Blain,” I told Lexie. “Tell him I need him now. If any of the guards try to stop him from coming to me, you know what to do.”
Kerralyn tightened her grip on her knife and rushed to Mae, latching onto her arm, the blade between them.
“You’re not going anywhere,” I growled at Mae.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice rose in pitch. “I knew it was wrong, but I wanted to make sure no one was hurting you. You’ve been acting afraid, Isi. I needed to know why.”
My chest tightened with a tangle of emotions. Fear that Mae had heard too much. Anger that she’d violated my trust. But beneath it all, a desperate hope that maybe she was telling the truth, that she could help us.
She said someone had murdered my mother.
Pherin launched from my shoulder, swooping toward Mae with an indignant shriek. The bird circled her head before landing on the bureau, fluffing her feathers to make herself appear twice her normal size.
Bite her? Pherin’s thought came sharp and eager.
She’s a friend, I sent back. I hoped she was.
Mae stood frozen, her hands twisted in her skirts, her gaze fixed on me. She didn’t try to pull away from Kerralyn or make excuses. She simply waited, and that stillness spoke more than any protest about her innocence could.
“You eavesdropped on a private conversation.” My words came out flat.
“Yes.” No denial. No attempt to soften what she’d done. “I heard everything. The journal, Velacross, your mother’s ability to travel between realms. All of it.”
The door burst open and Trew strode in, his hand on his sword hilt. Lexie followed, her focus that of a warrior assessing a threat. She closed the door and locked it.
Trew’s gaze scanned the room, landing on Mae before shifting to me. “What happened?”
“She was listening.” I gestured to Mae. “New writing appeared in the journal, and we talked about what it said. She heard everything.”
His jaw tightened, and he cast a ward around the four of us, blocking Mae out.
She flinched as if he’d struck her, her eyes widening.
“Tell me.” Trew’s voice held the command of a king, stripped of the deferential bodyguard persona he’d worn since arriving in Caldrith.
I told him about Velacross. About Addie. About what veil-travel costs.
His expression darkened with each revelation, but when I reached the last part, his eyes shifted. He studied Mae with a look that made her shrink back.
Mae’s composure cracked. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a sob.
“She swears she only listened in to protect me,” I said.
“I could verify the truth of what she said.” Trew’s attention remained locked on Mae. “But it requires magic. Direct contact. She’ll feel it.”
My throat tightened. If she’d truly witnessed my mother’s murder and spent the last fifteen years protecting me, would she really tell anyone what she’d heard us talking about? She hadn’t reported her son for using magic; her mother did that instead.
“If she’s willing to prove her innocence, she’ll probably agree,” I said.
Trew dropped the ward and approached Mae. She didn’t try to run. She simply stood where she was, trembling, as he stopped in front of her.
“I want to read your mind,” he said, his voice gentle. “It will let me prove your intentions.”
Her chin lifted. “Do it, please.” Her gaze shot to me. “I only want to protect Isi. She’s like family.” She sucked in a breath, going pale. “Will it hurt?”
“No, but you’ll feel my presence in your mind. Don’t fight it.”
“I’m scared.” She looked my way, holding out her hand.
I’d known her all my life. I couldn’t hold myself back from her now. Taking her hand, I squeezed it.
Mae pinched her eyes closed and breathed deeply before opening them again. She gave Trew a nod, her spine tightening. “I’m ready.”
Trew placed his fingers on her temples. Her eyes went wide, unfocused. A cold whisper scraped behind her eyes. I saw it in the way her pupils dilated, the way her breath hitched.
Pherin launched from the bureau and returned to my shoulder, her tiny body vibrating with unease.
Mae winced as Trew's magic probed deeper.
His jaw tightened, and he hissed out a breath.
Finally, he stepped back, releasing Mae. She swayed, catching herself on the edge of the bed, her face paler than fresh snow.
“She’s telling the truth,” Trew said. He turned to me, and the sadness in his eyes made my chest ache. “She loves you, as she said. She has no intention of sharing anything with your father. We can trust her.”
Relief flooded through me, so intense it made my knees weak.
“But,” Trew said, his voice hardening, “we need to be careful what we reveal to her. The more she knows, the more danger she’s in. If anyone suspects she has information, they could force her to talk. Then silence her.”
Mae’s sob broke free. “Fates help me, no one else can know what I heard here and what I saw that day.”
“We’ll tell her only what she needs to know,” Trew said. “For her own protection.”
I nodded, taking her trembling hands in mine. “Mae. Listen to me. I need you to understand that what you heard today puts your life at risk. Someone tried to kill me last night, and if they think you might know what you shouldn’t…”
“They’ll hurt me.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes. Her gaze locked on mine. “I’ve failed you for years. Failed you, Addie, and your mother. I won’t fail you again.”
The mention of my mother made my chest ache. “You said you saw someone push her.”
Mae’s face went pale, but she nodded. “I was only seventeen. I’d just started serving your mother as a lady. I adored her. Everyone did.” Her voice caught. “That day, I was bringing her afternoon tea. I heard voices in the stairwell. Your mother and others.”
Lexie’s hard gaze remained on Mae, waiting for her to finish.
Mae gulped in a few breaths before she could continue.
“The voices were low, and one sounded angry. From the way she spoke, I think it was a woman about our age, though sharp. Commanding. In control. As I hurried that way, I heard your mother say, ’I won’t let you use them.
’ Then there was a scuffle. I heard a sound like a breath punched out, and by the time I reached the hallway at the top of the landing, she was already falling. I think one of the women pushed her.”
“One of the women?”
“Her friend was there as well.” She frowned. “I believe her name was Eva. She used to come by now and again and they’d talk. I haven’t seen her since your mother died.”
“Did Eva push her?” I asked.
“Oh, no, Your Highness. She never would. She rushed down the stairs while the other woman just…disappeared. I still can’t believe it myself, but that’s what I saw.”
“Disappeared?” Trew asked.
“I know it sounds as if I’ve lost my wits, but she simply disappeared. I can’t explain it, not even today. The woman didn’t pass me or rush down the stairs.”
My stomach churned. “Who pushed my mother?”
Mae’s throat worked. Her gaze darted to the door, then back to me. When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. “A woman with red hair.”