21. Raelyna #2
“Yes?” I lifted my head, taking in his narrowed brown eyes and onyx wings that were fully flared behind his back. Lucanus was leaning against a large oak desk, his arms folded across his chest, and one leg was crossed over the other as he waited for my undivided attention.
“I thought we had finally come to an understanding the other night,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion as his eyes pierced mine.
I swallowed thickly, the ever-present threat of what he may do to Orela stark in my mind. “We did, Your Majesty. I know we were cutting it close on timing for today’s performance, but we made it just before the set began. If we need to be even earlier in the future, I can guarantee that we will.”
His voice was a harsh laugh as he watched me, his eyes lingering over my body. “Do you truly think I would call you into my presence to discuss something as meaningless as your performance on my stage today?”
A flare of anger spiked in me at those words.
I had never wanted to be a dancer—it was one of the few career opportunities afforded to someone with such a low-caliber affinity. However, whether I wished to pursue this career or not, I liked to think that what I was doing with my life wasn’t meaningless.
I said nothing, choosing instead to bite the inside of my lip until the taste of iron bitterly coated my tongue.
Don’t say anything.
Don’t contradict him.
Don’t argue.
Don’t say anything to disagree.
Don’t set him off.
“Not so courageous now, in the presence of your king, are you?” His words filled the otherwise silent room, and my head shot up in confusion.
“I’m sorry?” The words slipped from my lips in a confused question before I could control myself. Before I could hold my tongue.
“How long have you been allied with the Guild?” His question was a sharp demand as his eyes narrowed on me, the guards behind him shifting their hands to their firearms as they all awaited my answer.
My heart stuttered . . . then my pulse began to race as I realized the gravity of my situation.
“I-I don’t understand what you’re asking? The G-Guild? As in the Aurelian Guild?”
Lucanus laughed. It was a dull, empty laugh that echoed across his office.
“You have no qualms dancing with members of the Aurelian Guild in my court, yet you’re incapable of answering a few questions about when you began working for them?”
“W-what?” The word was a question, confusion rising within me as I stared at the male I’d known literally since birth.
“How long have you been working with the Guild?” Luc’s voice rose, his words shouting across the space.
I took a step forward then, red flaring in my vision at his accusation.
Weapons raised the instant I moved, guns pointed at me from all angles, and I froze instantly, fear coursing through me as I lifted my hands in surrender.
“Luc,” his name fell from my lips in terror as I stared at him, praying to whoever would hear me that he would see reason.
“You have known me since we were infants . . . you’ve known my family just as long.
I’ve made an unbreakable bargain with you for my sister’s protection.
Do you truly think I would do something as stupid as commit treason by colluding with the Aurelian Guild? ”
“I’d say that based on your own father’s act of treason, it is not an unlikely option at all,” he answered calmly—too calmly.
“You can’t be serious right now, Luc.” My words were a sharp burst of unbridled anger.
“We both know that the only reason my father was tried for treason is because you needed to prove your loyalty to the throne. Because you needed to show you were in control. My father was a good man. A man who didn’t deserve to be killed for your political gain. ”
“Your father accused the former king of conspiring against his people. Of creating a religion for his own gain. Of spreading darkness across the Quarter. Your father spoke against the crown and against our very gods. I can guarantee you that his death was warranted. And now you have taken on a similar path—colluding with the Guild.”
“I have no ties to the Guild, Luc. You have to believe me.”
His eyes narrowed on me, studying me in wary assessment, but the disbelief was still present in his eyes. “Tell me then, butterfly. If you aren’t conspiring with the enemy, then what should I make of these?”
He flicked his finger across his desk and then a file opened on the screen in his office, flashing a series of photos .
. . from the night of Brumalis. I stared as a picture of me dancing with Callum appeared.
Then a photo of me—on the second floor, thankfully—surrounded by Axel and the two enforcers.
I looked at the photos, confused. “These are the photos that incriminate me?” I questioned. “They appear to be moments caught on security tapes from the festival.”
“They are,” Luc confirmed with a menacing tone.
He tapped on another file, this one filling the screen as it showed Callum dipping me low on the dance floor, before pulling me up, our faces dangerously close to each other as we stared into each other’s eyes.
“Why were you dancing with one of the Guild’s spies at the Festival of Brumalis? ”
I gestured toward the video still playing above his desk. “I’m not. You can literally see there—I’m dancing with a member of your guard. The same with the photos—I’m standing surrounded by three members of the RSG. Your men,” I emphasized. “Not spies.”
“They aren’t my men.” His voice cut across the room. “That one”—he gestured to Callum Blackwood—“and that one”—a gesture toward Axel—“are not my men. The drones flagged their photos in the systems when they failed facial recognition. They are impersonating RSG, and I would like to know why.”
“What?” The word once again involuntarily fell from my lips as I thought back to that night. They were guards—they’d said so themselves. And yet . . . he did seem to know far more than he perhaps should have for a member of the Solis Guard.
Callum Blackwood. His name rang hollowly in my mind, and I thanked every star in the sky that Lucanus didn’t know me well enough to sense the inner turmoil running rampant in my mind at this moment.
It wasn’t possible.
Could it be?
No.
Yes?
One thing at a time, Rae.
“My sources report that you were seen with the two Aurelian spies on more than one occasion.”
I took a deep breath, attempting to no avail to steady my rapidly beating heart rate.
“I mean no disrespect, Your Majesty,” I offered up the words.
“But with the levels of security you and the RSG provide in our Quarter, is it even possible for two spies to enter our Quarter? I was under the impression that The Wall kept those with ill intent from entering.”
“It does.” Two words . . . that’s all he offered in return.
“Then how would two spies have even gotten into our Quarter?” I questioned, a hint of boldness rising within me as I spoke.
Luc’s eyes narrowed, and I cursed myself at that moment. Too far—I’d pushed too far.
“You seem to be evading my question, Raelyna.” He pushed off his desk, the force causing the heavy oak to screech across the floor as he stalked toward me, his wings flaring wider as they towered over his form.
Luc didn’t stop until he stood directly in front of me. He didn’t even have to lift a hand before I felt the presence of his affinity in a foreboding reminder of exactly who held the power in this situation.
“My reports indicate you were spotted dancing with one of the spies. Who? Was. It?”
Every fiber of my being screamed for me to hightail it out of his office and disappear.
Yet, there was a smaller part of me that didn’t want to give him the name of the male I’d danced with—something deep in the soul that screamed at me to protect that piece of information with my very life.
Something that said Callum held the answers I was searching for.
“I’m not sure what you want me to say, Luc. At Brumalis, I only danced with two males. You, and a member of your guard. I can’t give you any other information because I have none.”
His eyes narrowed on me, and for a flicker of a second, I thought he would actually believe me.