Chapter Twenty Bahira
Councilman Kallin’s beady eyes stare me down a few days later, an unrelenting challenge in them that makes my jaw clench.
Nox is still asleep with, according to everyone who could sense such things, a magical signature so weak it borders on nonexistent. What they can sense from him is… different. Changed in a way that they can’t explain.
And yet I had been summoned no less than three times to give a briefing on the Shifter Kingdom.
To supposedly help the council that so callously treated their crown prince’s absence as if it was nothing of significance.
Surrounded by them now, I swallow down the fury that stirs in my chest as I return Kallin’s glare.
“Your reluctance to answer such basic questions is alarming, Princess Bahira,” Councilman Borris states, Osiris adding an eager nod of his head. It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes.
“I’ve told you everything that is important to know.
The magical blight affecting them was not something I could fix.
That was the focus of my time there, and when it became obvious there was nothing more I could do, I came home.
” It is a partial truth, certainly not fully a lie, but it is all I feel comfortable telling them.
Revealing that the kingdom was undergoing a rebuild of sorts, that Kai’s own people had plotted against him and were intent on killing him doesn’t just seem unnecessary for the council to know. It feels wrong.
“And what if what you deem important is different from our own thoughts?” Kallin asks, interlacing his fingers on the table in front of him.
When I simply shrug my shoulders, folding my arms over my chest, he sighs, tipping his head towards the ceiling.
“Why do the Daxel siblings insist on making things so difficult?”
I narrow my eyes, confident no such words would have left his mouth were my father or mother here.
The latter I insisted stay at Nox’s side—I didn’t want my brother to wake up alone or to find only healers in the room with him.
My father had been asked to lead this month’s public forum day.
But dealing with men who consistently underestimate me is not anything new, and so I plaster a docile smile on my face and tilt my head.
“It is only difficult because you feel as if you are at my mercy, right? You want to know everything that I do so that you can come to the same conclusions I have but call the decision yours.” His expression grows tight.
“But I promise you, Councilman, that there is nothing I haven’t told you that is at all a threat to this kingdom or the people in it. ”
Someone—Councilman Arav, I think—lets out a poorly stifled snort before a glare from Kallin has him falling silent once more.
I look around the table, meeting the eyes of those who surround it, and wonder at what point their perception of our family changed.
It would be easy to point to Rhea as a catalyst, but I remember the tense meetings before I left for the Shifter Kingdom.
The low-spoken, barely disguised threats while Nox was still in the Mortal Kingdom.
Perhaps there wasn’t a single major event but a series of smaller ones, and in our contentment with the way things were, we had gone blind to the direction we were heading.
Or maybe, it is simply the aging of men and the way they themselves perceive the things that matter, like safety and keeping the status quo.
Clearing my throat, I push up from my chair, clasping my hands behind my back. “If that is all, I do have a brother to check in on.” I make it four steps to the door before he calls out my name.
“Bahira, just one more question.”
I bite back a groan and look over my shoulder, I answer, “Yes?”
“Who is Jahlee?”
My breath halts in my chest, a tendril of unease slithering down my spine as I fight to keep my face neutral. Kallin reaches into the pocket of his tunic and tosses a folded piece of parchment onto the table, its wax seal recognizable to me immediately. A wolf with horns. Fuck.
A few different answers fire off in my head, but I’m unsure of what direction to take.
Especially without knowing what is in the letter.
If it’s from Jahlee, there is no telling if it spills Shifter Kingdom secrets or is just her rambling on about who is fucking who in the palace.
A fist squeezes my heart at the thought of her, her missing presence one I never expected to feel so acutely.
The silence builds while the council waits for me to answer, and when I finally do, I opt for being as vague as possible while I turn to face them.
“She is a shifter female I met while working for the king.”
Kallin reaches for the letter, my blood growing cold when I realize the seal is broken. “Shall I read it aloud? Jahlee is quite… colorful in her language.”
There had been many times growing up that I had seriously contemplated punching Daje’s father.
The way he constantly looked at me like he could see the magicless parts of my soul—gaps of darkness where there should have been colorful light—and he hated it.
How he always had this little sneer pulling on his lips, as if the sight of a magicless mage was one thing, but to know she was his princess?
Unfathomable. Yet it is hearing him say Jahlee’s name with that hint of superiority, like reading a single letter truly gives him enough information to judge her, that actually brings me the closest I’ve ever been to sending my fist into his face.
I bite down on my tongue, hard enough to taste iron, and only when I feel more in control of my body, do I step towards the table and pick the letter up.
Dear Badass Bahira,
It has been over a week since you left, and we haven’t heard from you through the Mirror.
While things are going fine here, there’s still an uneasy tension in the air.
It’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop only to realize that no one is wearing shoes and so it must be something even worse coming.
Or whatever the metaphor is, but what I’m trying to say is that I know Kai hurt you, but he could really use your particular brand of encouragement and advice.
You know what he’s been through, and even with all of that, I’ve never seen him so…
lost. Maybe that is manipulative of me to say.
He can be an asshole with a rock for a brain sometimes, but I do know that he cares deeply for you.
That he wishes he could take back the things he said (and yes, I did smack him upside the head when he told me how he reacted to you not having magic).
Selfishly, there is a part of me that is hoping that the friendship you and I share isn’t just something I made up in my head.
That we actually did bond—just two extremely beautiful females who happen to have no magic.
So for the sake of my brother—and if not for him, then for me—can you please reach out to us?
Siyala is unnerved that she has not received word on Rhea, and for all I’m talking you up to her, she gets less and less convinced that you’re someone who is trustworthy the more time that passes.
Remember, you have a home here too, Bahira.
I hope your experiments are going well.
Love,
Your Most Favorite Shifter Without A Penis,
Jahlee
I don’t realize how tightly I’m holding the letter until I notice the small rip that’s branched out from my grip. “Care to explain to me why my personal letter has been opened and read?”
“It has shown to be imperative with your family that we check the messages received from foreign kingdoms,” Kallin answers, steepling his hands beneath his chin. “Though I’m curious to know how someone in the Shifter Kingdom is aware of the woman who was inadvisably engaged to your brother.”
I slowly fold the letter back up and tuck it into my pocket, ignoring the dirty look Osiris sends me as I try to buy myself some time.
“And how many messages are you receiving from foreign kingdoms?” Gods, if they are monitoring letters into the kingdom, certainly they are tracking the ones that leave too.
And without knowing who will report back to the council, I can’t risk responding to Jahlee’s letter. Or sending one to Kai himself.
He smirks, leaning back in his chair. “Don’t deflect, Princess Bahira.
Part of your mission was to find out how the shifters knew that we could pass through the Spell, and you apparently failed to do so.
The bargain we made with them specified your help, as chosen by the magic of the Continent, in exchange for their protection should we need it.
You returned home early, and by your own accounts, were unsuccessful in that regard as well.
But are we surprised considering your success here at home has been so mottled with disappointment? ”
“I fulfilled my end of the bargain. The magic of the deal would not have allowed me to leave if I hadn’t. With Nox home and the magical item no longer a threat, we have no need for the safety the shifters were providing.”
Borris jumps in, his eyes locked on the door as if he can see through it and to some unnamed threat in the hall, “That remains to be seen.”
A line forms between my brows at that.
“And now this letter reveals that they might know about our own weaknesses, fed to them by a member of the royal family.”
Fury rises, giving birth to a tingling warmth that expands across my chest at his cadence. “What are you insinuating, Councilman Kallin?”
“Treason, Princess Bahira.”
Words tangle in my throat as I glare at him.
With the Mirror broken, there is no way for the council to confirm what Kai knows about our kingdom, not that I had even told him anything regarding our own plights.
But just as they can’t contact him, neither can he assure them that I’m speaking the truth.
A biting retort sits on my tongue, pushing at my teeth and lips to try to break free, but before it can, the door to the council room opens, one of the palace aides breathing heavily as he pokes his face through the opening.
“Your Highness. Councilmen.” His wide eyes hold mine as he draws in a deep inhale. “Prince Nox has woken.”
My feet pound over the glittering black stone floors, all thoughts of the council and their accusations pushed to the back of my mind as I run.
The guards’ presence hasn’t lessened in the time since I’ve returned, and as I round the final corner and continue forward, I spot a cluster of them gathered in front of Nox’s door.
Their weapons glint where they are sheathed behind their backs, and they stand at attention, their faces serious even as a few cast curious glances as I bound towards them.
But my surprise at the number of guards is quickly overshadowed by the familiar head of dark blonde hair that paces in front of them, her arms folded over her chest.
“Bahira!” Haylee shouts, throwing her arms out wide before drawing me in for a hug. I’m so stunned by the gesture that I stand there awkwardly, my breaths panting near her ear. When was the last time we hugged each other? I genuinely can’t recall if we ever had.
“Haylee, what are you doing here?”
“I’ve been trying to visit Nox since the ball, but”—she shakes her head, her eyes darting to the closed door—“Cass has been strict about who he allows in. Which I suppose I understand. With everything going on…” She grows quiet, her eyes coming back to mine.
“And I know I haven’t sought you out yet; it’s just my uncle has kept me so busy, and I—”
“Haylee, it’s fine. We can catch up later, but right now, I need to see my brother.” Letting her go, I step back and turn on my heel, my hand reaching for the door handle.
“Of course. I hope he’s alright.”
“I told you, no one is coming in here until the king himself—”
“It’s me, Cass.” Three clicks ring out before the door opens and Cass leans across the threshold, eyes assessing as they look back to Haylee.
“Sorry, Bahira,” he says quietly, allowing me to pass. He shuts the door and locks it again, despite hearing Haylee’s protest on the other side.
The air is still tainted with the astringent scent of medical supplies, but something else now lingers there too. Something that smells of metal—of blood.
My eyes go straight to where my brother is still laying in the bed, but the sight of him halts my steps.
His clothing is rumpled and his hair is in disarray, but it’s what swirls in the normally charcoal color of his irises that has my throat working hard to swallow.
They’ve taken on a misty ink color and flecks of bright white dot them like stars in a night sky.
“What’s wrong with his eyes?” I ask, looking first to my mother and then to Cass from where they stand on either side of his bed.
At my question, his head snaps towards me, a feral look the likes of which I have never seen on Nox sending my pulse through the roof.
“We do not know,” my mother answers, her hand gently resting on top of Nox’s head.
Those eyes—somehow Nox’s and not—narrow, and an eerie chill creeps over me as I near the bed.
The rest of his body comes into view, and a rush of air is squeezed from my chest as I take in what is attached to his wrists and ankles. Shackles.
“What is the meaning of this?” My trembling voice comes out far too high.
This time, it’s Cass who answers. “We had to.” He doesn’t meet my gaze, instead staring at where his fingers flex at the edge of the bed.
“Why?”
My mother runs the back of her hand over cheeks, gathering the tears that have fallen. Nox arches his back in an unnatural way, straining against the shackles as he grunts through clenched teeth.
“Since he woke, he’s been disoriented. He did not understand that he was in the healers’ wing, and—” She hushes him gently, attempting to calm him like one would a child who’s just been injured.
“And what?” I whisper.
“He tried to kill three healers.”