Chapter 116 Rhea
Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen: Rhea
Xander said the people he was taking me to meet wouldn’t judge me based on who I was— am.
On who they perceive me to be because of my relation to the king.
Both as his niece and his betrothed. But standing in a room beneath the castle, the gazes of the small group gathered don’t seem short of condemnation.
Yes, some look at me with pity. Or maybe sympathy or some other emotion I don’t care to decipher that doesn’t come across as malicious.
But others observe me like a suspected thief.
I can’t say that I blame them, and as they cast those multilayered glances towards Xander, I wish I could tell them that I am just as confused as they are why Xander believes I need to be here.
To his credit, Xander looks more than put off by the lackluster reception to my presence.
He sighs as he folds his arms, having ditched his golden armor for the evening.
Just as Nox had worn for so many of our meetings.
My gaze drops to the floor as memories try to pierce through the fogginess of my mind and fail.
With each day that passes, thinking of him becomes more and more difficult, my recollection of our time together murky with the way I am drowning. With how tired I am.
“Rhea.” Xander’s voice—strong but soft—plays in my ear, and I lift my head to once more meet the gazes of those gathered before us.
Though torches are lit on opposite walls, what provides the most light is the large flame gem at the center of the room.
I look to him, realizing that the room has lapsed into an awkward silence while I’ve been stuck in my own head.
“These are my closest confidants and the men and women who keep the resistance running outside of the palace walls. With their help, and the help of the men I trust in the guard, we think we have a way to get you away from the king.” He gestures with his chin to my hand, where the pearl ring rests.
“The goal is to get the king to release you from the magic of the ring quickly, but if we fail, then it will be to get you as far away as possible so that he cannot command you. Home and in the safety of the Mage Kingdom, hopefully they can help you remove the ring.”
I swallow as my thumb presses into the pearl, twisting the cold jewelry around my finger. There is nowhere safe anymore, I want to say. I don’t know that I have a home anymore.
“I’m sorry, Xander, I know you have faith that she has no intentions for the throne after being freed, but I’m just not buying it,” a man says, crossing his arms over his broad frame.
He looks to me then, his eyes as weary as they are damning.
“Why should we risk everything we have worked years for on someone like you?”
“Remi,” Xander growls at my side, his voice bouncing off of the thick stone surrounding us.
“It’s alright,” I supply, giving Xander what I hope is a reassuring smile. “They should know, at the very least, what is at risk if they don’t free me.”
His dark brows lower, and for a split second, I see the resemblance to the king. I blink and look away, a knot forming in my throat.
“I can try to assure you that all I want is to be free of the king. That I hate him as much as you do. Perhaps even more.” Though I try to ignore it, the scoffs at that statement bury their way into me.
They could never understand what it has been like, but I don’t need them to.
I just need them to be more afraid of me than they are of him.
“But none of that matters. The truth is, I am dangerous to your cause. Just not in the way you think.” I turn to Xander.
“Do they know about my magic? About how I’ve been forced to use it? ”
He inhales slowly, taking a long while to answer, his expression somewhat sheepish. “Yes. Not everyone, but most in this room. I wanted them awar—”
“I’m not upset that you told them,” I interrupt.
“It makes what I have to say even easier with context.” I scan those in front of me, skipping from one pair of eyes to another.
“The king will not stop until his entire army is able to pass through the Spell. The number of men I’ve used my magic on already is…
” I shake my head. I have no idea just how many I’ve healed.
How many sirens. “This gives him access to other kingdoms, inviting conflict into spaces that have previously known only peace. If the king marches into the Mage Kingdom and the Fae Kingdom, they will be able to retaliate.”
“Can the fae cross the Spell without repercussion too? Like the mages?” a woman near the back asks.
“No, but they have dragons,” Xander answers, following my line of thought. “And animals are immune to the Spell.”
“And you’ve healed sirens as well?” Remi asks. I nod, and he curses. “So, really, we’re fucked if the king attacks anyone but the shifters.”
“King Dolian and Queen Amari seem to have a tentative alliance,” Xander says, his fingers caressing his jaw.
“My magic is something not seen since the war. I don’t think the king realizes just how powerful I am, but it is not something I want him to find out.
” The words are given solemnly, not from any place of pride but from the utter fear that coils in my stomach.
“And he’s not the only one who can control me.
With this ring on,” I say, pausing to hold my hand up, “the siren queen also has the ability to command me, and I have to follow through. Where the king lacks the understanding of my capability, Queen Amari seems more cunning, more… sure. But she isn’t just controlling me. She has power over the king as well.”
Their voices buzz in my ear as everyone begins talking in hushed voices, their hands gesturing as they glance my way. But Xander quiets them quickly as he steels his spine, taking a step closer to me. “This doesn’t change our plans, only ensures that we cannot fail in two days.”
Two days. The day before the king expects me to walk down the aisle.
It’s an arbitrary number at this point. Whether it is two days or twenty or two hundred, time passes all the same.
I lay a hand over my hip, right above the brand—that permanent reminder.
It’s healed on the surface, the skin a white array of lines and curves in the arrangement of the king’s sigil, yet the ache of it still haunts me.
It’s persistent, following me no matter what corner of my mind I try to retreat to.
“I do not want to cause any more harm. I do not want anyone else hurt or dead in my name.” The words come out thick, the effort to push them out heavy on my soul.
Some of those in front of me might soften their gazes, or maybe that is only what I wish to see.
“Freeing me is risky, yes, but keeping me here is even more so.” Swallowing hard, I return my attention to Xander, who is already watching me, likely seeing more on my face than I mean to show him.
He dips his chin. “Then let’s go over the plan.”
We move to a large table surrounded by chairs, Xander offering me one before he takes his own.
On the table are wooden figurines, string, and fabrics of blue and green.
Xander begins moving things on the table until it resembles what our meeting on the beach with the sirens will look like, with the dark blue fabric representing the water and the string the Spell in the sand.
Figurines stand on both sides of the string, representative of the king, myself, and an array of guards.
“Every guard will be in full armor, including helmets, to help conceal the identities of the men and women here,” he says, gesturing to those who sit around the table.
“Are you all guards?” I ask.
“No. Most of us work in Vitour,” Remi answers, his expression still guarded. He looks at me as if I am both the solution and the cause for his problems, and he can’t decide which one he believes is more true. “We haven’t been forced to take a blood oath of any kind.”
“They will be closest to the king. Closest to you,” Xander adds, his dark eyes boring into mine.
“I will walk with you and the king into position on the beach. Unfortunately, we will need the distraction of you healing the sirens to get everyone else into the correct positions.” He waits for me to react, but I simply swallow and nod for him to continue.
What is another handful of sirens to the hundreds I’ve healed already?
“I will drop back to the other side of the Spell to stand with the king’s Trusted.
The moment you’re done healing the sirens, Remi and the others will apprehend the king and force him to free you from the magical ring. ”
I look from Xander to Remi again, then the others who watch me eagerly before clearing my throat. “It’s not going to work.”
“I can send one of my men with you if you really think—”
“No, I mean, you’ll never get the king to say that he frees me from the ring.”
Remi arches a brow in challenge, leaning his elbows on the table. “A knife against the throat will get anyone to talk, especially a prick like the king.”
“You’re right, and the worst thing you can do is let King Dolian have his voice when he knows all he has to do is command me to kill you, and I will obey.”
“Is that really how the magic works?” the woman next to Remi asks, her short dark hair swaying above her shoulders as she tilts her head to observe me. “He just gives you a command, and you have to obey?”
“Yes. If he says the words, I can and will kill every single person on that beach.” My heart ricochets at the thought, my bottom lip trembling until I bite down on it hard enough to get it to stop. “If your plan hinges on him freeing me that way, it’s not going to work.”
“Can King Dolian just take the ring off of you?” Xander asks, tucking his hair behind his ear.