Chapter 10
The next day, I wake feeling nothing but dread. I lie still under my covers for a while, fully awake and knowing I slept in well past breakfast.
There’s no one beside me.
I don’t want anything except to hide in the comfort and safety of my bed, but I force myself to rise. If I stay here, the image will just keep flashing in my brain again. And now it’s distorted and even more terrifying, thanks to the nightmares I had last night.
Adrian may not be here, but I know he came back to check on me this morning because I find a plate of fresh baked breakfast pastries on my table, next to my beautiful flowers.
I don’t even know if he slept here last night.
If he did, did he sleep in the bed next to me, or did he sleep out here on the lounger like he first said he would?
There are no signs indicating either option.
I skip most of my morning routine, anxious to get out of my room and see what updates have unfolded regarding the incident.
What did they do with Daegan?
Did they find the crying maid?
Is she okay?
A million questions race through my mind as I scurry through the bright halls. The lights inside the castle are brightest in the morning, slowly dimming in the late afternoon.
When I see two dragon-shifter males heading my way, I leap behind a pillar without thinking.
I listen in as they pass.
“…lucky he didn’t do worse. Daegan is ruthless.”
“I know. Were you there in Morne when he—”
“Yep. I was. The guy is my hero.”
I don’t hear any more of the conversation as the two large males pass, and it would be too obvious if I followed them, so I emerge from my dark corner and continue on my path.
I make it to my father’s throne room and find the guards standing outside the closed entrance, eyeing me.
“Is he in there?”
“Yes.”
They don’t make a move.
“Can I see him?”
The two guards share a look. “He’s in a meeting.”
“Is it about…” I hesitate. “The event last night? I was there. I should be in there too.”
They eye each other once more, and the taller of the two—I think his name is Landriel—shrugs. He opens the door with a loud creak and allows me to enter.
I sense that my arrival has halted all conversation in the room, as the dozen or so people sitting around the large table in front of the throne turn to look at me. I catch a quick glance of Adrian among them, but I don’t make eye contact as I stride to the front with purpose.
The sound of my boots against the hard onyx floor echo throughout the large chamber.
“Father,” I say as I reach him.
“Elysande,” he says, everything about his tone sounding entirely too formal. “I wanted to check on you last night after I heard, so I entrusted Adrian with the task. Are you doing well this morning?”
I’m too caught off guard to hide my surprise as I whip my head toward Adrian. Something flashes in his eyes that I can’t read. Maybe because a sense of betrayal that I feel inside is written on my face.
I thought he came of his own accord. If I knew my father had sent him… would things have been different?
I can’t be sure. All I know now is that an uncomfortable feeling has replaced anything good from last night.
“I’m okay,” I say with as much power in my voice as I can muster. “Where is he?”
“Locked in a room until we decide what to do with him.”
I glance around the table at all the members of my father’s court.
All elves, both male and female, all with varying roles.
I’m not even sure what half of them do, but the king must be taking this matter seriously if he brought all of them here this morning.
Meela’s father, Syrus Soraya, the hand to the king, sits by my father with a permanent scowl on his face.
I’ve never liked him. It’s just a feeling.
“And the one I saw fleeing the scene… crying?”
My father and Adrian share a look. “We haven’t had anyone come forward as of now… and with your vague description, it’s hard to know who it was, or what she was doing there.”
Unease fills me, because I sense there is more to this story. After the shock of last night wore off a little, I’ve had more clarity today. I hope he doesn’t plan to sentence Daegan without interrogating every possible witness first.
I want to find her.
Just when I’m about to explain as much to him, the heavy double doors open with a creak once more.
Daegan’s father, Taevis Vaelor, the leader of the dragon shifters, walks in with his head held high and a fierce, determined expression.
It’s slightly intimidating, but I’m more eager to hear what he has to say, so I don’t shrink away or cower.
I keep my head high and my shoulders back.
It’s hard to draw my eyes from the powerful male who has commanded the room in an instant, but my eyes finally shift behind him, where I find Raef along with another older male following.
When they finally reach the far end of the table, they halt. As they fan out, they reveal a fourth person.
“That’s her!” I blurt out.
Everyone looks at me, then back to our newest visitors.
“That’s the maid I saw leaving the scene last night.” I don’t wait for anyone to ask questions. I look directly at her and ask, “What did you see?”
Daegan’s father eyes me with a look of disapproval, then flicks his gaze back to my father.
“Your Highness, this elf is one of your very own. A maid in your castle. And if you’d allow her the chance, she’d like to explain what happened last night.” He holds my father’s gaze, unrelenting and challenging.
“Please, enlighten us,” my father says, ignoring Taevis’s daring glare and focusing on the female who is now the center of attention in this room full of powerful elves.
Her frame is caved in on herself, and she’s visibly shaken.
But as she clears her throat and begins to speak, she holds her head a little higher and shakes some of her nearly white hair out of her eyes.
“Last night, I had just finished my shift cleaning some of the rooms in that wing. I had left something in the recreation room, you see, and so I went back for it. Alone.” She looks down at her feet for a moment, then takes a deep breath and lifts her gaze again.
“The guard was in the hallway. I thought nothing of it. But then, as I was bent over searching for my lost earring, I heard the door click behind me. When I turned to look, I noticed he had shut himself in there with me, and he was looking at me like…” She stops, shudders, and looks down at the floor again.
This time, her gaze remains glued there as she continues. “He tried to attack me.”
She stops, and her eyes shift directly to me. I meet her stare, and I know.
“One of my own guards? They would never,” the general of my father’s army, an elf named Lyriel who is close to two hundred years old, huffs.
She and I hold eye contact the whole time. I see the pleading in them. I feel her despair.
Finally, I look away from her, directing my ire at Lyriel. “Are you calling her a liar?”
“Maybe she misread the situation,” Lyriel fires back at me.
“How can an attack be misread?”
“Perhaps she is exaggerating. Or…” Lyriel glances around the table, then narrows his gaze at the dragon shifters as it dances past them. “Perhaps she’s been coerced to tell this tale by someone close to the situation.”
Taevis doesn’t respond to the allegation. He simply narrows his gaze at Lyriel and then the king, folding his arms and holding his stance. His eyes aren’t quite the same shade of blue as Daegan’s. They’re more of an icy light blue. Slightly creepy.
My father glances at her. “You don’t have to fear them. You are under our watchful eye now. If someone has threatened you, they won’t get away with it.”
“Please, Your Highness,” she says weakly, glancing at me again. Her eyes are pleading now. “I’m not lying. I would never make up something so atrocious about one of our own kind…”
The room is silent as people glance at one another, silently pondering. I finally let my gaze fall to Adrian, whose eyes I’ve felt on me more than a handful of times, but I’ve ignored. He looks just as torn as the next person.
“I believe her,” I announce, cutting through the silence. I feel the weight of every stare on me again.
“Well,” another elf whose name is eluding me begins, “we can’t exactly ask one of the three people who were present if this is the truth. Since he was brutally murdered.” He looks at Daegan’s father with disdain.
“Because he was saving her!” I cut in, surprising myself at the outburst.
“Allegedly,” a female voice chimes in from down the table. The dragon shifters and the maid don’t seem to be winning this crowd over.
“We never have incidents like this happen on our grounds. It is suspicious that it would happen now, as soon as we welcome our foreign visitors,” another male says.
“He said…” the maid starts, but she pauses. After shifting her feet and taking a breath, she continues. “He said he was going to blame it on the filthy dragons, and no one would question it. Those… those were his words, not mine.”
She flashes the shifters an apologetic look. Daegan’s father returns it with a look of pity, and I swear I see a gentle tug of his lip, meant only for her. A look of appreciation for her speaking up on behalf of his son, perhaps. But just like that, it disappears.
“What’s your name,” I ask gently, speaking only to the maid.
“Milanda,” she says just above a whisper. She’s as wispy and delicate as a flower petal right now.
“I think Milanda has been through enough. Why don’t we let her be, and you all can discuss amongst yourselves further.” I fix my gaze on her. “Have you received any medical attention yet?”
She shakes her head.
I’m about to offer to take her to the medical wing to get checked when my father cuts in.
I’m surprised he let me take command of the room for this long, but he is the strong silent type, a man of few words who likes to observe before making his declarations.
“Silania will escort her.” He gives the order to a female down the table with one glance.
She nods, rising from her seat. “See if they can determine whether there’s been any… foul play.”
We all watch the two females retreat, then Taevis faces the king. “A request, Your Majesty?” I have a feeling that regarding him in such a way isn’t pleasant for Taevis, but he doesn’t let it show. His voice and expression are perfectly stoic.
The king gives a simple nod.
“Can we bring in Daegan and see what he has to say?”
“He hasn’t spoken all morning. Except to ask us if we found the maid,” Adrian finally adds. He sounds more than disgruntled about it.
“Okay, well now that we’ve found her, he deserves a chance to speak,” I cut in once more.
My father’s gaze lingers on me suspiciously.
I don’t usually involve myself in any of their meetings, but I’m involved in this one.
I can’t sit back and say nothing. Especially because I’m beginning to feel guilty for rushing to condemn Daegan…
If he really did save Milanda, which I’m pretty sure he did, I owe him an apology.
The king gives the command with one nod toward a few guards standing at the back of the room, and then they make a swift exit, and we wait. For far too long. Members of my father’s table begin debating between one another. I hang back silently. I don’t need to hear any of their speculations.
At long last, the creaking doors are pulled open again, and in walks Daegan, escorted by three guards.
He looks as proud and mean as always, even with his disheveled locks and the extra darkness under his eyes. Even though he’s shown me no redeeming qualities since he’s arrived, I can’t help feeling bad for what I did, the way I didn’t even hear him out and assumed the worst.
Then I remember how he held a knife to my throat the first time I met him, and my dislike for him seeps back in. Of course I didn’t hear him out. Why would I when all he’s shown me is violence and hatred for my people?
I watch him take step after step as he approaches the table, his eyes remaining on the king. Finally, he halts near the edge. No one says a word.
“Daegan Vaelor,” my father begins in a commanding voice, “we were able to locate the maid you were speaking of. She had some things to say, but if you could please tell us your version of the events, that would be greatly helpful.”
“I was heading back to my lodgings when I heard the muffled sound of a female yelling.”
“At such a late hour?” Adrian cuts in.
“Yes,” Daegan replies curtly, not even sparing Adrian a glance.
“So I went to investigate, and that’s when I found that guard over her.
She was clawing at him, he had her pinned, and her skirt was pulled up.
As soon as she saw me, she screamed for help.
I acted, and I’m not sorry.” He glances my way with a cold stare, then averts his eyes back to my father.
“I’d do it again without hesitation. We don’t tolerate such pathetic, vile acts where we come from.
” No, they just threaten innocent passersby with knives.
“Nor do we,” my father responds, a trace of annoyance in his voice.
But it’s hard to get a rise out of him. “Your story matches with the maid’s.
My daughter, Elysande, believes her story.
My court is unsure. We’ve sent her for a medical evaluation, and if they can find further evidence to corroborate with your story, we will release you with my gratitude for rescuing a member of our staff from a heinous act. ”
The members of the table appear taken aback. Some even wear looks of blatant displeasure directed solely at the dragons, but the king’s word is final.
“Thank you, your majesty,” Daegan’s father responds.
Daegan simply nods, a piece of his messy brown hair falling onto his brow as the guards grab his arms to take him away. He flashes me one last glance before he turns and leaves the room.
It certainly wasn’t a look of appreciation or amity, but it replays over and over in my mind nonetheless.