Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
By the time the meal ended, I was desperate to leave. I couldn’t recall ever sharing an evening with fae where half of the table was making an effort to exclude me while the other half was trying just as valiantly to make me feel welcome.
It was a war of words. A struggle for power. And I’d never felt so entirely isolated in all of my life.
Plate empty, Koraline pushed her chair back from the table to stand behind it, and Lillith did the same.
Angling herself to address our parents, the crown princess said, “Goodbye, Mother and Father. Enjoy the rest of the evening.”
Lillith dipped her head, her brown curls bobbing on her shoulders. “We’ll see you at lunch tomorrow.”
My mother frowned. “Lunch? You won’t be at breakfast?”
“No, we’re meeting Tinelle for breakfast at the market since we have an appointment with the tailor at nine, so we’ll be leaving early tomorrow.” Lillith eyed me briefly, and for the barest moment, a flash of guilt entered her aura.
“The tailor’s?” The king raised his eyebrows. “We have tailors here. Why would you be going to the market for that?”
Koraline rolled her eyes. “We might have an in-house tailor, but Tinelle doesn’t, and we wanted to have our gowns fitted together for my ball.”
“I see.” The king’s attention drifted my way. “Do you think perhaps your sister would also care to join you?”
Koraline’s lips flattened, and Lillith averted her gaze.
My mother arched an eyebrow. “It would be nice if you—”
“Oh no, that’s not necessary.” I struggled to form a smile, something that just a month ago had been as easy for me as breathing. “I don’t want to intrude on their plans.”
Koraline plopped a hand on her hip. “See? She doesn’t even want to come.”
The crown princess looped her arm through Lillith’s, and with that, my tall, willowy sister turned them on their heels and headed toward the door. Lillith didn’t give me another glance, and I wondered if I’d imagined her flare of guilt a moment ago.
The door closed behind them with a resounding thud, and the only sound left in the room was the crackling fire.
“Well, supper, um, didn’t go entirely as planned.” My mother’s smile trembled.
“I suppose you can’t blame them for hating me.” I stared at my lap. “Both were adults by the time I was born.”
During the meal, when our parents had been trying to bridge the gap between us, I’d learned that Lillith had been thirty-five summers old when I’d entered the realm, so while I had zero memories of either of them, they both clearly remembered everything about me.
“It’ll be fine eventually,” my mother replied readily. “They’re angry with us for hiding your existence from them, but that’ll pass, and they’ll warm to you.”
I clamped my lips together but forced a nod. “Shall I return to my chambers now?”
“Return to your chambers?” My mother cocked her head.
I nodded. “So I can remain safe from whoever’s trying to kill me or turn me into a monster?” I waved toward the empty vial that’d contained the potion that I now had to dump over my food and drink every time I consumed something.
“Oh, darling!” My mother’s face fell. “You’re not a prisoner here.
That is not what we intended at all. You’re welcome to roam the palace just as your sisters do.
You may even leave the palace if you choose to.
Just make sure Kole goes with you everywhere you go.
” She grabbed one of my hands and squeezed it tightly.
She felt so familiar, so much like Aunt Opalin, that some of my despair lifted.
“And rest assured, we’ll figure this out.
The Imperial Council is working hard to find who’s behind this, and once they do, they’ll be stopped, and all of this will be in the past.”
“Have they found anything yet? Anything at all?” I thought of what I knew so far, that whoever was behind my assassination attempts as a child had also been behind Verin’s nefarious placement in my aunt and uncle’s home.
And that they, whoever they were, had also given that potion to Verin with orders to somehow find a way to make me ingest it.
It was only pure luck that Verin had failed to do so.
And on top of that, it seemed that those things that Kole had been killing in the Wood had been let loose to hunt me.
My parents shared another veiled look, and the king replied, “What they’ve found is nothing for you to worry about. We’ll keep you safe.”
In other words, like Jamie, they also wanted to keep me in the dark. So far, only Kole had been forthcoming about the reality of my situation.
I sighed heavily. “Please tell me what you know. Please.”
I looked between the two of them, and the king eventually sighed.
“What we know, from what the Imperial Council has been able to conclude, is that there have been several fae who suffered a fate similar to your uncle’s, but they turned into different creatures, more like the one that you saw with Kole outside of Inisville.
” He frowned, his eyebrows drawing sharply together.
“It’s almost as if there are two versions of these creatures, and Timith was becoming the latter. ”
“Who were the fae that were turned?”
He shrugged, looking baffled. “Most were burned immediately, so we don’t know, but of the other ones they identified before burning, they were simply fae who lived throughout the continent. All from different walks of life, all of different ages and pasts.”
“Why are they burned?”
My parents shared an uneasy look, and my father replied haltingly. “If they’re not, they can return to life even if it’s thought they’ve been killed.”
My jaw dropped. “Stars Above. And of those who were identified, before they were burned, there’s truly no connection between any of them?”
“None that we’ve found.”
I nibbled on my lip and thought back to what Nivinity had said in Inisville.
The wildling, employed by the inn I’d slept at, had said that some fae in the surrounding villages had gone missing.
At that time, I thought they’d been eaten, and maybe some had been, but it was also possible some had instead been changed.
I raised my eyebrows. “And all of those creatures, the ones that have been roaming the Wood that were apparently once normal fae who lived throughout the continent, and the one Timith was turning into, are all somehow tied to me or to whoever’s after me?”
The king scrubbed his face. “Honestly, we don’t know.
We have more questions than answers right now, but your mother’s right.
We don’t want you to be concerned about this.
Let the Imperial Council handle it. Eventually, all will be well.
” He frowned heavily and gave me a pointed look.
“But until that time, Kole is to stay at your side. He must guard you always, like he was when you hunted the Stone.”
My heart began to beat at the reminder of Kole’s true role in my life. During the hunt, Kole had stolen my carpet as a way to either force me back to the safety of Whiteolf or force me to stay in closer proximity to him. All so he could keep me safe.
Blood pounded through my ears, and my throat suddenly felt dry. “Why do you think those creatures were following me? What’s your personal opinion of it?”
My father’s frown grew so deep that grooves appeared in his forehead. “I don’t know, and I can’t even venture a partially intelligent guess, but the Council suspects those creatures either would have taken you or bitten you, but that’s only a theory.”
A memory hit me, of the way the thing outside of Inisville had seemed to grow excited when I’d appeared in the Wood after following Kole. It was as though it’d wanted me to get closer to it.
I turned entirely rigid. Gods and Goddesses. The Council and my father were right.
My mother shifted closer to me, and her skirt rustled. “Enough of that. Please.” Her voice shook. “You will always be guarded now, and when you leave the palace walls, Kole or another Imperial Warrior will always be with you. Nothing will hurt you.”
I couldn’t tell if my mother was saying that to reassure herself or me, but it became more real to me what was occurring. I truly was in danger.
I folded my hands together in my lap. “But despite all of that, I’m not to stay confined to my chambers?”
“At the moment, no,” my father replied. “We have no wish to cage you. You’re our daughter.
You’re a princess of Mistvale. You’re not a criminal who must be locked up.
But like your mother said, Kole or another Imperial Warrior must stay with you at all times.
You’re not to leave or go anywhere without them. Understood?”
I nodded quickly, so relieved to hear that they weren’t going to banish me to the wilds or confine me in my chambers, and I also realized having a warrior guard me day and night was a smart decision.
Even though my magic was strong, and I was more than capable of defending myself, if I was unaware of a threat, I would be easy pickings to someone who snuck up on me.
“Speaking of your new life in your royal role,” my father added, drawing my attention back to him.
“We plan to officially announce your return to the kingdom, and consequently, we’ll be moving you into your permanent wing.
It’s adjacent to your sisters and will be yours for as long as you live in the palace. ”
My eyebrows rose. “You mean, the chambers I was placed in aren’t where I’ll stay?”
“Oh no,” my mother replied. “Those are guest chambers. We’d only placed you there temporarily until you learned your true identity.”
My heart began to race again. “Do Koraline and Lillith know I’ll be moved closer to them?”
The king shook his head. “No, but they’ll learn soon enough. We’ve instructed the servants to move you first thing in the morning.”
“Okay.” My forehead furrowed. “Other than that, is there anything else happening in my new royal role that I need to be aware of?”