Chapter Sixteen
IVY WAS A FAERIE, POSSESSING noble blood and one of the loveliest faces of their race.
She would've been the last person for anyone to suspect of treason and treachery, and this was probably why Ivy had found it so damn easy to fool them all.
By the time they learned of her perfidy, their realm - the very last refuge of their race - had been razed to the ground, and the Fates once again revealed its fickle nature as the Faes became a stateless kingdom overnight.
A hefty bounty had been placed on her head, but the woman had managed to elude capture...until now.
If Fina's deductions were correct and her sources trustworthy, then Ivy had made camp at an abandoned Chernobyl-like industrial site located several miles away from Coral Springs.
"Since they're here..." Fina placed the red marker to establish the location of the vampires' camp on the digital map displayed by the table's LCD screen. "I suggest we strike from here, which my sources tell me is the one opening they've overlooked."
Alain tapped on the screen, switching map views until it showed the terrain of their target's location. This new layout showed how extremely defensible the area was, and while it could be the reason why the vampires had opted to camp there...
"It's too damn near to our stronghold," he said flatly. Where Faes were, Ivy avoided. That was how she eluded capture all this time...and now Fina wished them to believe the traitor had suddenly made the mistake of doing the exact opposite thing of what kept her alive?
Fina, however, appeared indifferent to Alain's concerns. "Ever heard of reverse psychology?"
Alain didn't even bother to dignify this with a reply.
"Come on, general. When have I ever been wrong?"
"Not once in the past," Alain allowed, "but no one can speak for the future."
"You need to trust me on this, A1. I've been following this lead for months."
Again with that stupid nickname the spymaster alone insisted on using, in spite of Alain's blatant dislike for it. She made him sound like a fucking steak sauce, and one of these days, if she kept on pushing him this way, he might just choose a nickname especially for her as well.
Only his would be straightforward, and his nickname for her would rhyme with itch.
Which, ironically enough, was also something Fina has desperately had for the prince for years, Alain thought distastefully, but never managed to get Lysander to scratch.
On the other side of the table, Aluin was feeling similarly pissed.
Fina had actually dared suggest earlier that he and Alain stay behind to guard the princess while she and Lysander went to war.
Who the fuck did this bitch think she was, with the way she was calling the shots?
She might be a hell of a good spy, but spies did not soldiers make, and she had to be the dumbest thing alive to think otherwise.
When Aluin turned to his prince, he didn't even make the slightest attempt to conceal his feelings on the subject. "I think this plan is shit, and if the princess—-"
"The princess," Lysander bit out, "was raised to become some man's arm candy, nothing more.
" He saw the way disapproval glinted simultaneously in the twins' gazes at his callousness, but he forcefully pushed all feelings of guilt aside and told himself he was doing the right thing.
"It would be lunacy to involve her in this, and we might as well execute our own soldiers if we let her play god with our people's lives. "
By the time he finished speaking, the beast inside him was in the same black mood as the twins. Its displeasure stemmed from Lysander's disparaging words for his own mate, and their opposing views made him feel like his soul was being torn into two directions.
He stalked out of the conference room without a word, knowing that he might need to put space between him and everyone else. Ammon was threatening to run amok, and he found himself snarling back to remind the beast who was in charge.
My honor demands I speak the truth, beast!
With what he now knew about Estrella, and with Fina looking to him to set a rightful example as their prince, he just had no fucking choice—-
The beast inside him roared out a warning, cutting through his thoughts, and his head shot up.
That was when he saw Estrella standing at the opposite side of the hallway, and the look on her face told him she had heard everything he said.
Estrella quickly pinned a smile to her lips the moment her husband came striding towards her. Stay calm. Act normal. And no matter what - don't cry. Because if she did, then she might as well tattoo the words 'arm candy' on her forehead.
Lysander could feel his facial muscles freezing at the thoughts that were running through Estrella's head.
But whether it was the truth or she was simply faking it.
..he just didn't fucking know anymore. And when he finally reached her, his mind remained a fucking blank.
Did he comfort her or confront her? Fuck himself over so he could keep fucking her?
Everything was all fucked up—-
Why couldn't she have stayed as pure and bright as the Star she used to be?
And when he finally reached her, he could only force his lips into a smile as he simply uttered her name.
"Estrella."
But that turned out to be a mistake as well.
"H-Husband." She fought to keep her smile from wobbling as her head reeled.
Lysander had always liked to call her a lot of things, even back when she was just a gawking eighteen-year-old fascinated by the depth of his knowledge and bowled over by his good looks.
Ma belle etoile, he had called her then.
And when he came back as her mate, he had taken to calling her other things.
My Star. My wife. But one thing he had never done was to call her by her actual name, and that he had done so now. ..
It hurt. It just...hurt. It didn't feel right, coming from him, and it made her feel she was now like everyone else, was no longer special like she used to be.
She looked up, and his eyes...they were still haunted, but now she was no longer confused by it. Because now, after what she heard—-
It would be lunacy to involve her in this, and we might as well execute our own soldiers if we let her play god with our people's lives!
Now, she knew why he was hurting, too.
On her way back to Coral Springs, she had been so optimistic and determined.
In her mind, she had imagined asking Lysander if she could be included in his plans for Ivy's capture, to which he would of course say yes.
Domenico aside, Lysander alone knew just how much this kind of work meant to her.
Not even the twins, who had fought by her side for over two years, knew about her dream.
But Lysander did.
And for him to say such things—-
"I'm sorry you had to hear that."
The apology just made everything worse. He might as well have said he truly believed everything he said was the truth, and because this was Lysander, Estrella found herself regressing, doubting herself as she used to.
The ordinary, talentless princess, not as smart or beautiful, not as brave or strong as any of her siblings - how could she have forgotten, how could she have been so arrogant to have forgotten who she really was?
Lysander's words had to be true, she realized painfully. People looked up to him, a man whom many described as the finest warrior of his race. That was just the kind of prince he was, and so if he believed she would only be a hindrance to their plans—-
Estrella saw Lysander start to speak, and she quickly shook her head.
"You don't have to explain. You know these things better than I, so it must be as you say.
" The words rolled down her tongue without trouble.
She had seen the light now, and it shamed her, when she thought of how she had been acting while he was gone, making decisions for an entire race like she really knew what she was doing.
Everyone must've thought I was so full of it.
Laughing at me behind my back because they knew all the good things that I made happen were probably a result of pure dumb luck and several strokes of good fortune.
God, I was so dumb to think I could really rule in Lysander's stead. The sheer pretentiousness...
Lysander couldn't help flinching upon hearing his wife's mental self-castigation. Stop thinking things like that—-
He saw Estrella stumble back the moment he spoke in her mind, and Lysander whitened, realizing too late he had ended up hearing something he wasn't supposed to hear...and he just had to let her fucking know it, too, like some asshole who enjoyed twisting the knife to make people bleed more.
SHIT.
"I didn't mean to—-" He tried to reach for her hands, but she yanked them out of reach in a seemingly instinctive gesture, and Lysander froze. She had never refused his touch before, and that she was doing so now—-
Estrella nearly wept with relief when the door behind Lysander suddenly opened, and the twins along with the kingdom's chief spymaster came out. "Fina." She rushed to her friend but then she saw the strangely discomfited expression on the older woman's face—-
"Your Highness."
Oh no. She knew that look, and she stumbled to a stop. Fina believed the same thing, too.
"I need a word with you, Fina," Estrella heard Lysander say.
And now, they were probably going to talk about her.
The other woman bowed stiffly to Estrella but swiftly turned and walked away before Estrella could say anything. She watched Fina catch up with the prince and realized it was her first time to see the two in each other's company.
And...they looked good together. Probably better than she and Lysander did, because Fina was everything she was not. Smarter and more experienced, a person who had earned Lysander's respect...someone who could rule the Faes far better than an inexperienced and unskilled outsider.
****
THE PRINCE DIDN'T APPEAR inclined to talk right away, and Fina was thankful for that.
She had no idea what had gone down between him and the princess, but she wasn't going to take any chances.
She had to be careful and cunning like she always was, play it by the ear and hopefully have Lysander unknowingly clue her in.
It was only when they were at the very edge of the property when the prince suddenly turned to her and asked abruptly, "Is it possible that Estrella could've misread the situation? That in her inexperience she might have indeed believe she had won the battle at Miller Mine and not you?"
"The princess is a great many things, Your Highness," she couldn't help saying sarcastically, "but I have never figured her to be an idi—-"
Anger flashed in the prince's eyes as he cut her off, saying icily, "Take care with your words, Fina. I accord you the respect you deserve as my former mentor, but that can only go so far."
Shit. She had obviously miscalculated that one terribly, and Fina quickly backtracked.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness." Her voice trembled convincingly with unshed tears.
"It's only...I had a feeling this would happen.
After all..." She thought of something completely random to say and blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
"The twins..." She made her voice break off like it was suddenly hard to speak, made her eyes well up like she was just a tiny push away from bursting into tears.
And then she waited.
Lysander's head jerked up. "The twins?"
She kept waiting and let the silence grow tense and uncomfortable, knowing from experience that if she waited long enough...
"It's alright." The prince's tone was stiff.
People always talked, and even Lysander wasn't an exception.
"I can guess they've told you about my ability to read Estrella's mind. I should've told you myself since you had every right to know as our spymaster."
The need to speak and explain was more a human characteristic than failing really, and because of it, Fina was now silently panicking.
Fuck, fuck, fuck! Lysander could read Estrella's mind?
She had to do something, say something - anything - to discredit the princess, make it seem that even her thoughts were a lie.
But...dammit...was that even possible?
"I used to buy it," Lysander said tightly," every time she acted like she forgot I could listen to her thoughts, but now..." The prince shook his head in a gesture of self-contempt."I was such a fucking a fool to have fallen for it. No one just forgets that another person is able to read her mind."
If Fina had been the type to believe in God, she would've been sending prayers up to the heavens by now. That was exactly what she needed to hear, and she didn't even hesitate for a single second to exploit it.
"You have nothing to blame yourself for, Your Highness." Fina opted to speak with quiet pragmatism, wanting the prince to believe she was still completely neutral in the subject. "You only knew the princess when she was young, and people grow up. People change."
Lysander's fists clenched. He knew Fina was only speaking the truth, but the beast inside him still resisted against the idea. It believed that Estrella was still their Star, and stars were always meant to shine against the darkness.