Chapter 45 #2
“Trust me, sometimes I wish I had. You turned out to be such a disappointment. I have yet to see you transform into that magnificent animal since the day we burned your village to the ground. So many opportunities have come and gone, but you’re so damn stubborn!
At times, I thought I imagined everything from that day. That perhaps you aren’t who I thought.”
My voice cracks, “You were my friend.”
He grips my chin and gives me a tight-lipped smile.
“No. I wasn’t. But, you weren’t truly my friend either, were you.
” He releases me and stands. “You’re the great pretender, are you not?
Is this not what you told Zara? You pretend that you’re just a servant, just as you pretend you aren’t infatuated with my wife.
So, I’m asking you now to pretend you hate my wife and take care of this problem for me. ”
How could he know what I’ve said to her. We were alone. “How—?”
Thea hands Leer what looks like a small looking glass.
He holds it up to my face. I don’t see my own reflection in the glass, but Zara, asleep in her rooms. They were watching.
This entire time. They witnessed everything.
How many private conversations or glances or.
What if they saw me kiss her? Did they see me out in the Woodlands? Is that how Hardin knew?
“Thank you, mother.” Leer nods to Elara.
“I could tell you were enamored with Zara from the first moment you saw her that night in the rickety tavern.” He paces around in a small circle.
“I thought for sure the glamour I used on her from day one would be enough. She was so malleable. If I’m being honest, I never thought my very closest friend would try to steal her right from under me.
But here we are.” He pauses in front of me again and sighs.
“I have to admit, if I actually cared about either of you, I might have been a little jealous that she would find someone like you more appealing than me. I might have been hurt, even.
But, when I saw you together in the greenhouse, it occurred to me that this is actually perfect.
You love her. She doesn’t feel the same.
” He narrows his eyes at me, a pitying yet sick pleasure shining through his eyes.
“And she doesn’t. Feel the same, I mean.
You do know that don’t you, Alfrie? She was in my arms not twenty minutes ago. ”
It’s as though I’ve been hit in the stomach again. A spark ignites and dwells there, but I refuse to lower my gaze from Leer’s. My upper lip twitches, slightly curling over my teeth. He’s trying to instigate me. I won’t let him.
“So, because she will never feel the same about you, you kill her out of jealousy. I don’t have to get my hands dirty, and I can dispose of you too after you’ve been arrested for treason to the crown.
It’s a win win. Imagine the support I’ll get from the village when they see how heartbroken I am at the loss of my brand-new bride.
They’ll be happy to see Lanray go to war.
Not that there’ll be much of a battle seeing as my Court has already infiltrated this one years ago. ”
“Enough of this.” Thea steps past her son and thrusts the tip of the dagger into my left side.
I scream out but the sound is cut off with gasping breaths.
“I tire of waiting. If he isn’t who we think he is, we have no more use for him.
I’ll kill Zara, and we can end him right here.
The story can be told to the public however we wish. ”
Pain shoots through me with each breath. If she punctured my lung, I’ll be dead in minutes. I won’t have a chance to rescue Alix. I’ll die in this cell knowing who and what we've failed to conquer. Zara will be killed.
And I can’t stop them.
Leer comes down to eye level once more and my breathing is shallow as my left lung fights to inflate.
He reaches out and places his hand over the wound.
The familiar sting of healing magic invades my cells.
I had no idea he could do that. I had no idea he was Unseelie, or the villain in my story, but here we are.
“Now. I could glamour you into killing the princess. But I don’t need to, do I? Remember that you owe me a life debt. I’m asking you to fulfill it now.”
I shake my head. “I won’t.”
“You know the law.”
“Kill me, then.” I spit out.
“You are so dramatic, Alfrie.” He huffs, exasperated by my unwillingness to kill the female I love.
His own glamour fades away from his once handsome face.
His true hideousness reveals itself. His soulless black eyes and wrinkled gray skin are inches from my face.
He smiles and a mouthful of pointed teeth glisten in the lantern light.
Then, just as swiftly as it faltered, the facade returns and he’s the prince I know once more.
He grabs me by the throat, his hands unnaturally strong as they tighten around my neck.
“Fine. I’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way. ”
I can’t even struggle under his iron grip and his eyes bore into mine.
I try to blink and close my eyes to fight the glamour magic.
But I can’t breathe. I can’t look away from him.
“You will take Zara to the woods under the guise of finding her guard where you will cut out her heart. Then you will bring it to me.”
It’s done. He's too strong.
His fingers unwind from around my neck, and I suck in a huge gulp of air. He watches me waiting to be sure the seed has been planted. “Alfrie?”
My heart sinks and my willpower is weak. I practically spit out the words as if they were being wrenched from a dark and untouched part of my soul. “I will take Zara to the woods where I will cut out her heart. Then I will bring it to you.”
He pats my cheek. “Good lad.”
The worst part about being glamoured is being trapped inside your own body. It defies every fiber or thought and no matter how I try to rid myself of the compulsion, I’m stuck.
I stare blankly ahead as I slowly pad down the hallways of the palace, not seeing the faces of those I pass.
I can’t see anything past the task I’m being coerced into carrying out.
I stop in front of the wooden door to Zara’s bed chambers.
Once I cross the threshold, I’ll tell her Alix was taken.
I’ll tell her to come with me to rescue him. I’ll lead her into the woodlands.
I’ll end her life.
My broken heart and soul battle my glamoured mind. I’m screaming inside. Screaming to force my feet in the opposite direction and run. I want to run. But I’m glued to this spot and against my will, I knock on the door.