Page 27

Chapter 27

Golden Opportunity

P haris

Stellon made a wordless sound of violent frustration, struggling futilely against his bonds and the soldiers who held him.

Inside, I felt the same level of turbulence, but I kept it hidden. I needed to be smart about this—keep my head and be strategic.

Shifting his attention to the Earthwife, the King said, “Thank you for your help. In this matter and the search. You will be richly rewarded.”

Ah. This might be an opportunity. While I’d decided not to call out Sorcha earlier, it might be just the disruption needed here. Something had to happen—and quickly.

“You might want to consider your allies a little more closely, Father,” I said. “That Earthwife you’re in league with—”

“They’re under a love spell,” Sorcha blurted. “Both of them. I knew I tasted something strange on the Prince’s tongue, and I’ve just now placed it.”

Her finger waggled between the two of us. “Both your sons are bewitched. They don’t know what they’re doing or saying.”

She tossed me a narrow-eyed so there look.

“That would certainly explain things,” the King said.

“If there’s a love spell, it was cast by her.” I tipped my head toward Sorcha.

I stopped short of telling him about the assassination plot, as the witch had known I would based on her self-satisfied expression.

My father still knew nothing of the plot, and he still had no idea Raewyn and “Lady Wyn” were the same person, the would-be assassin who’d infiltrated the royal ball.

As far as he knew, Raewyn was just Stellon’s paramour and his own best blackmail material.

“There is no spell,” Stellon insisted. “My love for her is real, and nothing and no one will ever change my mind. You may force me to marry someone else, Father, but I will not bond with her. I will bond with no one but Raewyn. I will give you no grandchildren. The Randalin name will stop with me.”

That was too much for our father to hear.

“Now I know you’re spellbound,” he growled. “No royal in his right mind would choose a half-breed over his birthright—especially a common one.”

He waved an arm toward Raewyn. “I’ve changed my mind. Not only is she unfit to wear the crown of princess of Avrandar, she’s not even good enough for my retinue.”

“Dispose of her,” he ordered his guard.

The man moved to obey immediately, striding toward Raewyn and drawing his dagger.

Heart thundering, I lunged for her and threw my body in front of hers. She plastered herself to the back of me, clutching my shirt. I could feel her heart pounding wildly against my lower back.

The guard stopped, wearing an uncertain expression. He couldn’t carry out Father’s order without injuring me as well.

“I’ll take her for my retinue then,” I said. “She’s not worthy of your attention, Father, but I don’t mind slumming it a little now and then. She’d make a pleasing attendant for me, if you have no objections.”

Stellon’s jaw dropped, and he shot me a look that might as well have been one of the gleaming spear tips pointed at us. Under the circumstances though, he could say nothing.

We were out of options. My outrageous proposal might just be the thing that saved Raewyn’s life.

Father’s expression curdled.

“You’ve just proved once again you are not king material and never will be. Let us hope your brother gets over this ‘sickness,’ or we are all doomed. The girl is a nuisance. She must be put down.”

“She’s more than a nuisance, she’s dangerous,” Sorcha said, speaking eagerly now. “There’s only one way to break the spell. The girl must die.”

So this had been her aim in helping my father, to eliminate Raewyn and exact her price for the broken bargain while concealing her own involvement in the plot.

Rolling his eyes, my father dismounted and drew his own dagger.

“As my guard is too cowardly to obey my order, I guess I’ll have to do this myself.”

He approached us, and I spun away to hunch my body around Raewyn, giving him my undefended back. He was literally going to have to go through me to get to her.

Behind me, I heard the shift of his armor as he raised the weapon.

“Father, stop,” Stellon yelled. “I’ll give her up. I’ll marry Lady Glenna.”

“I’ve heard that before,” our father said. “Turn away if you don’t want to see it. I’m doing what has to be done. You’ll forgive me when she’s dead and the spell is broken.”

“I won’t forgive you for murdering my brother,” he said. “Neither will Mareth. We’ll both hate you forever, and we’ll make sure everyone in the kingdom knows it. We’ll spread the news far and wide that both your sons were so weak that we were brain-washed by a half-human and a witch’s spell. You’ll lose all respect among the lords and other High Fae.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Father said.

“Oh I would, and I will,” Stellon vowed.

He was desperate now, casting about for anything he could say that would stop this. He’d picked a good one. We both knew how ashamed our sire was of our inferior glamours, and his reputation was everything to him.

The King couldn’t abide the appearance of weakness.

It gave me an idea.

Keeping Raewyn blocked by my body, I turned back around.

“Stellon’s spellbound, but I’m not, and I can prove it,” I said. “You’re missing a golden opportunity here, Father.”

“What are you talking about?” the King asked, dagger still raised and at the ready.

“There are things you still don’t know, but I know the truth about this woman. The full truth. I gleaned a truth-sayer’s glamour. I know about the assassination plot.”

Sorcha’s face paled, and Stellon’s became frantic.

What are you doing? he demanded silently.

“Assassination plot?” Father echoed. I had his attention now.

“You’re talking about the poison that was discovered?” he asked.

I nodded. “Do you remember meeting Lady Wyn at the ball? The young woman who claimed to hail from Altum?”

Please don’t, Stellon begged mind to mind. You swore not to betray me.

I’m not betraying you. I’m protecting you. I have to do something here. You’ll get over her, I said.

“I remember,” Father said in a cautious tone, obviously wondering where this was going.

“She’s the one we’ve been looking for—and failing to find—since the poison was discovered,” he said.

“This girl and Lady Wyn are one and the same,” I told him. “She was spelled to look Elven so she could infiltrate the Opening Night Ball. Raewyn is the would-be assassin.”

I heard Raewyn’s gasp from behind my back.

You did it. You really did it. I can’t believe you. You’re not my brother anymore, Stellon said, his mental tone anguished.

“I discovered her in Stellon’s chambers and have worked to get her away from him ever since.”

So far I hadn’t said anything that wouldn’t stand up to mind-to-mind scrutiny or a truth-sayer.

My father eyed me skeptically. “So why did you not kill her yourself? Why are you protecting her even now?”

Holding up my bound hands in front of me, I said, “Bear with me.”

“I knew she couldn’t have acted alone,” I said. “I’ve been trying to discover her accomplice, to figure out how a lowly half-human could manage to pull off infiltrating the castle and get so close to the royal family. And now I know.”

I pointed at Sorcha. “This Earthwife is the one who helped her. She used her spell to pull the wool over all our eyes—including yours.”

Father turned to stare at Sorcha, who immediately began lying.

“It’s not true, Your Majesty. He’s still spellbound, Your Majesty.”

“And who cast this alleged spell?” my father demanded.

“One of my sisters?” she said.

“Give me a name,” Father dared her.

The Earthwives were famous for their loyalty to one another. Sorcha sputtered, trying to figure out what to do.

Before she could offer up a false name to buy time or tell any other sort of lie, I told him another truth.

“It was her. They’re from the same village. Raewyn told me herself. I gained her trust,” I explained. “She told me everything.”

Adding a lecherous laugh, I said, “She almost gave me everything as well. Humans are no match for our gifts, as you well know.”

Father gave me a look of derision. “You’re not the Crown Prince, but still, you shouldn’t waste your gifts on a half-breed either. Why did you not tell me of any of this sooner?”

“I went to your chambers to talk to you, but your guards wouldn’t admit me,” I said.

That much was true, though my next statement was not.

“I knew Stellon was so lovesick he’d never stop trying to see her, so I got her out of the palace and began working to gain her confidence.”

“Care to confirm all this mind-to-mind?” my father asked.

We shifted to internal communication, and I repeated all the truths I’d already told him verbally, leaving out any elaboration that might reveal the full truth.

I’ll do anything to protect my family, I said as I finished the nonverbal recap.

“Very well. Good work, son.” He nodded, satisfied, and ordered me untied.

As a guard released my hands, the King said, “And now that we’ve found both the assassin and her accomplice, I’ll end them here and now. That’ll put a stop to this disgraceful ‘love spell’ business once and for all. Step aside, Pharis.”

I thrust out a hand, daring to grab his wrist and stop him. “Don’t kill them yet.”

“Why the shaded stars not?” Father asked, irritated.

“Hear me out. As I said, if you do, you’ll be missing a golden opportunity to display your greatness and absolute power.”

Greatness. Absolute power. My father’s favorite words. His brows lifted, indicating he was listening.

“The execution should be public, held in front of the full Court,” I said. “Perhaps even opened up for the humans to attend.”

His eyes narrowed, and a small smile developed on his face as I went on.

“This was an egregious crime. A public hanging would be the perfect way to ensure there are no future attempts to harm the royal family—or subvert your supreme rule. Making a public example of them will cast a quelling terror over the human population of Avrandar and the Earthwives alike. They’ll see how futile it is to try to defy you. Much cheaper than another rebellion,” I said.

For an excruciatingly long moment, he just stood there, dagger in hand. Then he sheathed it.

For the first time, perhaps ever , it appeared he was going to listen to me.

“You’re right,” he said. “Get your horse. You’ll ride up front next to me.”

To his men, he said, “Put the girl and the witch both in the prison cart.”

He looked from the screeching Earthwife to Stellon, who was fighting his restraints and cursing me non-stop.

“And keep this one bound so he doesn’t murder his brother. Let’s go home.”