Page 22 of Enchanted Shadows (The Enchanted Kingdom #6)

I met with Team One to talk about their role in the final maze trial the next morning.

By the time I made it over to the castle to meet with Jorah afterward, I was sore and tired.

My shoulder blades ached, my neck as well.

It was rest day. The women were all supposed to be resting and relaxing.

And here I was, prepping and putting out minor fires.

When we were on our month break in a few weeks I vowed I would sleep then.

Maybe, if this didn't take too long, I could still get a decent night's sleep.

Jorah and Krew were finishing up in the throne room, so that was where I went. I hoped this meeting could be done in twenty minutes or less.

It was funny how a single room could hold so many past horrors and feel entirely different once the person responsible was gone.

The throne room had been repainted, reoriented, and changed so much that it barely felt like the same room.

Jorah had demanded the dais torn down, and the thrones be moved in front of the windows.

I suspected it was so that she could look out the windows when she got bored in parliament sessions.

“Owen,” Keir called, lightly bouncing his daughter in his arms .

“Miss me already?” I asked as I finished walking over.

“Always.” Keir shot me a grin. “Without you around to compare, I seem less handsome.”

I flopped my head to the side dramatically. “The wingspan is compensating for something, isn’t it?”

Esta snorted a laugh and then broke into giggles.

Keir said something to her telepathically which had her laughing even harder.

“You look like hell,” Jorah said to me as she finished up with a parliament member.

I put my arms out dramatically. “Anyone else want to take a shot at me?”

“Leave the man alone,” Krew barked at them all. “He’s been pulling damn long hours for something we asked him to do.”

I gave him an appreciative nod. “I just need to know the plans for the celebration, then I’m out of your hair again.”

Jorah became very excited, talking animatedly with both hands about fittings and dresses and making them somewhat match like guard formal wear, but quite honestly, after Esta joined in, I zoned them out a little.

I wanted it to be special, but I would not be the one to make it so.

That was up to Jorah and her team at the castle.

I was more worried about keeping everyone safe and alive than I cared what the dresses looked like.

Ten minutes into their side conversation, a whiskey arrived for me wrapped in some navy magic.

I looked to Krew impressed.

“I keep a stash hidden in a cupboard in the back. Just in case.”

I grinned. “Thank you.”

“Why don’t you get out of here? Go get some sleep. I can personally deliver you a written plan for the ball. Sounds like we are still working out some of the finer details anyway.”

“Think they’ll even notice when I walk out?”

“Yes,” Esta and Jorah both snapped at the same time .

I lifted the whiskey to my lips. “Dammit.”

“How badly were the women rattled from the other night?” Keir asked.

I considered his question. Zara had been more affected than Wren, and that surprised me a little. “Not as bad as I thought.” I wasn’t sure what details Esta and Jorah knew. “They’re creative, I’ll give them that. They let them light the fire, so we had reason to hold the culprits.”

“Smart,” Keir grinned.

“We need to make sure we keep them together after training,” I reminded Krew.

He gave me a nod. “It doesn’t make sense to assign a woman to each already functioning team just to say we did. There would be more strife that way. If they work better together, why would we fix something that isn’t broken?”

This. This was why he was a king like no other. He had the ability to see things for what they truly were. He was the reason the disloyal existed. The reason we were able to overthrow his father and get him off this very throne.

“Thank you.” I already felt that pressure easing off my shoulders. One less thing to worry about.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Keir asked. “Sounds like you could use an actual break?—”

The tall doors of the throne room slid open interrupting our conversation. In walked three people. Amos Reyes. Emric. And Zara.

But the thing that had me tensing was the look on her face. Zara, who always was composed and graceful, was utterly wrecked. Last night she had batted away a few tears, but now they were streaming down her beautiful face.

If she was trying to quit on me again, I was not going to have it. She belonged with us. Why didn’t she see it when I sure as hell did ?

“Zara?” I asked, handing my whiskey to Krew and moving for her.

Her eyes darted to Amos quickly before going back to mine.

“You,” I accused, switching for him. I was pissed he was here when he knew he was supposed to stay away from the team.

I was also pissed that his presence, for whatever reason, was the reason a strong woman like Zara looked so devastated.

Bottom line, there were tears and thus I needed to be pissed at someone. Amos seemed like the perfect target.

Zara shoved my chest hard in intercepting me. “No. He came to me with news.”

My eyes darted to Emric, who gave me a shrug. “She told me she had to talk to you. Demanded I bring her to you. All things considered; I decided it wise. Left Miles in charge.”

I looked back to Zara. She was gripping her necklace with one hand, stopping me with the other. “You once asked me what my real name was. Last night I almost told you. I wanted to tell you. And now I have to, but please know I would have anyway.”

I stilled. It was beyond time she tell me something. Anything. The presence of Amos and Emric, paired with her tears, had my magic crawling and rallying to be of use for whatever came next.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

And before I could say a damn word, she moved her hand off me and took off her necklace.

In one blink, Zara no longer had blonde hair and brown eyes.

Instead, she had dark hair and blue eyes.

Unless my eyes deceived me, which very well might be likely, she also looked a few years older.

Her skin was still the same shade of brown, but I swore she looked older.

I felt the cold piece of the necklace bite into my skin as she opened my clenched fist and handed it over to me, some sort of crystal at the bottom.

Keir’s voice behind me stated simply, “It’s you. ”

I turned to look at him and back to Zara. Keir had spent some time in Nerede before heading to Dra Skor. “And how exactly do the two of you know one another?”

“He healed me,” was her simple answer.

“Princess Kessara?” Keir asked.

The only word I could form was, “Princess?”

Her bright blue eyes were on mine as she said, “My name is Princess Kessara Astra Zavatari of Agria and I seek asylum from my brother.” Her eyes went to Keir’s briefly. “With my half- brothers.”