Page 119 of Exiled Heir

“The scouts?” I asked, then shook my head, remembering the pair of consorts I had sent out.

But no, it was well over three hours later. I should have sent out another missive, alerting everyone to a new schedule so no one was pushed to exhaustion.

“Nothing new. No new disturbances, nothing to report.” Jay held out the clipboard, and I took it, seeing four sets of reports.

“You sent out a new schedule?” I frowned down, seeing spaces and names for the next thirty-six hours.

“No, I thought you did. It arrived via magic last night.” Jay squinted at me, but I waved him off.

“Sorry, I was so tired. Cade must have sent it out for me.”

“Of course,” Jay said.

I skimmed the reports again, but Jay was right. There was nothing to report, no disturbances, no indications of any new gaps in the wards.

“Did you send a copy of this to the war council?” I asked.

“Yes. They’re still meeting about it.” Jay looked at me, frowning. “Why aren’t you with them?”

“I had something else to attend to.” If Cade was with the war council right now, that put them in the secret magical chamber, beyond my reach. I would have to wait for them to finish.

As though hearing my problem, Isaac appeared next to Jay, shaking his head.

“Ridiculous.” He blinked when he saw me. “You would have been able to talk some sense into him.”

“I’m sorry to tell you, but that’s beyond me.” I smiled, trying to make light of it. “Sure, I can disarm a nuclear weapon, but talk sense into Cade? Not in my job description.”

Isaac gave me a hard look. “What exactlyisyour job description?”

“To protect Cade,” I answered immediately.

“Well, you need to go protect him from himself,” Isaac said.

Jay put a hand on his wrist, squeezing, and Isaac looked down where their skin touched. He let out a long breath. He covered Jay’s hand with his own, and something passed between them, almost translucent, but it was like looking at a rainbow out of the corner of my eye. I definitely saw it.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“Leon said he had to talk to him.” Isaac frowned at me. Raising his hand, I felt his magic wrap around me.

When it disintegrated, floating off into the air, I was in the chamber.

In his seat all the way across the table from Cade, Leon leaned forward, his lips compressed in a tight line. Cade was standing next to his chair, his back to Leon, one hand grasping the top of his chair tightly. They both turned to stare at me, and I came forward into the light, walking around the table so I could see the expression on Cade’s face.

He turned away from my eyes, but not before I saw the wrinkles on his forehead, the creases between his brows.

“You’re sure?” he asked.

“Positive. The dryads said the poison was magical. It’s poisoning the magic of House Bartlett.” Leon leaned back in his chair, observing me.

“Has anyone felt the effects yet?” I asked.

“As I was telling Prince Bartlett, we have yet to see anyone experiencing the effects.” Leon shook his head. “But that doesn’t mean that no one is. They might be hiding it, or they might not understand what’s happening.”

Leon pushed himself up to his feet. “I must go check in with Jesaiah, make sure that the dryads have finished their work.”

Cade waved him off, still refusing to turn around. When I heard the audible pop of Leon’s teleportation magic, I waited a few moments before talking.

“Are we safe to talk freely?” I asked.