“You’ve been gone for a while.”
“Not so long that you grew up.”
“I had to. You left and most of your duties fell onto me,” she snarled, getting testy as anger hinted at the edge of her words.
She must have hated me, hated me for leaving, but if only she understood.
“When Norok was injured, I found that seer who could help him, and she did. But I feared he’d never wake. When Father
made me next in line to the throne and then proclaimed I’d marry,” I paused, not wishing to speak his name, “Dorian. I wanted
an out, to escape the marriage I never asked for.”
“Uncle Dorian would have only been your husband in name, he was there to protect you in case someone tried to take the
throne from you.”
I laughed. Laughed at her innocence, at how much of the story she didn’t know. I still wasn’t sure if I should tell her the
truth. Standing from the bed, I headed towards the slightly opened curtains and poked my head out.
The campsite was lined with soldiers with the Crystal Fae crest. All of them were either working, training their skills,
chatting with each other, or helping others. No matter what was to happen next, I knew deep down most of these Fae would
never see their families again.
“Tal, there is so much I wish to tell you, but I cannot.” I turned back to look at her, she’d stopped playing cards for a second
to watch me then went back to her game. “How did Father die?”
“He was poisoned.”
My eyes narrowed at her words, confused. It would be very difficult to poison a king who had all his meals and drinks
taste tested right in front of him before each and every meal. Taking the seat opposite her, I watched her closely.
“How was he poisoned?”
“Uncle Dorian said, someone put something in his bath tonic. I don’t know more than that, I just know, our father was burnt
alive in the bath waters.”
Her tears spilled from her eyes without warning, but she didn’t wipe them away, making sure to show me her pain. She
blamed me for Father’s death, and I couldn’t argue with her. Perhaps it was Nicholas? He wanted Father to answer for the
death of his auntie Delphine. But then, if he wanted to hurt Father, he would have done so many years before he managed to get
me. Poison from afar did not seem like Nicolas’s ideal revenge.
“Who found him?” I asked, sitting in the seat opposite her.
“Mother. She’d gone to say her goodnight prayers with him. When he did not answer the door, she found all the guards had
left, she burst inside and found him in the bloody bath waters.”
None of this made sense. No one had the power to dismiss the guards around the royal chamber other than Mother and