And it's Cillian.He ended our relationship. Not me.
“I’m betrothed to his brother.” The words feel wrong coming out of my mouth. I don’t even realize I’ve said it aloud until Dahlia quickly nods at me, her rigid posture returning, her eyes dropping back to the floor.
Guilt floods me for making her feel chastised when I don’t actually plan on following through with the betrothal.
“My apologies, Princess. I didn’t mean to imply-—” Stopping mid-sentence, she bends at the waist, then straightens, and backs out of the room. “Do you need anything else before I go?” she asks as she wrings her hands together.
It takes me a moment to come out of the rabbit warren that she just sent my mind down. “Do you know why my sister would have been in Terrania, near the portal to the human world?”
Her brow knits. “She was by the human portal when she died?”
“Yes.” I’m a little surprised she didn’t know, with how the rumor mill operates among the servants.
She slowly brings her eyes back to mine. “I, um…, I don’t understand. Princess Nova had no reason to be near the portal as far as I know. You should be able to ask the security teamthough. They would have an official reason for her request to visit.”
“The humans attacked her while she wasaloneat the portal, Dahlia.”
Her mouth drops open.
I press on. “Have you heard anything from other humans here, ones with connections in the human world? Why the humans would want to kill the next in line to be the Fae queen?”
The sweet pink that graced her cheeks earlier has changed to a full red. She takes a small step towards me before freezing, her hands slightly raised. “Please, I promise humans here are no risk to you,” she says, words quiet but frantic.
“Dahlia,” I cut her off. She’s young but seems even younger because of her height. “I’m not upset with the humans here. I just want to know why my sister was killed. And what sent her to the human portal to begin with.”
Her eyes gleam with unshed tears. I hate to have upset her with my questions. But Ophe is the only other human I could ask, and her ties there ended after her family’s last visit.
“We’re forbidden from speaking about politics if we visit home,” she says. “The glamour over us prevents it. And your side of the portals are spelled to notify the Guardians if any species other than a Fae tries to enter from our world. If someone made it through the portal and was able to kill Princess Nova before the Guardians made it to her…” She shakes her head, “I just don’t know how that’s possible.”
The‘if’isn’t lost on me. It spikes my curiosity even more.
Standing, I thank her and pause as I skirt past her at the door, the journal tucked tight to my side. Mind spinning, I say, “Please keep this conversation between us.”
She gives a firm nod.I hope I can trust her.
I still don’t have answers for why Nova would have been there. Honestly, now I’m wondering if she was even at the portal when it happened. Did they lie to me?Did Cillian lie to me?
Is he keeping secrets? I have no reason to trust him beyond instinct.
In the hallway, I’m about to head to my room to finish looking through Nova’s journal when I hear his deep voice down the corridor on my left. I know I should go right?—
My feet don’t seem to agree.
Chapter
Nine
NISSA
Light spills out into the hall. I can’t make out what was just said so I creep closer. The deep timber I hear is undeniably Cillian’s voice. I would recognize it anywhere. But I freeze when an airy feminine voice responds to whatever it is he said.
The female sounds familiar but I can’t place her until I peer through the crack in the door. My eyes find Cillian first, seated behind a massive glass desk filled with water, little fish following the path of his hand just below the crystal top. He snares my gaze, unable to pull it away, until I hear her voice again.
“What a hard day it has been for all of us. Praise to the Goddess that you reached out. What comfort can I offer you tonight?” I find the high priestess through the thin slit and my upper lip pulls back in disgust at her seductive words.
She is almost unrecognizable from the female I saw at my sister’s memorial. Her attire and accessories represent each of the four elements, but the dress barely covers her important parts, rising even high in her seated position. Her thick pouty lips are painted a vibrant red and curl into a sultry smile directed straight at the prince.
I hate how my stomach twisted as I searched his face for a response. Jealousy blooming like a poisonous flower behind my ribs. I have no claim to Cillian, he is in every right to take up this female on her offer ofcomfort.
