His dark brows lower, and for a split second, I see the resemblance to the king. I blink and look away, a knot forming in my throat.
“I can try to assure you that all I want is to be free of the king. That I hate him as much as you do. Perhaps evenmore.” Though I try to ignore it, the scoffs at that statement bury their way into me. They could never understand what it has been like, but I don’t need them to. I just need them to be more afraid of me than they are of him. “But none of that matters. The truth is, Iamdangerous to your cause. Just not in the way you think.” I turn to Xander. “Do they know about my magic? About how I’ve been forced to use it?”
He inhales slowly, taking a long while to answer, his expression somewhat sheepish. “Yes. Not everyone, but most in this room. I wanted them awar—”
“I’m not upset that you told them,” I interrupt. “It makes what I have to say even easier with context.” I scan those in front of me, skipping from one pair of eyes to another. “The king will not stop until his entire army is able to pass through the Spell. The number of men I’ve used my magic on already is…” I shake my head. I have no idea just how many I’ve healed. How many sirens. “This gives him access to other kingdoms, invitingconflict into spaces that have previously known only peace. If the king marches into the Mage Kingdom and the Fae Kingdom, they will be able to retaliate.”
“Can the fae cross the Spell without repercussion too? Like the mages?” a woman near the back asks.
“No, but they have dragons,” Xander answers, following my line of thought. “And animals are immune to the Spell.”
“And you’ve healed sirens as well?” Remi asks. I nod, and he curses. “So, really, we’re fucked if the king attacks anyone but the shifters.”
“King Dolian and Queen Amari seem to have a tentative alliance,” Xander says, his fingers caressing his jaw.
“My magic is something not seen since the war. I don’t think the king realizes just how powerful I am, but it is not something I want him to find out.” The words are given solemnly, not from any place of pride but from the utter fear that coils in my stomach. “And he’s not the only one who can control me. With this ring on,” I say, pausing to hold my hand up, “the siren queen also has the ability to command me, and I have to follow through. Where the king lacks the understanding of my capability, Queen Amari seems more cunning, more…sure. But she isn’tjustcontrolling me. She has power over the king as well.”
Their voices buzz in my ear as everyone begins talking in hushed voices, their hands gesturing as they glance my way. But Xander quiets them quickly as he steels his spine, taking a step closer to me. “This doesn’t change our plans, only ensures that we cannot fail in two days.”
Two days. The day before the king expects me to walk down the aisle. It’s an arbitrary number at this point. Whether it is two days or twenty or two hundred, time passes all the same. I lay a hand over my hip, right above the brand—that permanent reminder. It’s healed on the surface, the skin a white array oflines and curves in the arrangement of the king’s sigil, yet the ache of it still haunts me. It’s persistent, following me no matter what corner of my mind I try to retreat to.
“I do not want to cause any more harm. I do not want anyone else hurt ordeadin my name.” The words come out thick, the effort to push them out heavy on my soul. Some of those in front of me might soften their gazes, or maybe that is only what I wish to see. “Freeing me is risky, yes, but keeping me here is even more so.” Swallowing hard, I return my attention to Xander, who is already watching me, likely seeing more on my face than I mean to show him.
He dips his chin. “Then let’s go over the plan.”
We move to a large table surrounded by chairs, Xander offering me one before he takes his own. On the table are wooden figurines, string, and fabrics of blue and green. Xander begins moving things on the table until it resembles what our meeting on the beach with the sirens will look like, with the dark blue fabric representing the water and the string the Spell in the sand. Figurines stand on both sides of the string, representative of the king, myself, and an array of guards.
“Every guard will be in full armor, including helmets, to help conceal the identities of the men and women here,” he says, gesturing to those who sit around the table.
“Are you all guards?” I ask.
“No. Most of us work in Vitour,” Remi answers, his expression still guarded. He looks at me as if I am both the solution and the cause for his problems, and he can’t decide which one he believes is more true. “We haven’t been forced to take a blood oath of any kind.”
“They will be closest to the king. Closest to you,” Xander adds, his dark eyes boring into mine. “I will walk with you and the king into position on the beach. Unfortunately, we will need the distraction of you healing the sirens to get everyone else intothe correct positions.” He waits for me to react, but I simply swallow and nod for him to continue. What is another handful of sirens to the hundreds I’ve healed already? “I will drop back to the other side of the Spell to stand with the king’s Trusted. The moment you’re done healing the sirens, Remi and the others will apprehend the king and force him to free you from the magical ring.”
I look from Xander to Remi again, then the others who watch me eagerly before clearing my throat. “It’s not going to work.”
“I can send one of my men with you if you really think—”
“No, I mean, you’ll never get the king to say that he frees me from the ring.”
Remi arches a brow in challenge, leaning his elbows on the table. “A knife against the throat will get anyone to talk, especially a prick like the king.”
“You’re right, and the worst thing you can do is let King Dolian have his voice when he knows all he has to do is command me to kill you, and I will obey.”
“Is that really how the magic works?” the woman next to Remi asks, her short dark hair swaying above her shoulders as she tilts her head to observe me. “He just gives you a command, and youhaveto obey?”
“Yes. If he says the words, I can andwillkill every single person on that beach.” My heart ricochets at the thought, my bottom lip trembling until I bite down on it hard enough to get it to stop. “If your plan hinges on him freeing me that way, it’s not going to work.”
“Can King Dolian justtakethe ring off of you?” Xander asks, tucking his hair behind his ear.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “He is the one who put it on, so I wouldassumehe can take it off, but he’s never tried, and I obviously can’t take it off on my own.”
Xander nods, beginning to work a new idea out in his head. Remi looks like he might be sick. “Okay,” Xander says after the silent tension in the room has grown thick. “Remi and the others will still subdue King Dolian, but he’ll cover his mouth themomenthe catches him so he cannot command Rhea to do anything. They will command with whatever brute force necessary that hetakesthe ring off of your finger. If he fails to do so, then the goal will be to create as much distance between you and him as possible.” He reaches out to the table and grabs the figurine that I think is supposed to represent me. It’s carved into what looks like a small sun. “You’ll run to the carriages on the other side of the spell. There, a pack with supplies and one of my men will be waiting. They can get you to the edge of Vitour, maybe a little farther, before they will have to leave you to complete the journey to the Mage Kingdom on your own. It’s the only way I can ensure they won’t be caught.”
My heart beats in protest at the plan, something about it not quite feelingright. Then again, nothing has in a long time. “And the king?” I end up asking.
“Once the Trusted are dead, I will join Remi as he kills him.” Xander’s expression is cold, reminding more of the man I saw in the tower.
