Chapter Forty-Eight: Rhea
WhateverreprieveImighthave had from the king disappears days later when Eve arrives at my room with a new gown and orders to ready me for dinner. My stomach stays in knots as I slip the icy blue dress on, its sleeves sheer. White lace details in a floral pattern twirl up my arms and across my chest, meeting right in the center where a white silk ribbon is tied into a bow. The sheer lace continues over the rest of the dress, flaring out slightly at my hips while the blue silk beneath it stays formedto the slight curves of my body. Dread tickles the back of my throat as I look at myself in the mirror.
Eve stands behind me, combing my hair before sliding in two silver barrettes, one on each side of my head. “Do you know who is supposed to be in attendance?” I ask, toying with the ribbon. I watch her reflection in the vanity mirror as she purses her lips.
“I’m not sure. Usually, the king invites his closest council members as well as a few influential nobles that reside in the castle. But this situation is…different.” A line forms between her brows. “He’s never brought someone he’s courting to a meal like this before.”
My next question is out before I can think better of it. “Has he evercourtedanyone before?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
My next swallow is bitter at the thought that he hadn’t ever introduced a potential partner to court because he was waiting for me. He had always claimed me to be his, had always alleged that my destiny was at his side, and now he is gettingeverythinghe’s ever wanted.
Those thoughts are still loud when Xander arrives, the commander relieving Brisk of his post outside my door. Xander keeps his steps slow so that I can walk beside him easily, and like all of our communication in a public setting, he talks low while keeping his gaze forward. “I have news from the Mage Kingdom,” he says.
My heart leaps into my throat as I force my steps to stay steady. “And?” I prod, sneaking a glance up at him. A muscle flutters at his jaw, doing nothing to calm my nerves.
“I received a missive from Stephan. He’s back in the Mage Kingdom.”
My brows draw low as I look back out at the hallway in front of us, the stairs coming into view. The urge to ask Xander if he knew how involved Stephan was with my abduction burns at mytongue, but even if he did, Xander wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. So I keep the question inside.
“Stephan sent a letter that arrived early this morning,” he says, his fingers flexing on the hilt of his sword. “In it, he talks of the council and their pursuit of whether or not Princess Bahira committed treason in the Shifter Kingdom.”
“And?” I whisper.
“Stephan said the council still seems divided, but beyond that, the kingdom is beginning to speculate about what is going on inside the palace regarding the prince—Nox.” I push back at the unease that creeps up my chest, staying silent to let Xander continue. “Apparently, he hasn’t been seen outside of the palace, and those whohavedescribe him as looking ill. And then there’s the fact that he was found in the city of Celatum.”
Celatum? “We stayed the night in Celatum after we escaped the tower,” I respond, before I turn over what Xander said.He was found. “They caught him?” Gods, was it the king? Is Nox trappedheresomewhere? Could the king have already—
“Nox was caught by Stephan and brought back to the Mage Kingdom,” he cuts in, halting my spiral but nearly starting another. My flats click softly against the steps as we continue down to the main level, the distant noise of chattering finding my ear. Xander remains quiet so that I can process what he’s told me.
“One man brought him back?” I ask eventually, my gaze tracking over the long red banners that are looped overhead as we walk through the grand foyer. AndStephan? He’s mage, of course, but Nox is…powerful. Strong. A warrior. Even sick, he is still formidable enough to fight offoneman. I had seen him forgo magic altogether to fight off a band of guards after our escape.
Old portrait-style paintings line the wall to my left, the stern faces of men staring back at me from each one that I pass.Xander slows his steps, eyes peering farther down the corridor as servants and other guards pass us. “I didn’t want to come to you with this, Lady Rhea.” The trepidation living in my chest grows arms and legs, stretching out to clutch at my ribs as Xander nervously taps the hilt of his sword. “Stephan brought him back to the mage palace under the influence of gelsemium. It’s a—”
“I know what it is,” I interject, my hand resting against my stomach as my chest rises and falls quickly. He had beendrugged. Kept paralyzed while Stephan dragged him back to the council and away fromme. Nox had been coming for me.He—he had almost made it to me, and I—“I can’t breathe,” I gasp, tears springing to my eyes as I lean back against the wall, my vision blurring.
Xander murmurs something lost to the way there is a roaring in my ears, and takes a step closer. It would still look suspicious for us to be this close, and it endangers Xander more than anything if someone like Simon or, gods forbid, the king himself sees us like this.Get it together, I chastise myself, but the words clang uselessly inside my head.Nox had been coming for me.
“La—Rhea.” Xander’s voice is calm, but the urgency in it isn’t missed by me even in this state. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure out how to get this ring off, and then you can go—”
“What if we can’t?” I lift my shaking hand out in front of me and stare at the unassuming pearl dotting the top of my finger. “What if there’s always something to stop me from leaving? To prevent him from coming for me?” I bite down on my lower lip, and squeeze my eyes closed. Hope is an easy thing to hold on to when the adversity threatening it is still new. When you can clearly remember what life issupposedto be like and carry only the eager determination to return to it again. But, like I had told Xander that day in the library, I’ve been treading tumultuous waters for such a long time. And I’m tired. I’m so,sovery tired.
Xander scans the hall in silence as I try to compose myself. Eventually, he gives me a look that I know means we have to go, and I force my feet to move as he resumes guiding us to wherever it is we are going.
“I don’t make promises lightly, and I certainly don’t give my word onanythingunless I’m sure I can make it happen. Sohear mewhen I say that I will get you out of here, but I need you to not give up. Towantto keep fighting to leave.” An ache begins to pulse at my temple, the sob I’ve kept trapped inside desperately trying to claw its way out. I want to fight, to believe that he can get me away from here, but if not evenNoxcould help me, what hope does Xander have? What hope doIhave? “I hate to change the subject, but I think it’s important that you know you’re about to enter an entirely different situation than anything you encountered with the king prior, and though I know it’s going to go againsteveryinstinct you have, you need to be submissive to him in there.”
He jerks his chin towards the looming gold double doors, the kingdom’s sigil centered on each one.Submissive. Did I have any other choice at this point? When I don’t say anything, Xander continues talking.
“There’s something else—”
“You are quickly becoming my least favorite person right now,” I say, clinging to a small bit of levity as our steps begin to slow. Xander doesn’t react to it.
“King Dolian is a selfish, single-minded man, but he—unfortunately—is not stupid. He knows that there are some present in the castle that will recognize you simply by how you look.”
I arch a brow, my hands clasping nervously in front of me. “Because I look like my mother?”
“Exactly like her,” he says, earning a glance from me that questions how heknowsthat. “The king got rid of all theportraits that showed her, but I remember stumbling across one as a boy—” Xander abruptly pinches his lips together before shaking his head. “Anyway, there are those who are old enough to remember the former king and queen, and though you will not find an ally in them, the king will put to rest any rumor that you’re his niece by halting it before it starts.”
