“Ronan?”
He decided to be completely honest. “They’ll be interrogated. Not tortured but questioned. Probably not in the most comfortable setting either. If they’re innocent of any wrongdoing or were forced to aid your parents, they won’t be executed, but they will be banished to the human realm.”
“And if they didn’t know what my parents were planning in regard to assassinating your family?”
“They’ll still have to leave the fae realm, Dominique,” he answered.
“Why? Surely your parents understand that they may not have known what was going on?”
“They do. That’s why they won’t be punished in any other way if they’re not fully involved. But it’s safer for them, and for us, if they leave Magic.”
“How is it safer for them?” Dominique asked.
Ronan sighed. “If some of our loyal subjects decide that our findings were wrong, they could try to hurt your sisters. Or if they worry that your sisters got away with treason. Then, if we allow them to stay, it will make our less loyal blood relatives think they won’t be executed if they try something similar. We can’t afford for either of those things to happen.”
Dominique nodded. She understood. She wasn’t even sure why she was defending her sisters. They’d never been very nice to her, and they often treated her like an inconvenience unless they needed something from her, but she knew that they were partially like that because of their parents. The influence of Graciella and Jurgen would have been difficult to withstand. Dominique had plenty of her own unhealthy coping mechanisms, like hiding her emotions behind a wall of ice whenever she felt threatened. Or refusing to show emotions at all, whether she was among friends or not.
“What are you thinking about?” Ronan asked.
Dominique almost brushed off his question, but the way he was looking at her was…different. The sardonic edge that usually accompanied his words was missing.
“Just wondering how much of my sisters’ personalities were due to my parents and how much is truly how they feel,” she admitted.
Ronan brushed a lock of hair away from her cheek as he looked down at her. “For their sake, I hope most of it is because of your parents.”
Though Dominique wasn’t convinced it was possible, she hoped so, too.
The wetness beneath her was beginning to become cold and clammy, causing Dominique to shift on the mattress.
“What is it?” Ronan asked, his voice still warm and soft. He was stretched over her as though he wanted to be right where he was.
“I’m a little…wet.”
A smirk stole across his lips, which made her smack his arm.
“No need to look so smug,” she grumbled.
“Oh, that wasn’t the first time you squirted?” he asked.
A flush swept over her face, but she didn’t answer, just shoved his shoulders.
With a chuckled, Ronan rolled off of her to the edge of the bed, where he stood. Then, he reached down and pulled her to the edge of the mattress.
“Let’s get cleaned up. The dressmaker was here earlier, but I told him to come back in an hour.” He glanced at the clock on his mantle. “He’ll be here in ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes?!” Dominique cried. “I need to hurry.”
When she headed toward the closet, which connected to her room, Ronan grabbed her around the waist and steered her toward his bathroom.
“We’re using my bathroom,” he stated. “Your stuff is already inside.”
He ignored the narrow-eyed look she shot him over her shoulder and continued to use his grip on her hips to make her walk before him into the bathing room.
Dominique tried to resist until she saw the space before her. “Oh, my goodness,” she breathed.
“You like it?” he asked.
She nodded, her head swiveling as she took in the room. “This is amazing,” she finally admitted.
