“Dad,” I sighed, relaxing my stance in resignation to whatever fate lay ahead of me.
“Your mother filled me in on what happened today. Now it’s time for you to give us both some answers.”
“I wish I had them to give you.” I shrugged.
“Bullshit, son. And you know it.”
I cast my gaze to the ceiling in the hope that answers resided there. Maybe the gods were real and would give me something—anything—so they’d drop it. “I found her on the stairwell, unconscious.”
“That doesn’t explain how you knew it was redfern poisoning.”
“It was obvious. I’ve been cut by Elemental blades, as has Chrome, too many times for me not to recognize the signs of untreated redfern poisoning.”
Dad chewed on his lip, narrowing his eyes at me. “Fine. I’ll buy that. But what about the fit she had? That wasn’t typical of redfern poisoning.”
“I have no idea what caused that, to be honest,” I lied. I hoped it was smooth enough.
“Then what about the necklace?” he pressed.
Fuck. I still hadn’t come up with a good excuse for that.
I sighed, running my palms over my face and massaging my temples. “I don’t know. I just…figured I’d try it. It was the only other thing I could think of at the time. I was lucky.”
Dad glanced at Mom, their suspicion clear on their faces by how they silently communicated. “We know you’re hiding something, son. I hope you wouldn’t withhold vital information from the insurgency. This could make or break the entire operation. Especially if it involves the princess.”
I shook my head. “Of course not, Dad.”
My dad bore the weight of his scrutiny onto me for several heavy moments before relaxing his shoulders with a sigh. “Well, whatever you did, you did good. You saved the princess, and it seems the king knows nothing about what happened.”
A breath of relief rushed from me. “Good. That’s good.”
My dad furrowed his brows. “And why is that?”
I closed my eyes. “Because,” I started, unsure if I should say anything. I didn’t know if they’d believe me or not. “She told me he hurts her regularly behind closed doors. And I believe her.”
My dad clenched his jaw, closing his eyes while my mother gasped and covered her mouth. “Of course he does. Fucking asshole,” he growled, balling his hands into fists as his face reddened.
Not expecting it to be that simple, I cocked an eyebrow and tilted my head in surprise. “You believe me?” I asked skeptically.
Dad looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Any father who’d publicly humiliate their child, adopted or not, in front of the entire court clearly would abuse his child behind closed doors.” With a snort, he turned his back and faced the counter to grab a plate to load it with food. “Fucking worthless waste of energy. No godsdamn leader of mine.”
I cracked my knuckles as I strode to the counter and grabbed a plate from beside my dad. Mom cleaned when she was upset, so she tidied up the kitchen in solemn silence, her youthful expression drawn tight. “Mom?” I asked from her side.
“Hm?” She startled, forcing a smile on her face. “Yes, honey?”
“You okay?” I asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into my chest for a hug. I still found it wild how I’d grown two heads taller than her in recent years.
“Oh, honey. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” She smiled again, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I just worry about the princess. Do you think it could’ve been an assassin? Potentially a Kinetic?”
If it hadn’t been for Chrome’s connection to her, I would’ve began to panic. But without giving too much away, I simply said, “I really hope that it hasn’t reached that point, Ma.”
With a shaky breath, she nodded. “Gods, I hope not.”
“We’ll keep her safe,” I said into her hair, my heart feeling heavy tonight for the princess I felt compelled to protect. Her eyes reminded me of empty storm clouds, haunting me every time my brain slowed down.
I took my plate and entered the dining room, sitting at the table with my parents and sister. We sat in a heavy silence as we all processed in our own way that our princess was being abused and slandered by her own father publicly. The fact that she nearly died today was just a nail in the coffin. Our typical jovial family dinners were nonexistent as we ate in quietude.
Once everyone finished their meals, my father cleared his throat, wiping the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief from his lap. “Since tonight’s topic revolves around the princess, I have some news on that front.” He speared me with a look that had me straightening in my seat. “I spoke with my lovely sister-in-law today,” he began, basically spitting the word ‘lovely.’ “It took a lot of convincing, but Amethyst has agreed to convince Forest to allow you to train Princess Gray.”
