Will felt Aya stiffen, her hand brushing his arm as she stepped out from behind his chair. Dominic smiled from the hidden doorway he’d stepped through at the far corner of the room.
‘We’ll only have to chain him up again, and it’s rather tedious when we have so much to do.’
‘An explanation, Majesty,’ Aya ordered, a dangerous calm in her voice. But if Dominic sensed it, he didn’t seem to care. He merely slid his hands into his pockets as he strolled forward.
‘All in due time,’ he replied smoothly. ‘But first, let’s wait for the rest of our party to arrive.’
Before Will could question him, the main door swung open again and another set of guards led Josie into the room. Will watched the color drain from Aya’s face as the two friends exchanged a worried glance.
‘Uncle?’ Josie asked. But Dominic merely held up a hand, his eyes fixed on whatever tunnel he had walked through to get here. Will heard footsteps echoing off the stone walls and the steady clink of a chain as it dragged across the floor.
His body screamed at him to leave – to get Aya out. Because something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. He felt Aya shift closer to him.
The world slowed as the guards stepped through the door, a prisoner chained between them. Distantly, Will registered Josie’s scream of rage as she flung herself toward them, her own guards holding her back.
Because there was Viviane, still dressed as though she was on her way to the Pysar festival. Her blue dress was torn, her face gaunt and pale. She looked anywhere but at Josie as the remaining guards filed in.
And though Josie was still screaming, though Aya was demanding answers, Will’s focus was on the last member of the escort.
It was Aidon who followed the guards through the door. Aidon who stared grimly at Viviane chained in the middle of the fleet of soldiers. Aidon who took his place by his uncle’s side.
Will wondered if that was where Aidon had been all along.
‘Now we can begin,’ Dominic said calmly, his hands folding in front of him – as if this was no more than a business meeting. As if he didn’t have the love of his niece’s life chained between six guards.
‘What the hells is this?’ Josie spat, still struggling against the hold her guards kept on her. Will didn’t miss how many they’d assigned to her, as if they didn’t underestimate her prowess in a fight. He was certain that directive hadn’t come from Dominic.
I’m making my choice.The prince had told him to his fucking face. Will had been too wrapped up in his own feelings to listen.
‘I do apologize you have to be involved, my dear,’ Dominicreplied, and Will could see the regret in his eyes. ‘But I needed to ensure Viviane complied with our wishes.’
‘Which are?’ Aya asked softly from his side. If she was surprised to see the prince, she didn’t show it. She merely kept her face in that calm, cool mask of the Queen’s Eyes, every muscle pulled taut as she stared at Dominic.
‘I hear we have quite the wonder in our midst,’ the king mused.
Will’s stomach hollowed out at the words. ‘You bastard,’ he growled to Aidon.
Dominic raised a brow and clapped his nephew on the shoulder. ‘This is what loyalty looks like,Prince,’ he sneered. ‘Something you know nothing of.’
‘What do you want?’ Aya’s tone made it clear she was done waiting.
Dominic let out a heavy sigh. ‘We have a problem in our kingdom,’ he said as he paced. ‘The Bellare have been gaining supporters. And now it’s come to my attention that one such member was going to release knowledge of my nephew’s power. Knowledge that would ensure he would never take the throne.’
He paused before Viviane, his head tilting in mild curiosity. Guilt flooded Viviane’s eyes as she stared at the king.
Josie paused her struggling, tears dripping down her face as she shifted her gaze to her partner. ‘No,’ she cried, her head shaking slowly. ‘No.’
‘Yes,’ Dominic thundered. ‘You were foolish to tell her. She would’ve used the information against your family. Against your king.’
‘That’s why you’ve been framing the Bellare,’ Aya breathed. ‘They were never involved in the attacks. It was you all along.’
‘Two attacks,’ Dominic corrected. ‘I was responsible for two. The kidnappings. The Bellare, with their petty attackson the Visya, merely provided the opportunity to continue to sway public opinion against them. And of course … flush you out.’
Will felt Aya tense next to him. But she did not wield her power.
‘We may not be as devout as Tala,’ the king continued, ‘but I am not so detached from the gods that I didn’t expect talk of the prophecy to arise along with the rumors swirling about Kakos. And so I was curious when you arrived to work with the Saj of the Maraciana. We had already planned to make an example of Avis. But when someone began siphoning our tonic … I became fascinated.’
Will tensed. Aidon had told Aya about that tonic.
