And I stared ather, watching her beautiful brown eyes sparkle with wonder at this magic-enabled “visit” to her beloved family.
After a few minutes, though, her expression darkened.
And then those eyes flew up to meet mine, narrowing and turning hard as petrified wood.
“What?” I asked, baffled by the change in her demeanor.
“Youknowwhat,” Raewyn growled and turned the mirror around to face me.
In it, an image of my brother and sister conversing together was slowly fading from view.
Chapter 18
I Chose You
Raewyn
Pharis jumped to his feet and snatched the looking glass from my hands.
His eyes moved between it and me, going ice cold.
“You used the mirror… to look at…Stellon?”
He seemed to have trouble getting the words out, his face turning a dark red, and his body going stiff.
When his gaze returned to me, it had changed from ice to fire.
“I gave you a gift. I let you see your family, andthisis how you repay me?” he asked. “Isthatwhy you ran away from my castle and nearly got yourself killed? To get back to my brother?”
He was obviously incensed, but I wasn’t intimidated in the least. My own fury was equal to his, if not far more potent.
I left the window seat and did my best to get in his face, driving my pointer finger into his chest. If only it were a dagger.
“Youlied,” I said. “You’ve been lying this whole time.”
Pharis blinked down at me and paled.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he said.
“Yes. You do,” I said. “Iheardthem talking, Pharis.”
I had only wanted to peek in on Stellon, to find out if he was safe and well… and perhaps to learn if the royal wedding had already taken place.
Eavesdropping on his conversation with Princess Mareth had revealed far more than I’d ever expected to find.
“Your father isdead.Stellon is king now,” I said.
“I… I didn’t…” Pharis began.
I cut him off.
“Don’t bother denying that you knew. You have a magic mirror that lets you see anyone anywhere. You’ve been receiving visitors, important regional leaders from throughout the kingdom. There’sno wayyou didn’t know that your brother had taken the throne.”
Pharis backstepped as I stalked forward. “You’ve been saying I had to stay here because the threat from ‘the King’ was too great for me to be seen alive. And all along youknewthe old king was dead.”
A new realization hit me. “You have his Compelling glamour now, don’t you? That’s why your Sway is so strong now.”
A shadow of shame passed through Pharis’ eyes, but he didn’t deny it.
