“Elariya, please?—”
“No.” I shook my head, heat rising fast behind my eyes. “How could you lie to me?All of you?” My gaze snapped to Emabelle.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered.
“Child.” Grandmother spoke in a low voice. “There are things at work you don’t understand.”
“Then tell me.” I took a step closer. “Tell me what I don’t understand. I know you were trying to protect me, protectus. But lies?”
Mother came closer and stopped in front of me. “You can’t go back. I forbid it.” Her voice didn’t sound as controlling as it usually did. It sounded like a plea. “It isn’t safe.”
I reached into my satchel and pulled out the seal first.
Grandmother gasped.
“The royal seal of Galaythia,” she breathed. “Where did you get that?”
“Prince Alaric of Galaythia has requested my help in finding his brother, Wolfe Nightblade.” My mouth tightened around the name. “And I’m going.”
“The prince requested your help?” Mother whispered.
“Tell us what happened,” Grandmother rasped. “How came you by this seal? Getting a royal request is no mere thing.”
I held her stare. “Why don’t you tell me how I got home first, then I’ll tell you everything.”
The air thickened, heavy with tension and all the unspoken truths hanging between us.
Grandmother glanced at Mother, who stiffened when their eyes met, then she eventually nodded.
Grandmother looked back at me, her eyes wide and cautious. “Thayden brought you home.”
Blessed Mother. I knew it. “How?”
“We don’t know.” Grandmother’s hands curled at her sides. “He told us only that he tracked you to Galaythia. That he took a team of men and brought you back. Nothing more. No details of who had you. No details of what he faced.”
She drew a slow breath, and something like disgust tightened her mouth. “But I learned the rest on my own.Quietly.”
My pulse kicked. “What did you learn Grandmother?”
“That he hired Scabbards.”
My body locked. Scabbards were mercenary outlaws from the fringe lands between the Veil and the mortal realm—smugglers, Veil-thieves. Some were mixed-bloods like me, born with magic. Some stole it. Some used alchemy to twist whatever they could siphon into something useful.
“Their kind can move where they shouldn’t,” Grandmother said, voice low. “They can slip past the Veil without drawing the usual notice.”
“So, he didn’t involve King Varis?”
“No. And he didn’t involve Prince Maelor, either. Because what Thayden did would never be sanctioned. And if he’d gone through proper channels…”—her gaze sharpened—“it would have taken longer. You would have been gone longer.”
“Why didn’t he involve you?”
“My dear child, you may not remember what’s happened over the last five years, but you know what Thayden is like. He likes to be in charge.” She raised her brows.
“You were taken on the eve of your engagement celebration. He was enraged by that. Everyone was looking for you for weeks. We didn’t know where you went, and we kept finding leads that led nowhere. There was very little we could do openly without drawing attention to ourselves. We tried every spell we dared. All we got were glimpses of your soul, just enough to know you lived and were safe, for the most part, but we wanted you home. Thayden brought you back on the day your memory reset.”
I was sure that was by design because it was easier.
“And there’s more.” Grandmother’s voice took on a frail edge.
