“Blood related all the same,” Hush added before stepping forward to face Liam head-on. “It’s time foryouto learn more about your parents, fae.”
Liam immediately stiffened with defensiveness. “What about my parents? What do they have to do with this?”
“The question youshouldbe asking is why Ilia sent us to robyourparents’ private journals a week ago.” Hush shifted her weight to one hip as she crossed her arms to address Liam, authority and dominance straightening her spine. Liam didn’t cower but instead held her gaze with his. Hush just revealed what they stole that night. Something Ada and her guard hadn’t been able to figure out, yet.
“What do you mean?” Audrey asked as she rubbed Liam’s chest, right over his heart. Hush reached into the inside pocket of her cloak before pulling out another worn journal. Liam’s eyes widened in recognition. She tossed it to him, and he snatched it out of the air with ease.
“This was the goal of our mission,” Hush explained. “While the teenagers distracted the queen and prince.”
“This was my mother’s?” Liam asked as he held the new journal in his hands. Hush simply nodded. “This page?” Liam asked, finding where the bookmark was.
“Yes,” Hush confirmed. She gave Liam a few moments to start reading, but when his eyes widened and color started to drain from his face, she spoke up again, “You recognize your own mother’s handwriting, yes?” Liam nodded. “Do you get it now?”
I raised my hand, still sitting on my little loveseat. “Can someone explain what you’re all reading for the human in the room?” Liam slumped, never turning the page. His eyes frantically kept rereading the passage over and over again. Audrey, reading over his shoulder, also looked crushed. She kept rubbing his arm and back, attempting to soothe him.
I’d never seen Liam so distressed.
Hush took it upon herself to answer my question.
“Sometimes the answers we seek don’t bring the comfort we expected.” Hush sighed, leaning against the wall and propping one foot against it. “Why did Drustan kill the former Fae King and Queen? Why would the Siren Prince of Lyndoruun even consider fulfilling such a heinous, morbid act of war?” Silence filled the room while Hush let her words settle over us. “It must have been something personal.”
“This says—” Audrey cleared her throat, distress soaking her voice. “Liam’s mother’s journal is documenting when—when?—”
“They killed Queen Astrid. Drustan’s mother.” Liam said in a flat tone of disbelief.
My jaw dropped.
“But…why?” Another question popped into my head. “Why kill the Siren Queen?”
Hush simply replied, “The unnatural death of one’s mate can have a negative effect on the living partner.”
“Butwhywould Liam’s parents kill the Siren Queen?” I asked.
“Because Ilia asked them to…” Liam whispered. I froze as Audrey lifted her gaze to look at the former Siren Queen’s leather journal now resting on my desk, whispering as it clicked for her, “…Because she had me.”
I gasped.
“Oh my god.” I tucked my legs underneath me. “Oh mygod.” That’s how Audrey and Drustan were half-siblings.
“Ilia is a prideful male,” Hush continued. “Once Queen Astrid gave birth to Audrey, he smelled the human in her immediately. Discovered his queen’s disloyalty. Ilia realized that even though killing the solvyrn earned him the right tomarryAstrid, without a formal mating bond, Queen Astrid may have a mate of her own—in the human realm. Which would be another threat to one of his titles. He bought Astrid’s hand through the act of fulfilling a part of an ancient prophecy, but if word got out that Astrid had a human mate, that would negate the legitimacy of his rule beside her. According to her journal, Ilia ordered Astrid to get rid of Audrey. However.” Hush lifted a shoulder. “Ilia underestimated the devotion a mother can have to her child.”
Cold dread seeped into my gut. Audrey was close to death since the day she was born.
“How is Audrey alive right now?” I asked.
Audrey wrapped her arms around Liam’s waist, who eventually dropped the journal and tucked her into his chest. He dropped his nose, inhaling her hair as they sought comfort in each other’s embrace.
“Losing a child at birth is not uncommon, especially due to the fertility issues our realm had struggled with up until about thirty years ago,” Hush said with reverence. “It was easy for the people of Lyndoruun to believe their queen experienced the same tragedy so many others have. Eventually, though, Ilia must have learned that his queen simply sent Audrey away…to the human realm.”
“And that wasn’t enough for him?” I asked, letting my hatred for Ilia coat my words.
“No,” Hush sighed. “A pompous male like him couldn’t continue living his days knowing that the evidence of his queen’s affair was walking around. But he couldn’t find Audrey, and Astrid wouldn’t help him. The queen probably grew more distant. He couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t seek out her human mate again, so…” Hush nodded toward Liam.
“…Ilia asked my parents to kill Astrid,” Liam finished, before shaking his head. “No. Ilia probably forced my parents’ hand. My parents weregoodfae. They wouldn’t just blindly do Ilia’s bidding unless they were put in an impossible position?—"
“Do their words read like fae who were forced against their will to take a life?” Hush countered, and when Liam stayed silent, she muttered, “Precisely.”
“But—but that means that Drustan killed my parents for nothing more than petty revenge.” Liam’s face was turning red now. “Despicable.”
