“There is no need to try again. I was let go. Something about…” she lifts her eyes in thought, “the Ruler General giving the order.”
“The Ruler General,” I repeat.
“That’s right.” She nods. “Are you perhaps hard of hearing?”
She has grit. I like that, but I refuse to let it cloud my judgment.
“The Ruler General let you out, just like that?” I ask, shocked at how innocent she looks.
Those big eyes.
Her full lips pressed together in annoyance.
“Yes.” She shrugs again. “Just like that. What do you want me to say?” By now her eyes are blazing, her chin is tilted up. She isn’t very happy with me, but I don’t care. I need answers.
“Why did the Ruler General give the order to let you go? That doesn’t just happen, Isla.”
“How should I know?” She sounds flustered. Her cheeks are pink. “Why don’t you go and ask him?”
Him?The Ruler General is a female. Is she trying to put me off the scent?
I think the shadowfae sent her. Perhaps the queen herself. They’re hoping I’ll take her with me, that I’ll lead them straight to the other Lost Kings. The queen wants us dead.Allof us. She’s been hunting us for many summers. She’ll stop at nothing.
It’s the only logical explanation. The only one that truly fits.
This woman appeared at exactly the right moment.
It’s too convenient. Too perfectly timed.
I take the seat across from her, studying her face. She won’t meet my eyes.
“What happened in that tent?” she asks me, finally looking up. “What happened during my performance?”
She’s pretending she has no idea. I’ll play her game.
“I’m not sure,” I tell her. “Something about your act, your magic…it undid a spell that was cast over me a long time ago.”
“Who cast the spell?” she asks.
“Snow. And you broke it.”
Was that a coincidence? Or was it meant to happen?
I know the queen regretted casting the spell that hid us. It was only because we were hidden from her, too, which was something she hadn’t expected. We were well and truly lost.
Had she been working on trying to break the spell all this time?
Was Isla hired to do exactly that? Or was she hired after it happened, once the queen realized one of us had awakened and escaped?
Once again, I’m shocked at how innocent she looks. Right now, she looks like she’s about to cry.
“Why can’t you just believe that I wanted to save the Shadowfae King? That I wanted to save you from a horrible death? I saw you in that cell, beaten and bleeding. I felt…sorry for you.” She bites on her lip, a few strands of hair falling into her face.
I have a ridiculous urge to push them behind her ear.
I shake my head, my jaw tight. “I don’t need your pity.”
She’s trying to get my guard down. She wants me to trust her, and it won’t work.
