There was a dark-haired figure sprawled comfortably across my bed, clutching the vial containing my potion.
Chapter 23
“Pleasant evening?” Hugo greeted me as though he were politely inquiring about the weather. Dressed entirely in black, he looked completely at odds lying on top of my cream and canary-colored coverlet.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted out. My mind was working hard to make sense of the sight before my eyes, while my body seemed to have frozen.
How had he found the vial? Unless… I must have forgotten to conceal it before hiding it away again.Shit.
The lit candle on the bedside drawers cast ominous shadows across his face. His long fingers absentmindedly toyed with the vial. “You know, my brother really does seem quite taken with you.”
Now that the initial shock had worn off, I was annoyed. More than annoyed—I was livid. He hadn’t just crossed the line, he’d obliterated it. And fuck him for acting as thoughIwas inhisspace.
I glared at him. “What. Are. You. Doing. Here.”
Infuriatingly, he continued as though I hadn’t spoken. “At first, I thought it was just a little infatuation with the mysterious savior of our sister. You are, of course, quite striking, and my brother has never been one to resist a pretty face.”
As if my boiling anger wasn’t bad enough, I felt a stir fromthe green-eyed beast inside me. I tried to ignore its rumbling and instead focus all my effort into not throttling Hugo, who was still prattling on.
He placed one hand behind his head, making himself comfortable. “I told myself he would tire of you quickly; after all, he always tires of the shiny new toy eventually. But, to my surprise, his affections for you have only seemed to grow stronger.”
“And?” I said through gritted teeth, hands on my hips. I was about five seconds away from kicking him out of my bedchamber.
He swung his legs off the side of my bed and promptly stood, still tightly gripping my potion in his hand. “And it’s unsettlingly out of character for him. No other woman has held such an allure over him before.” He took a slow step towards me. “How curious that you conveniently washed up from the sea sprouting a tale of heroism, thus endearing yourself to my family and enrapturing the heart of a prince. Amidst all thisturmoilno less.” He made a disapproving noise with his tongue. “What are you hiding, Alara?”
My arms fell to my sides. “I’ve already told you, I’m not hiding anything,” I snapped.
“Of course, one of your kind hasn’t stepped foot in our kingdom in many years.” My heart rate spiked. “But I’ve figured it out. I know your secret,” he said quietly.
The thrashing of my heart against my ribs, the crackle of the hearth, a door shutting somewhere down the hall—these were all things I could hear quite clearly in the tense silence that filled the space. The daggers in his eyes sliced into my core. How could he possibly know? Did he write the note? If so, that made him a murderer, which meant I was in danger. Very real danger.
Keep calm. I had to keep calm—I could not let him sense my fear.
I somehow steadied my voice as I said, “I cannot presumeto know what goes on in your head, but whatever it is you think you know about me, I’m certain you’re quite wrong.” I took a slow step backwards towards the door. The creak of the floor beneath my feet was like the resounding bellow of an elephant seal.
He took another step closer, unsheathing a sword. A flash of its gold and silver hilt revealed that it was engraved with the Borealis coat of arms. He held the sword ready to strike and I stopped breathing.
“Don’t lie to me… witch.”
I gaped at him. Witch? He couldn’t possibly believe I was the murderer. It would be laughable, if I weren’t so shocked. “You can’t truly believe I’m responsible for murdering Lord Hywell? That’s preposterous!” I spluttered, my eyes never leaving the slender blade in his hand.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Then tell me, why is it that a long-standing member of court was brutally executed shortly after you appeared?”
I shook my head, at a loss for words. “A coincidence. A horrible, tragic, poorly-timed coincidence,” I offered. I couldn’t believe he actually thought I was responsible.
“A coincidence?” he sneered. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“You’re wrong,” I insisted. “I amnota witch. And I’m certainly not a murderer. I swear it to Seru.”
“Then explainthis.” He held the potion up.
Thinking on my feet, I said the first thing that came into my head. “It’s a tonic. A contraceptive tonic.”
“Why, pray tell, was it hidden in the back of your armoire, away from prying eyes?”
“People talk,” I said. “I didn’t want one of the maids happening upon it and spreading gossip. Such a scandal would ruin my reputation, so I hid it.”
“And the castle healers can verify this?”
