“We work for Queen Sereth,” Lilo admitted. “We’re witch hunters. We bring any witches–or those committing witchcraft–to her.”
“Why did she send you here, to Corallure?” I asked, knowing full well it was my duty to bring them here.
“She wanted us to search the land and make sure Malia didn’t come hiding here after all these years.”
I frowned. “So Sereth sent you to kill her?”
Lilo hesitated and Niko glared at her, as if annoyed that she’d shared too much. That was an answer in itself.
“Why does Sereth want Malia dead?”
“It’sQueenSereth,” Niko muttered, then spoke up. “Why don’t you ask the witch yourself?”
“She’s innocent.”
Lilo and Niko smiled at each other, and a knot began to form in my stomach. They knew something I didn’t. But did I want to know?
Yes.It would make it easier to part ways with Malia. The more ugly and unwanted things we found out about each other, the more we would see that a future together was not only impossible, but impractical.
“What did Malia do?” I asked.
“She made the poisoned apple,” Lilo said.
I frowned. The poisoned apple?Thepoisoned apple that nearly skilled Sereth?
Rumors said that the stepmother was a witch, which was why Sereth went crazy with the witch hunt after she became queen. Some claimed the apple came from the queen's presumed dead daughter, who vanished years ago.
But nobody had said anything about adifferentwitch getting involved.
Malia…That sweet, gentle woman that I was in love with… she couldn’t have done this. And then it dawned on me. How many times had she been misunderstood? How many times had people spread rumors and lies about her?
“She’s innocent,” I said again.
Lilo sighed. “We were there when she made the apple. She’s guilty, Captain. Guilty of the poisoned apple, guilty of nearly murdering the queen. You just don’t want to admit it.”
“She protected you,” I fought back. This time, Lilo andNiko tensed, even looked away. “She did nothing but care for you–probably more than your own parents ever did or could.”
“She did,” whispered Lilo and Niko sighed.
“Here’s the problem.” I folded my arms, the bouquet of orange flowers spread all around us. I’d have to pick them up again later. “Sereth gave me orders to take you to the king. So why did she give you different orders? Shouldn’t she have given you orders to stay with me?”
They looked at one another, confused.
Now they were understanding.
WhydidSereth give us conflicting orders?
There’s only one way to find out.
I pulled the sealed letter from my pocket.
Knew it was against the law for me to break the seal.
But Malia’s life depended on it.
“Sereth gave this to me. Ordered me to give it to King Halstead when I delivered you both safely to him.” I held it up, just to prove it had Sereth’s seal on it. Lilo’s eyes narrowed and Niko frowned.
To His Majesty King Halstead, Sovereign of Corallure Kingdom,
