Sandus, the guard with a beard, nodded in agreement. “It’s where we usually go when we travel here.”
Archon Oniville also inclined her head. “Our staff usually ventures there during their breaks. I also recommend it.”
“Bastian? Can you hold off on eating for a while?” Jax asked his brother.
Bastian lifted his mug toward the archon, his playful and affectionate aura filling the room. “As long as you keep this tea coming, I’ll be just fine.”
I leaned against the wall, closer to Jax, and watched it all. Even though I didn’t know Jax’s brother at all, I was beginning to understand why Jax was so protective of Bastian and felt so deeply about his brother.
A natural charm, a truly charismatic aura, surrounded the half-breed. There was something about Bastian that made one want to smile and laugh. A feeling, or perhaps his energy, called to those around him, putting them at ease and making them want to play. The true Bastian was nothing like the catatonic male we rescued from the cavern. And I just thanked the stars and galaxy that we’d gotten him back.
As though reading my mind, Jax’s attention slid my way. Utter relief and pure joy still filled his expression. But as Jax’s brother leaned back in his chair, sipping his hot beverage, the crown prince of Stonewild returned his attention to the metalwork fairy across from us.
We still hadn’t finished what he started.
Archon Oniville bowed at Norivun. “I would like to stay here while the rest of our inventory is accounted for.” Her expression hardened. “I need to learn more about what Saroly has done.”
Norivun inclined his head. “Of course.” The royal regarded Saroly coolly, his aura swirling around him in barely controlled pulses.
And once again, Jax’s expression turned glacial. “I have some more questions for you.”
Archon Oniville pulled out the chair beside Jax. “We both do.”
Saroly sagged in her seat, and even though insolence still radiated from her, she seemed resigned to the fact that she’d been caught.
Jax crossed his arms. “How many anklets total did you create for someone on the Silten continent?”
Saroly shrugged. “I don’t know the exact number, but it was close to ten thousand.”
My breath sucked in, and Alec and I shared a shocked look. Someone had wanted to enslave ten thousand half-breeds.But why?
“Who were you working for?” Jax’s Mistvale command again coated his words.
She shrugged once more. “I have no idea. Our communication was all done via dillemsills, and payments were delivered to me anonymously by someone working for whoever commissioned the anklets.”
All of us shared a frustrated look. If Saroly had no idea who she was working for, whoever it was had kept their tracks covered well.
Jax continued his questioning, not letting up, while Norivun’s guard, Haxil, took careful notes of everything that Saroly revealed. It soon became apparent Saroly had craftedallof the anklets that the half-breeds at the Centennial Matches had been wearing.
But her acts of treason didn’t stop there. She’d also stolen other gems and made other illegal jewelry over the seasons—my collar being only one of those creations. The only blessing was that she’d been working alone, and there wasn’t a large criminal network that the Solis authorities would need to track down.
We spent hours in the room, learning just how far Saroly’s treachery went. It turned out that she had been swindling gems, of various varieties, from the Hartivul Mine for hundreds of full seasons. Her treachery hadn’t started with the half-breeds’ anklets. It hadn’t even started with my collar. She’d been doing it forcenturies...long before I’d ever been born.
Initially, her thefts had been small, only a gem or two once a winter, and she’d initially sold the gems loose, not constructing them into jewelry or weapons. When asked how she’d done so, she explained that she devised a way to break into the facility’s vaults, wield a powerful glamour, and steal what she wanted, effectively covering up her tracks as she went. And since the vault’s gems were never all utilized at once for legitimate projects, and stock was continually replenished by the mines, her ploy had worked. The female was a genius really, not only blessed with an incredibly strong affinity but a cunning mind as well.
It was just unfortunate that she’d chosen to use her skills for selfish gain versus the good of others, because over the seasons, her thefts had grown, and her creations had advanced. She often constructed her nefarious pieces of jewelry at home, working on them when she wasn’t crafting metallic items in the facility. Which was how she’d gotten away with it for so long, since nobody knew what she was doing.
Jax’s questions continued as Jax helped Norivun and Archon Oniville uncover everything that Saroly had done.
When he finally finished every line of questioning they could think of, I was horrified to learn that Saroly’s metallic jewelry had likely affected more than five thousand fae in the centuries she’d been stealing, and that didn’t include all the anklets she furiously crafted in the previous months. Apparently, since all of the anklets were the same, and she’d grown so practiced in her magic, she was easily able to duplicate them, making a huge amount of the jewelry all at once.
The female was truly powerful, and I prayed to all the gods and goddesses that most of the ten thousand anklets she created hadn’t been put on any half-breeds yet, but in reality, we didn’t know. After all, we had no count of how many half-breeds were still in the Wood’s underground caverns.
Of the other five thousand individuals that she’d affected over the seasons, most of the fae were scattered throughout the realm, not only residing on my continent and the Solis continent but also on the Nolus continent and Lochen islands as well. Saroly had even gone so far as to sell the stolen gems to creatures in theotherrealm, something that had nearly made steam rise from her archon’s ears.
And when Saroly finally revealed why she’d done such crimes, I was sickened to hear that the reasoning was as unforgiveable as they got. A noble reason might have made my heart soften slightly, but Saroly had done it all for rulibs. She proudly admitted that she was wealthier than any fairy in Harrivee Territory, unbeknownst to anyone around her.
Hearing that made her archon scowl. “And over the seasons, when you’ve disappeared on your trips and have taken your extensive time away, were you using your rulibs to fund those ventures?”
