“Elheart told me everything.” She tries to push me away, but I don’t let her. “He said that you’re the reason your sister ran away. That you didn’t approve of their relationship. That you were jealous,” she seethes. “He didn’t steal her at all. She went to him herself.”
“Did he also change you out of your gown?” I hadn’t noticed until just now, but the gown I put her in this morning is gone, and in its place is a human-made gown in blue and gold.Hiscolours. My grip on her thigh tightens.
“He didn’t, but…”
“But what?” I’m seconds from exploding.
“He…” Disgust pulls at her features. “He insisted on watching.”
That’s it. He’s a dead man. “Give me a list.”
“What?” she mutters.
Somehow, I pull myself together enough to soften my tone. “Give me a list of every man in there who hurt you, looked at you, or even breathed in a way you didn’t like and I swear to you, Dahlia, I will make them pay.”
She rolls her eyes.
“Do not test me, Princess.” I growl. “I’ll use cannons to knock the salt barrier down if I have to. Give. Me. A. List.”
She just laughs in my face. “You want a list. Really?”
“Yes.” My breath is ragged.
“Fine.” She glares at me. “The only people who hurt me in there were Elheart and you.”
“Me? How could I?—”
“Because you lied!” She pushes me with enough force that I stumble. “You told me that your sister had been kidnapped, when this entire time you’ve known that she ran away from you. He said the salt barrier was to protect her from you!” she shouts. “And somehow, even though I really don’t want to, I believe him. Even Maeve, or Maeve’sdaughter,” she corrects herself, scowling. “She agreed that he was telling the truth. So I know?—”
“He was.” My voice is hollow. “Maeve ran away because of me.” I’ve never admitted it out loud, but any weight I might’ve hoped would lift off my shoulders only sinks deeper into my bones. “We argued the night before she left, and I told her to end things with Elheart.” The words taste bitter on my tongue, but I force them out anyway. “It’s my fault she’s gone.”
Dahlia blinks at me before averting her gaze. “I doubt it’s all your fault,” she mutters. “That old troll is a creep. I wouldn’t want any of my sisters to marry him either.”
A silence passes over us until Dahlia breaks it with a sigh. “There’s parts of this I still don’t understand, though.” She frowns. “How did you not know Maeve had a daughter? Surely you would’ve met?—”
“Maeve has been gone for fifteen years.”
“Fifteen years?” she blurts. “Y-you made it sound like she’d only just been taken!”
“I was angry for a long time after it happened.” I squint at the sunlight through the branches. “I suppose I felt so guilty about pushing her away that I told my court she’d been kidnapped. In my mind, she basically had. Elheart knew I didn’t approve, but he took her from me anyway.”
“He didn’t take her,” she grumbles. “She ran away.”
“Yes.” My jaw clenches. “She did.” I drag a hand through my hair. “My advisers wanted me to send an army to his palace immediately. Even with the salt wall, we could block food and supplies from entering the palace until Maeve was returned to us. It would be the easiest way to bring her back to us.”
“Why didn’t you?”
I laugh sadly. “Because I didn’t want to upset my sister anymore than I already had. So I told my court that Elheart had gone mad, that if we tried anything rash to get her back that he’d kill her.” I can’t meet Dahlia’s gaze. “All we could do was wait for him to come to his senses.”
“But really you were waiting for her to forgive you?” she asks.
I nod. “I didn’t think it would take this long.”
“Fifteen years…” She shakes her head. “But why kidnap me now? You’ve done nothing for all these years! Did something happen?”
“I have spies all over the realm,” I explain, turning back to her. “I used them to keep an eye on Maeve for the first few months, but she soon realised what I was doing and had my spies exiled from the palace. Elheart sent a letter saying if theycaught any more, he’d move his court and they’d go somewhere I’d never find them. So I gave them their privacy. But when I heard reports of Elheart’s attendance at your father’s events, without my sister at his side, I began to worry something had happened.”
“My father’s events?” Dahlia screws up her face. “You mean the auction last season? The one where he sold off Amaryllis to that awful prince?” She shudders.
