Kallie was the one to step forward and explain. She’d managed to keep a level head while I’d gone on a rampage and Ava was breaking at the loss of her mentor. Kallie explained how we’d found Hemlock in her quarters, and how we’d traced the evidence back to Alistair. She even told Cameron that Alistair had escaped through the secret passageways.
“Good,” Cameron said. “At least we are free of this traitor.”
“That’s it?” I demanded. “Alistair flees the palace, and now he’s not your problem? You’re just going to let him go free?”
“It’s not like he killed someone important,” Cameron said. “Professor Hemlock wasn’t an Elf, just one of the refugees who lived here.”
Murmurs of protest spread throughout the room. Even a few of the guards seemed shocked to hear him say that. I was stunned, but Ava was pissed.
“Fuck you, and everything you stand for,” Ava hissed. “How dare you reduce her life and legacy as if she didn’t matter!”
A couple of the Associates gasped when Ava spoke to the Emperor that way, but I heard the smirk in Cameron’s voice as he responded. “I suggest you watch your tone before I have you escorted out of my presence, girl. Regardless of the deceased’s status, the murderer is no longer within the palace walls, so he is no longer my responsibility to find.”
“He can’t get out of Ilamanthe, because he can’t get through my shield. He’s still in the city,” Ava insisted. “We need to move quickly so we find him! I’ll do it myself if I have to!”
“This matter is none of the princess’s business,” Cameron said airily. “I will send my guards after Alistair, and when found, he’ll be put on trial.”
“We can help,” I insisted. “We know how Alistair thinks.”
“And let you leave the palace!?” Cameron bellowed. “I think not! For all I know, you let your friend escape. I have obtained your witness statement, and that is all I need from you. Do not forget that you are guests in my castle, and you hold no power to be making any demands! None of you will be leaving these grounds.”
Ah, yes. We were guests… who weren’t allowed to leave. More like prisoners if you asked me. How many jail cells were me and my friends going to find ourselves in, time and again?
Danny stepped forward. “Your Majesty, if I may. The situation in the palace has impacted us all. We simply want to help. We are demigods. All we want is to use our powers for good.”
“The best thing any of you can possibly do is stay out of my way,” Cameron sneered.
I scoffed. That was rich, coming from a weak thing like him.
“Something you wish to say, Charlie?” Cameron asked, hissing like a snake.
“Sure,” I stated coolly. “Cassiel would think we’re capable, and he’d want us to help because we’re adults, but you’re standing there treating us like incapable children.”
“You are incapable children!” Cameron screamed, his voice echoing off the marble.
Ava pushed her chair past me. “That’s the last thing we are, and Hemlock knew it! She was a great professor, an accomplished fae, and one of the kindest people to ever grace this planet. She did more in our fight against Ophio Taurus than you ever will. You don’t get to insult her memory like this!”
I reached for Ava’s shoulder on instinct, like I often did to help calm her down, but she shrugged me off and kept going. “It was Hemlock who found the spy in the palace, and you’re going to refuse any aid bringing her killer to justice because you’re too insecure to accept help from a bunch of incompetent children!”
“I will not be spoken to this way!” Cameron yelled. “Bite your tongue, before I throw you in the dungeon!”
“And throw away your best chance at making any progress?” Ava bellowed. “Go ahead. I’ll get farther along locked in a dungeon than you will sitting on that useless chair ordering people around all day.”
Cameron scoffed. “If you had any value, you’d have defeated Doctor Taurus a long time ago, and he’s still running rampant. The only reason you’re a princess is because my son made you one, so don’t forget your place here. You have no power, no magic, and you can’t even walk. So don’t act like you’re useful to me, because you’re clearly of no use to anyone.”
I couldn’t think when he said that to her. All I heard was a static buzzing, the sound of my own rage. I didn’t care that Ava and I were divorcing, that she wasn’t mine anymore. Nobody spoke to her like that when I was still breathing. Not the gods, kings, or my own fucking father.
A chorus of protests rang throughout the group, but my voice could be heard above all the others. “One day of Ava’s existence is worth ten lifetimes of yours, you insolent, worthless fuck!”
“Guards!” Cameron shouted. “Arrest both of these snotty brats, and throw them in the dungeon!”
Armor clanked as soldiers started forward, but Liam got to Ava first. “Emperor Cameron, you will not harm my daughter.” Liam’s bold voice echoed throughout the throne room, taking a stand.
“I’m in charge here. This is my palace, my empire, my throne!” Cameron bellowed.
“I am a chieftain of my people, which puts me on equal standing to you. Don’t piss off the few allies you still have,” Liam threatened. “Power isn’t given. It’s earned, and you have no right to order my daughter around when you can’t control your own court.”
I was awed Liam was standing up to Cameron. Finally, someone was telling him to go piss up a rope.
