Tap, tap, tap.
My fingernails clicked against the wood of the desk I sat in front of. From beyond it, King Franlow stared at Sawyer and I, his eyes refusing to blink until one of us spoke, which neither of us had the guts to do. We weren’t exactly sure how much he heard, so the better option was waiting for him to have the first word.
After minutes of pure silence and heated glares all around, the king leaned forward and sighed, his tone threatening when he finally spoke. “I owe Mr. Hawthorne no favors, and I will not hesitate to throw you both out on your asses if you refuse to speak.”
I ground my jaw. On the walk here, Sawyer had whispered in my ear and told me to lie, and I could, but what was the point? We needed this man as our ally, and if I got on his bad side, we were screwed.
“I am not exactly sure what you think you heard, Your Highness, but I’m sure this is a misunderstanding,” Sawyer chimed in, using his charisma and a half smirk to try and get us off the hook.
“Yes you do,” the king contested, no room in his tone to disagree with his assertive claim.
I glanced over at Sawyer, giving him a subtle shrug of dismissal before turning my attention onto King Franlow, focusing my gaze on his gold and silver crown instead of his disapproving scowl. “In addition to mind compulsion, I can manipulate the stars. The working theory is that I hold all of the other godly power that Blythe formerly had. Hence the extent of my powers that you witnessed.”
Before the king could open his mouth to explore his barefaced confusion, I continued. “I’ll answer any questions you have, but before I do, you need to swear that this stays between us. If this information gets out…” I shook my head as I tried to search for the exact words I desired that could accurately describe the importance of keeping this information secure. “More specifically, if Cyprian Beaumont finds out, we might just be even more fucked than we already are.”
King Franlow dipped an eyebrow, at my word choice or my whole spiel, I was unsure..
“Doesn't he know of your magic?” was all he asked.
“The starlight and mind compulsion, but I don’t think he knows the extent of it. He claims he knows about the markings, but I don’t believe that he truly does.” I scratched my head. “I’m not sure exactlywhathe knows.”
“Sebastian should have told me this,” Franlow groaned then leaned back in his chair, his polished robe melting into the velvet cushion. He crossed his arms over his chest before twirling a strand of his beard around his finger. “I don’t need to, nor do I want to ask any questions. The less I know, the better. But this changes things. I can’t help you now that I know this. It risks too much, my civilians most importantly. Pack your bags, and I’ll have a rider escort you back to where you came from in themorning. When you return, make sure you tell Sebastian how disappointed I am in him.”
Without another word, he gestured towards the door with a nod, silently directing us to exit his premises.
Shit.
Maybe I should have lied—played it off as an inside joke. But I really thought he would see right through that. If I had learned anything in the past few months, it was that I was better off being honest.
Sebastian was going to bepissed.
Sawyer was going to kick my ass.
Did I even bother trying to sweet talk my way out of this?
During my moment of hesitation during which I swiftly contemplated all of my options, Sawyer took the reins.
Sawyer cleared his throat. “With all due respect Your Highness, no. We aren't leaving, and you are going to stick to your end of our deal. You said you would help us when Azain returned and acknowledged our claims, and that is what you are going to do. This changesnothing. Your kingdom and civilians are in a great deal of danger regardless of this information, and youwillhelp us if you want to save them,” Sawyer snarled the order, his voice so fierce that even I wouldn’t try to argue with him.
Franlow looked taken aback, his eyebrows arched into his scowl. “I don’t take orders from guards,” he spat.
“I don’t take shit from men who won’t hold their end of a deal,” Sawyer shot back with a look that was a force to be reckoned with.
Franlow clicked his tongue, glaring Sawyer and me down while he carefully contemplated his word choice.
“Just think about it,” I spoke up, my arms positioned in surrender. “Although my friend here didn’t have thefriendliestapproach, he is right. And I know that deep down, you know it,too. We are the best chance you have at keeping your kingdom in one piece. My potential title changes nothing as long as it stays between us.”
When he didn’t respond, I inquired, “Can we put this conversation on hold? Discuss again this evening after you have had some time to think about it?”
With a heavy sigh, King Franlow’s heated gaze dropped to the desk. “Fine. Go to your rooms and stay there until I send someone to retrieve you.”
He didn’t speak another word, nor look up as we left.
I followed Sawyer out, and once in the hall, we began to speed walk back to my room.
“Do you think he’ll go for it?” I asked.
“I dunno,” Sawyer whispered, not breaking his attention from his long strides up a pearly white staircase. “I would pack your bag. Just in case we get thrown out on our asses tonight.”
