Aegir looked at Ryvar and said, “If you don’t believe us or the change in her eye colour, you can certainly notice the shift in her scent.”
“Indeed. Congratulations, brother.” Then he shifted his gaze towards me and said, “I’m a fair king, a reasonable one.” I couldn’t disagree with him more. “In fact, I’m such a fair man that I even gavehimthe benefit of the doubt,” he said, gesturing at Marshen. “I already did my research. Turns out there is no mention of a Cordelia Wildheart in Ilma but there surely is the mention of a Cordelia Wildheart in Ramel. Your name came up twice. At the Orphanage of Dunes and at the castle of King Belzari himself. You couldn’t be any more Earthen.”
“There was no mention of Cordelia Wildheart in Ilma because there isn’t one!” Silence. I lifted my head before proudly saying my own true name. “I am Princess Elara Briartide, and I order you to release him under my care.”
The king let out a hysterical laugh. One that had him leaning his head back, then doubling over, arms around his belly. His waving palm neared my face, the gesture meaning,Stop it or I’ll die from laughter.
“ThePrincess Elara? Oh, you’re going too far with this now,” Ryvar said, wiping away a tear with the back of his hand. “Tellme you don’t actually believe she’stheprincess?” the king asked his brother.
“No, she’s nottheprincess,” Aegir replied. “She’sthequeen.”
“Elara died in front of thousands. They watched her body turn headless, then ashen, all of them did. How could you possibly explain that?”
I called out his name so proudly, the mention of it caused two pairs of forest eyes to snap my way: “Galen Myrchorn.”
CHAPTER 73
The king closed the distance between us and sized me up. “What did you just fucking say?”
“Galen Myrchorn,” I repeated, head high.
Aegir shoved a palm into his brother’s chest, resetting the distance between us.
I grazed Aegir’s elbow. “Hewas the sacrifice,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry, but it was him who died in my stead.Heis the reason why I’m still here.” My eyes searched for Aegir’s. I knew I had to tell him eventually, but this was certainly not the way I imagined doing it. Aegir understood what my words meant. He gave me a small, tight nod, then glanced at his brother.
“Are you implying that Galen is a—You knew about this?” Ryvar’s gaze met Aegir’s. His questions told me he was unaware that his cousin’s shifting ability was not limited to wolf. Galen was a powerful shifter—a full shifter, one who died in the form of a ten-year-old girl.
Now I remembered Galen telling me stories about the feared full shifters. About how they—and those who hid their nature—were all hunted down. Forgotten over the years. Well, notall. Emika’s mother survived, and through the veins of her unborn girl ran the blood of full shifters.
“I suspected it,” Aegir replied. “Why else would they have hunted down Aunt Emika’s father? And how many other Demi-Fae shifters do you know?”
Ryvar stared at his brother, trust nowhere in sight. “Did you mention Galen to her before?”
“Are you fucking serious right now?” Aegir snapped.
“You have, haven’t you?”
The stubborn king pointed his finger at my face and seethed, “I don’t know what kind of sick game you’re playing, but you’d—”
Aegir grabbed hold of his brother’s finger.Snap. The king winced, yanking his hand free.
“You broke my fucking finger!”
“Does it hurt?” Aegir asked flatly, knowing very well that his brother’s finger was whole and healed. “Don’t point fingers at her, and stop insinuating that she’s a liar.”
I was down here, fighting for Marshen, yet somehow I got so lost in arguing that I had forgotten he even existed until he spoke.
“She’s telling the truth. I saw it with my own eyes. She’s a Water Wielder.”
Ryvar looked my way. “How is it possible that everyone else’s powers are gone, yet two people claim to have witnessed your wielding?”
“I’m not sure.” Half truth, half lie.
“And I asked you to wield water and you didn’t.”
“I’m still figuring it out. I haven’t mastered it yet, but once I do, I’ll show you. I promise.” Then I took two steps closer to the king, gaze locked. “Think about it—what if I manifest my powers and let all of them see? What would your people think of you, wrongfully executing a man who had indeed upheld his end of the bargain? I thought I heard you say you had an example to set.” I liked how the tone of my voice came out persuasive and assertive. The king closed in another step.
“Well, if you must know, I’m the type of man who has to see to believe. But I’m also very kind and generous”—again, Icouldn’t disagree with him more—“and so I’m going to revoke his execution order and count on the day I see you wield.” The king had barely ended the sentence before Aegir snatched the cell’s key from Ryvar’s waist. The king’s gaze remained fixed on mine. “Think of it as the soulbinding gift for you and my brother.”
