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“So my lessons with Amra are over?”
Father looked at Raelynn. “No. You may continue, but you are to remain under royal protection.” His eyes narrowed. “And this time, you are not to disobey my order. Your little disappearing act with Kavina started this mess.”
“So I’m a prisoner?”
“You’re being protected. Unless you’d rather risk another trip in Feranzis?”
Raelynn’s shoulders inched up, and she held her hands up. “Nope. Prisoner sounds good to me.”
Of course she saw it that way.
Unfortunately, I agreed with Father.
We couldn’t let her roam about without our protection. If Father was truly the one behind this, then having Raelynn away from one of us meant anyone who worked for him could take her away. If he wasn’t the one to blame, then it left her exposed to virtually anyone.
Zeke cleared his throat. “Can she still leave the house?”
Father’s shrewd gaze moved to Zeke, but he didn’t flinch this time, only swallowed.
“I think it’s a reasonable question,” Ash said. “Is she bound to the palace grounds and the house, or can she go into Alonia or the rest of Elyrdin if she’s with one of us?”
“You did say royal protection,” Cyn added.
Father’s eyes narrowed, but he couldn’t argue. He’d said it himself.
“No unsupervised trips into Alonia. No private meetings with anyone outside the royal households. And any testing will occur here, under council supervision. If one of you accompanies her, she may leave the sanctum, but no one else. Not Kavina, not Rinlora, not even other members of the council. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Father.”
The others nodded.
“Wait,” Raelynn said, glancing between us. “I have my own demand.”
Father sat back with a brow raised. “Is that so?”
“I wanna be tested at home with one of them around.”
Lymsrana held a hand up when Father went to speak, cutting him off. “Why is that?”
“In case I have some weird side effects. I mean, I already went through two different injections at Rinlora’s mother’s place. I hated it. I figure if by some wild chance I don’t respond well, being somewhere familiar and with one of them would make me recover faster.” She shrugged, and her voice sounded small when she added, “Maybe make it less scary?”
Lymsrana nodded. “Reasonable.” She looked at Father. “And understandable.”
“Very well,” he conceded. “But only if you abide by the stipulations I’ve set for you. Should you disregard my directives this time, then no concessions will be made going forward. You left the protection of the sanctum before and you saw what happened. Remain within it this time, and the Guard can ensure your safety.”
“We’ll make sure she complies,” I said when Father glanced at me.
“Then the wards confining you to the house will be lifted,” he said.
Rae turned her storm cloud eyes on me, but I gave her nothing.
She didn’t need me to explain myself—I wouldn’t anyway.
She needed someone to blame and fight.
Father couldn’t be the one she aimed her ire at, so I’d take his place, saving her from the wrath we’d all experienced at his hands.
I’d told myself once before that I’d become her villain if it meant protecting her, and I’d meant it.
