To prove a point?
To make me look like an incompetent king unable to protect his own?
If so, they were succeeding.
But why would they breach my walls now? After all this time?
What if I’ve been betrayed?I pondered, a sour taste building in my throat at the possibility.Is someone trying to take over my realm?
Someone like Camillia?
But what would she have to gain?
I frowned, my mind returning to the concept of her working with someone—or her beingusedby someone.
Is she just a pretty distraction?
My men were obviously influenced by whatever bewitchment she’d cast over them. Perhaps she was unaware she was doing it, but the evidence was there.
My orders had already been defied. Without swift repercussions, disobedience could turn into something more sinister.
Melek would never betray me,I thought.But Azazel, after everything we’ve been through. Would he be capable of it?
Maybe not on a regular day. But he was with Ajax. And Ajax was young and unstable. His broken soul made him malleable, something I intended to use to an advantage. To make my Warden strong and unstoppable. The revoking of his title was only meant to be temporary. I’d expected him to earn back his place.
Just like the Unseelie castle, I could rebuild what was broken if given a clean slate.
But my punishment had only seemed to further break my Warden, thus creating a potentially irreparable situation. He’d told me tostop. Like he was suddenly in charge, not me.
Fuck, Az had taken his side as well. Melek, too.
All three of them were against me.
For her.
Melek’s bond to her made him unreliable in terms of a decision where Camillia was concerned. Ajax… I sighed. This was too difficult for Ajax to bear, what with his history and what Constantine had done to him.
And Azazel, my Commander, was linked to Ajax. His Phoenix had also imprinted on the girl, which was enough to confuse my Commander, at the very least.
They were my inner circle. The only three who could really hurt me.
But was this enough for one of them to betray me?
No.
They might stand up to me, but betrayal…
No,I repeated to myself.No.
Yet I couldn’t help thinking about the last time I’d been betrayed. That memory existed behind a solid barrier I never took down.
But now, I chipped away at those walls like fragile paint over golden canvas, exposing the raw truth underneath.
Vivaxia’s was the last Virtuous Fae presence I’d felt near my gates. She was the treacherous bitch who’d caused my fall. Her threads of power had been unique.
She’d siphoned my energy. Attempted to use it for her own purposes. Weakening me. My abilities.My being.
I hadn’t seen it at first.
