“She means that she forced the servant to allow her entry,” Trivan barked from the edge of the great room, his lip curling. “She made the serving girl stay so close to her that your wards didn’t detect her.”
“You broke into my private wing by coercing a servant?” A cloud of fury rose from Jax, and his eyes emitted shards of sapphire sparks.
Lady Aerobelle shrank back. “I was just looking for you. That’s all.” She dropped her lashes. “I’d hoped we could enjoy lunch together.”
“You hoped for a meal with him afterbreaking intohis warded tower?” I challenged, my voice rising.
She shot me a haughty glare, her parents doing the same. Their looks were so similar to the disdainful glances they’d given me on the ship when we’d all sailed together to Faewood. But I didn’t care what they thought of me. They were the reason for this disaster.
Aerobelle shifted her attention back to Jax. “I’m sorry, my prince. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble, and it’s ridiculous what you’re being accused of, but I couldn’t very well just walk past that door when someone was knocking frantically from within it, obviously unable to get out.” She squared her shoulders. “I thought you would be pleased. I thought that I was saving one of your servants. I had no idea this male would be in there.” She shuddered when she glanced at Guardian Alleron.
Jax’s nostrils flared so slightly that if I wasn’t standing close to him, I wouldn’t have detected it. “Whatever Lady Aerobelle may have discovered in my tower, I can assure you I had nothing to do with it.”
Guardian Alleron stomped his foot and made a motion with his hand to pieces of parchment on the table beside him.
The kingsfae nearest my guardian indicated for him to be quiet.
I stepped closer to Jax, and my heartbeat tripled. Because as much as I didn’t want to deal with Aerobelle’s meddling discovery, it’d been thrust upon us whether we liked it or not, and even though I’d truly thought any hold my guardian had on me had long disintegrated, he was now back in my life.
The king arched an eyebrow at his son. “If you’ve never met this male before, thenhowis his presence in a locked chambers within your tower explained? Go on, tell them, Adarian, so this can all be put to rest.”
Jax fisted his hands. “I. Don’t. Know. Like Lady Elowen implied, maybe he smuggled himself in there.”
“They won’t listen to reason!” Bowan called from where he’d been restrained by the wall. “We’ve already told them it’s absurd, that none of us have seen that male before today, and that none of us have had any part in the Dark Raider’s crimes, but they won’t listen.”
Trivan grumbled something similar and spat on the floor, right by the feet of the kingsfae who stood over him. Lander and Alec seethed quietly next to Trivan. Beside them, Phillen and Lars also stood in cuffs. Only Quinn was missing.
My breath stuttered when I caught Phillen’s worried expression. Both of the prince’s private guards stood silently, but Phillen’s attention kept swiveling around the room, as though searching for someone.
A wave of sickness came over me. He was probably looking for Saramel or Cassim. This was Phillen’s greatest fear, that he would be caught, and his wife and child would pay the price for his crimes.
“Father.” Jax swung toward the king again. “This isabsurd.”
Silence reigned.
The king of Stonewild stood with the queen behind the front dining table, and the stare-off between them and their son was sharp enough to cut glass.
Food had already begun to be laid out on the long banquet-style table behind them in preparation for the supper meal. Numerous dishes and serving platters were filled to the brim with steaming selections, the serving ware enchanted to keep the nourishment hot, but all of the noble fae in the room appeared to be in attendance because of the spectacle. Not because of the impending meal.
I could only imagine what had gone on during the past two hours. While Jax and I had been making love in his tower, the kingsfae had been arresting his friends left and right and bringing them here. They’d probably been waiting for us to appear andthatwas the cause of the servants’ strange reactions in the hall.
Haltingly, my gaze crawled over the king and queen. The king looked strikingly similar to Jax, but gray hair lined his temples, and his stomach wasn’t quite as lean. His mother, however, was entirely fair. Unlike her husband, whose skin was a tanned light brown, she was as pale as me. Long blond hair was coiled around her head, and tepid blue eyes watched all of the commotion with stunned shock.
As though feeling me studying her, Queen Rashelle’s attention slid my way, her eyes narrowing, and I hastily looked away before her stare could turn into an accusing glare.
“You still need to explain all of this,” Lady Aerobelle’s father decreed.
Standing near the king and queen were the Dallinger House nobles along with other House fae. Like the royal fae, they all appeared stunned. And given that one of the males had brown skin, a large build, and penetrating green eyes, I had a feeling I was looking at Bowan’s father, the male who ruled his family’s House.
“As I said, this is absurd,” Jax exclaimed again, staring at his parents with fury streaming through his aura. “I’ve had nothing to do with this male.”
“It’s true,” I added. “That male is my former guardian. He’s been trying to get me back ever since he lost me, and he’s now lying about everything. He and I were taken captive by the Dark Raider, butthe princesaved me from him, although my guardian wasn’t so lucky. He probably came here after the Dark Raider let him go, probably not only hoping to reclaim me but to also seek revenge since the prince hadn’t saved him too.”
Jax squeezed my hand lightly, and a pulse of his approval emitted to me along our bond.
Relief hit me that I’d made the right call. Because if we wanted to find a way out of this, we needed to keep our responses as close to the truth as possible. King Paevin knew that Guardian Alleron and I had been captured by the Dark Raider, but the Faewood king believed that the Stonewild prince had bartered for my release. If I told a new lie now, saying I didn’t know who Guardian Alleron was or that I’d never met the Dark Raider, I would inevitably be caught in a lie.
“You’re herformerguardian?” The king turned on Guardian Alleron, confusion on his face. “You wrote that you’re her current guardian.”
