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“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I was…lost,” I said. “In the book.”
I closed it and put it down on the coffee table. Ren came closer, but he didn’t sit down. Emotions warred in his eyes, and he pressed his lips in a thin line.
“You can sit down,” I offered.
He hesitated before he took a seat next to me. He leaned his elbows on his knees, steepling his fingers.
“I want to talk to you about what Lucia did this afternoon, and about what she said.”
The fallout had been awkward, but Lucia was evil. It wasn’t Ren’s fault.
I nodded slowly.
“She had us all under a spell.” He took a breath and let it out slowly. It looked like it was hard for him to admit it. “Nylah says you warned her.”
“I didn’t know for sure. It was just a feeling.”
“A feeling.”
I nodded.
“I should have seen it,” he said, looking at his hands. “I didn’t know, but I should have.”
“The nature of her spell made it impossible to know,” I assured him, not wanting him to beat himself up about it. “You didn’tallowit.”
“I know,” Ren said. “But she’s the future queen.Was.Whatever she does reflects on me, and I want you to know that her thoughts about the humans…” He swallowed hard. “I didn’t know that she planned to harm them. I didn’t realize we weren’t on the same page. Not only with leadership, but in morals and values, too.” He sighed and glanced up at me. “She has a dark heart. I didn’t see it. I don’t know how I could have missed it. After all this time…it’s not like love blinded me.”
“People—and Fae—don’t always show their true colors right away,” I said.
He smiled at me. “It’s good of you to say, but I feel like this one is on me. I should be better. As king, I should know better than that. I was so focused on everything coming at us from the outside, I didn’t think to look right next to me.”
“You know now, and that’s what matters,” I said. “This way, you know what you’re getting yourself into when you marry her.”
“I will not marry her. It’s over between us.”
“What?” I asked. “What about the political alliance?” It had to be important if he had been willing to spend the rest of his life with someone for the sake of it.
Ren shook his head. “I don’t care about that. She’s not right to rule as queen. It’s our job to protect our citizens, notusethem to our benefit. This whole slavery idea every king has indulged since the beginning of time…that has to stop, too. Humans deserve to be free. I am sitting down with my advisors this week to figure out a plan.”
I stared at him. Did he care that much about humans? I saw a different side of Ren—a much softer, caring side. I liked what I saw. He wasn’t nearly as hard and cold as he made himself out to be.
“Can’t you just make it a law that humans can’t be enslaved?” I asked.
“Of course, and I plan on doing that. However, where will the slaves go? How will they earn a living? It’s actually quite complicated, and that’s why I want you involved. I want you to help secure their freedom.”
“I will do anything you ask of me.” And that was true. I trusted Ren; he had a just and fair heart.
“I want to apologize to you for everything Lucia put you through. I should have seen her first attempt on your life as the red flag that it was.” He looked like he felt foolish. “Lucia can be very convincing. She plays the innocent victim all too well. I should have seen through her lies.”
“It’s all right,” I said. “You did the right thing. Again, it’s rather that, than only finding out after you’re married and there’s nothing you can do.”
“You’re very positive about everything, when your life was in danger each time.”
I shrugged. “Day in the life of Ellie.”
Ren chuckled and shook his head. He reached for my red locks and brushed my hair over my shoulder.
