AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I knew I shouldn’t have listened.”
“…lied about other prophecies before…”
“Her mother was a prince’s whore, too.”
Every hair stands on end like a late warning. I can’t feel the floor beneath me as Cyrus continues, stone-faced.“Violet was jealous of Raya. I knew she wanted me for herself, but I pitied her and forgave her.”
“You’re enchanted—she’s cast a charm over everyone—” But I speak too hastily, too desperately. I know it as soon as the sputter leaves my lips. That helpless fury builds in me again, the knowledge that I am powerless when doubted. Something that Cyrus has never had to fear.
I spring forward, grab his arms while a strong grip yanks mine—guards reaching for me. “Snap him out of it! Bring blood!” I’m already being pulled away.“Stop!”My protests sound pathetic as soon as they leave my lips, the mewls of a girl crying wolf. My heart’s given up even as I scrounge for words.
Would it even matter if everyone were enchanted or not? I’ve told too many lies, and everyone in this city never did fully trust me. Always doubted me in the backs of their minds, and only soaked up my fabrications when it suited them.
And who wouldn’t believe Cyrus over me? Who doesn’t want a prince? It’s me who’s being ridiculous.
The murmurs grow worse:
“Did you see the rot on her tower?”
“…heard she was sneaking around…”
“What if the witch was in front of us all along?”
“…brought the beasts…even planned her own attack.”
No—these accusations will get me killed. But they sound plausible even to me. I have known too much and said too little all this time. How easy it is to paint a picture from lies.
Nadiya has shrunk in on herself. She’s tenuously tryingto reach out to Cyrus with an asking hand. “Your Highness, please—you must believe me. We’re in grave danger.”
“We will see where the real danger is,” Cyrus says, ignoring her and me. “Guards, would you arrest both Lady Rayas? Have the fairies oversee them as well. Take care—they may know how to wield magic, but this may also be a simple case of an imposter.”
“What about the Seer, Your Highness?” the closest guard asks. “Is she…”
“She’s not behind the beasts, but she may be a pawn. Take her—” His throat bobs when he meets my furious glare. “Take her to a spare room and keep an eye on her. I’ll deal with her later.”
As a guard grabs my arm, I force down the heat in my cheeks lest it burn up my wisp of a reputation. Every retort I can think of will only make matters worse; this isn’t a battle I can win by snapping back.
I hear that familiar laugh behind me. That laugh I know from my dreams, a cackle like a howl of wind.
I told you so.
“You enchanted him,” I snarl, twisting around.
The witch’s expression doesn’t change, a perfect actor as she invades my mind:I spelled everyone in the crowd—except him. He did this on his own.
I spin to him, and Cyrus stares at me, looking neither charmed, nor angry, nor doubtful. Only determined. “This is for your own good,” he murmurs, and it’s like a slap across the face.
I’d been too focused on the two Rayas. That was mymistake: forgetting that although Cyrus and I have common enemies, I was his first one, the one who has haunted his heart and mind since the day we met. He would be rid of me already if I were any less stubborn.
We could ruin each other, and we would not hesitate to do so.
He’d distracted me with his pretty smiles and pretty words and they lulled me to forget this truth, but I can think of nothing else now. A dark thought dredges up, an overflowing poison: the witch was right. I should have stabbed him when I had the chance.
I’m almost resolved to my fate of being a laughingstock. Stared at and whispered about by slack-jawed courtiers until my tired feet drag me elsewhere. Like a rabbit in a snare, I can’t do anything but struggle.
But I never learned how to fall gracefully.
“Cyrus tried to seduceme,” I seethe, rooting myself to the ballroom’s marble floor, so that the guard has to yank me in order to shuffle me out.
