AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Guilty, Your Highness.”
Irissa screams against my hand, but the sound barely makes it through. Clearly, they hadn’t spoken about a plan in the dungeon, and the tears that spill down her face and dampen my fingers are proof of their betrayal. How could they take advantage of her kindness and betray her trust this way?
The faint rumble of anger bubbles just beneath my shocked exterior. If my father doesn’t hand down a swift punishment for them both, I will. They don’t deserve to breathe our air.
“Why waste days of our time and resources just to admit to your crimes?” my father asks, clearly bemused at the turn this interrogation has taken. “The outcome will be the same either way.”
The jealousy in me says it was to see Irissa a final time before he meets his end, but it that’s a great length to go to for something so trivial. Walking through the front door and requesting an audience with her would have saved him a lot of trouble.
“Permission to explain our actions, Your Highness,” the redhead says clearly. His head is still held high, and now I’m not sure if it was confidence or arrogance I saw earlier.
I’ve stopped trying to figure out what’s going on and resolved to watch the mayhem unfold.
“Granted,” my father grunts, leaning back in the throne and propping his chin on top of his fist. “Enlighten us.”
“I won’t deny that our intentions were to extract Irissa from the kingdom of Ulleh and return her to Hyatt,” he says, and my stomach sinks lower. “But we had substantial reason to believe she was in danger.”
“Go on.”
Irissa has stopped thrashing against me, and for a moment I’m worried she passed out from the struggle, but then she reaches for my hand and gently pries it away from her mouth. I’m skeptical about letting her go, worried that she’ll make a scene and make things worse for the prisoners, but I oblige and let my hand fall away.
“If you scream, I’ll drag you out of here,” I warn in a tense whisper.
She nods, and I finally let her go completely.
“Your Highness, our kingdom has been attacked by your people for years,” the man explains, making me groan internally. He’s doing exactly what I warned Irissa against, accusing our kingdom of a heinous crime without proof, and subsequently signing his death warrant.
I’d say it was nice knowing him, but it wasn’t.
“After Irissa left, the attacks became more intense. Brutal,” he continues. “We’ve lost so many people to this unprecedented war, and we feared that she was receiving similar backlash here in the kingdom. My loyalty lies with my kingdom and our princess, regardless of where she may be, and I would gladly lay down my life if it means protecting her.”
My father straightens in the throne again, his eyes narrowing on the prisoner. “That is a bold accusation for which you have no proof. My people have done no such thing.”
“You’re right. I have no other proof but my word since no one else was there, but I do have evidence if you’ll allow it,” he says.
Evidence?
The word stuns the room back into silence. Irissa glances up at me, her brows furrowed low over her eyes. Obviously, this is news to her too.
“Where?” my father asks curtly. I can tell by the shortness of his tone that he’s both intrigued and losing his patience.
The man gestures downward with a bob of his head. “The pocket just inside my shirt.”
Without hesitation, my father nods to the guard who steps forward to search the man. Reaching into the prisoner’s shirt, he withdraws a folded piece of cloth and stares down at it. I can see the disbelief etched on his face. He must have thought the man was lying.
With a jolt, he hurriedly walks to hand over the fabric before stepping back out of the way. I suck in a breath as my father flips the evidence over in his hands several times before unfolding it, watching his expression carefully as though it’ll tell me what’s on his mind. It doesn’t, but there’s no denying the surprise in his eyes.
“Where did you get this?” he asks.
He holds up the fabric to observe it better, and when the light catches it just right I can see the outline of a familiar insignia. It’s the Ulleh coat of arms.
“We lost a lot of people when we were attacked a few days ago, but we were also able to dispose of a few attackers in the process,” he explains. “This was worn by one of the fallen.”
My father is silent as he stares down at the mark, mulling over the information he’s just been given. Everything is painfully silent for a moment, and all I can hear aside from my breath is Irissa’s racing heartbeat.
“We don’t want trouble with your people,” the prisoner says. “All we want is to be left alone. Our kingdom hangs on by a thread, Your Highness. It’s not my place to ask for your help, but I do request your permission to return so that I can continue protecting my home.”
The stretch of silence that follows seems to last forever. My father nods his head along silently, staring down at the coat of arms splayed in his hands. I have no idea if he’ll consider granting the prisoner’s request, but it’s much better than the alternative. The last thing I expect him to do is call my name.
