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Chapter25
“Why would my own fiancée want to kill me? And why should I believe you?”
The assassin coughed again; this time Noah got off of her and brought her up to stand. “You’ll be coming with us,” he said.
She didn’t fight it. Maybe she thought she’d get treatment if she cooperated, though she didn’t have much choice. It took both Noah and me to carry her. She faded in and out, a few times Noah having to shake her to wake her up.
We got to the town, a small merchant stand that had a bench out front that ended up being perfect for a quick rest. Dead weight of another human was hard to carry when you were beaten up yourself.
Noah laid her down, offering her water.
Ryzel approached us. “Glad to see you’re okay.” I smiled at him.
He nodded back at me. “You as well. You were the only one separated from us, I was starting to worry.”
“Luckily our captor just liked to hear himself talk,” I said.
He looked at me in question. “Our captor?”
“Prince Landon,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Apparently, I had wrongly assumed he was visiting all the prisoners.
“You met the prince of the Seelie?” Noah questioned.
I rubbed my head. “Didn’t all of you? He came and was ranting about all sorts of strange things to me. He didn’t come question you all?”
“No, we weren’t spoken to at all,” Ryzel said.
I wanted to figure out why on earth that was the case, but Charlie showed up next, with my belongings and Noah’s in tow.
“Roberto brought your possessions to a safe place now that things are settling down,” he said, setting my bag along with Noah’s on the ground beside us. “Apparently a few Seelie had made their way through the town earlier, threatening all the women. They said they’d slaughter them if they let on they’d been nearby.”
“So they were protecting each other by not saying anything.” The strength of the creatures in Unseelie continued to amaze me. They’d put others above themselves. Loyal to each other. Again, that loyalty was there. Even this far from the castle, the people loved their community.
Charlie nodded. “I’m going to check in with the captain and head back as he instructs.”
“Thank you for everything, Charlie. Ryzel.” Noah nodded at each of them and the warriors disappeared back into the crowd.
“Back to you.” Noah looked at the assassin. The water seemed to help her slightly, but she needed medical attention and fast. “I can heal you enough that you’ll survive until we get to the castle and then I’ll leave you to fate. But I want to know why I should believe you that Vanessa would hire you to kill me.”
Her head was limp, bobbing around as she tried to answer him. I reached forward, gripping her cheeks in my hand to hold her head still. It felt wrong, cruel, but Noah needed an answer; I already knew this side of his beloved.
“Fae law, Your Majesty. Engagements are as good as marriages in the rule of the land. What’s yours was now hers. Including your throne. She had her engagement; she didn’t need you anymore to get what she really desired.”
“The kingdom,” Noah said. “It’s preposterous. No one would dare.”
“I have something you need to see,” I said quietly. Whether now was the right time or not, we were in the thick of this confession. One last piece of evidence would seal the deal, and yet…I worried about Noah’s heart. And how he’d take the news.
I reached down to my bag as Noah watched me, removing the letter I’d been holding on to. “This was a letter she wrote that she wanted me to mail, and I didn’t. I know.” I stopped. “I know I shouldn’t have read it or kept it as a feeder, but I wanted to make sure that you all were safe. And then we were sent away, and I didn’t know how to bring it up—"
“Give me the letter, Cora,” Noah said. His voice was tight and I handed it over, thinking about the contents and how she said he was a joke. And then talked about both his father and mother meeting “unfortunate circumstances.”
Noah looked up at me after reading it. “And you’re sure she wrote this.”
I nodded. “I watched her write it myself, Noah. Then she gave it to me to mail. The part about the Seelie makes more sense now. It didn’t at the time, I thought it was because of the war, but—"
But no, it was because the psycho hired a Seelie hitwoman to take out Noah.
