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“Stop it!” I snapped. “You have to stop this—all of it—before you leave me no choice but to have you committed.”
Cyndella’s jaw slacked, her complexion turning opaque. “What?” she gasped.
I sighed deeply. “Obviously, it’s the last thing I want to do, Cyn, but you’re making it impossible. You hole up in your room all day long. Every medical professional I’ve had in here has quit because of your attitude. You refuse to take your medication. You fight any changes.”
“Foroursafety! You know what happened to Mother!”
“I know what happened,” I groaned. “Which is why I took huge steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“How?!” Cyndella screamed, throwing up her hands and beginning to pace the front room. “By allowing the Order into our galas? By throwing galas in the first place? BY MARRYING A FAE YOU DON’T KNOW?!”
“STOP!” I yelled back, and the door opened, Royal Guards appearing.
“Get out!” I barked, security immediately backtracking when they understood the commotion, but Endora materialized in a waft of smoke. “You, too.”
“No,” Endora snapped as the doors closed, leaving the three of us. “What is going on here?”
“He’s marrying her! You promised to talk sense into him!” Cyndella began to bawl, falling dramatically onto the settee to bury her face in her hands.
I rolled my eyes as the enchantress stared at me, dumbfounded.
I knew it. I knew they were talking behind my back. I should banish Endora right now for this.
“I promised nothing of the sort,” Endora countered, shaking her head, but she stared at me with naked disdain. “Is this true? You’re marrying the trespasser?”
“Her name is Mirielle,” I barked. “Stop calling her that.”
“Her name is not Mirielle,” Endora countered. “No one knows her name.”
“Endora…” I growled.
“Regardless of her name, you can’t marry her, Zen,” Endora continued.
“You both forget who rules this kingdom,” I hissed, furious that they were ruining what was supposed to be a happy moment for me.
Instead, I was hearing all of my doubts out loud in stereo.
I should have known better than to inform them of anything. I should have just released a formal memo and let them find out that way.
“You’re always going to do what you want to do,” Endora agreed. “But you don’t even know her real name.”
“Is that important?” I fired back. “I know that she is loyal to me and to the kingdom. I know that she loves me. That’s all I need to know to make her my queen.”
“Is any of that true, though, Zen?” Endora asked.
“I’m not doing this with you,” I rasped, spinning around to march toward the door.
“What’s the point of having advisors if you don’t listen to them?” Cyndella called out as I stormed away. I froze, and before I could stop myself, I whirled back around and glowered at my sister and the enchantress, a cruel smirk forming on my lips.
“Oh, yeah?” I challenged. “You think I should listen to my advisors?”
“Zen!” Endora growled warningly, but I ignored her, stalking back toward my sister.
“Of course! That’s what they’re for! To keep you from making stupid mistakes!”
“Who do you think wanted to have you committed in the first place?” I demanded, darting my eyes toward the enchantress.
Cyndella’s face was translucent now as she raised her head to look at Endora, who started to shake her own head. “It’s a facility which specializes in—”
