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I smirked. “No. I do my best not to grin like a schoolboy every time I see her.”
I wondered what they were up to. If they had gotten me fresh vials of water or something. But when I opened the door and leaned against the door frame, I was immediately met with smoke.
“Rough day, Your Grace?” I asked gently, trying not to cough. The weight on her shoulders was not a burden I was envious of.
Did you or did you not plan what happened yesterday to use to your advantage?
I put my hands up in surrender.“What?”Earlier when I had been with Amory, this hadn’t even been a suspicion. What had happened in that war room meeting which now made me the prime suspect?
Answer the question.
“Give him a moment to,” Amory offered.
I inhaled deeply. “No, I didn’t plan what happened yesterday. Of course not. I am not sure if you are aware of this, Your Grace, but I was close to running out of air myself twice while saving Kian. If I wanted to scheme up something to use to my advantage, I would have planned something which would have keptmefurther from death.”
Silence. Amory gave me a tight smile as if she was saying she was sorry.
I looked up to the stars in frustration. “Why is it so hard for people to understand that my motivations yesterday were simply to save a person’s life? No ulterior moves. It wasn’t moving a piece on a board. It was simply the right thing to do, dammit!”
But it did get almost all of the shifters to respect you,the queen snapped.
“You don’t even trust your own advisors, so why are you letting them tell you what to think about me?” I snapped back. “The tension in this country is thick enough to cut with a knife. It didn’t begin when I walked ashore. It’s been here. Brewing. Maybe someone thought that with us here, it was the perfect time to act with a scapegoat.”
“See?” Amory whispered. “It couldn’t have been him.”
I ran a hand down my face in frustration. “As for Zaire, who I am certain continues to question motives for my every waking moment, maybe you should ask yourself why he feels so threatened by someone treating his queen with actual respect.” I paused. “You are incredible. The way you command the shifters and they respond to you, your presence, your voice. You might not wear a crown often while in this form, but to anyone even halfway paying attention, you are still every bit a queen. So is he truly mad that I am trying to work with you, or is he mad that he’s lost the part of himself which wanted to be with you, commanding the shifters himself as king?”
The queen’s breath caught.
I likely shouldn’t keep speaking so bluntly. I was always smooth, never ruffled. Yet after the last day and everything I had done to try to help, I was exactly that along with a lingering exhaustion. It was probably best I just call it a day and try again in the morning. I held up a finger and walked inside to grab the queen’s gem of the day. This one was a small gold ring, as was rumored to be the queen’s favorite, with a small sapphire in the center.
I strode for the dragon, three steps until I was standing directly in front of her snout, looking her in an eye. “I am sorry you’ve had an awful day, but I am not responsible for what happened yesterday. Wylan is not responsible for what happened yesterday. I am partly responsible for the fact that Kian got free though. Glad to see working myself to exhaustion was appreciated.”
The queen winced as if I had delivered a blow.
“Take this trinket to add to the rest. Now if you will please excuse me, I have work with the vials left to do today.”
And with that, I spun on my heel and headed back to the table.
Dex’s eyes met mine for only a moment. His neck was tense, watching the dragon from around my turned back. Ready to intervene should she decide I looked like an appetizing evening snack.
I brought the magic forward to my palm and focused on one vial, sending it straight to it, keeping a constant stream flowing from my fingers.
“How often have you been working on this?” Amory asked quietly. The door was still open so she could see right into my room. Her ride, the queen, was also still there. They must have been having a side conversation.
“Very few hours have passed since you delivered them when one of us hasn’t been putting magic into the water to try to fix it,” I bit out. I was still frustrated and mad, but more so at the queen rushing to believe her advisors than at Amory.
Yes, she knew them better than me, but the queen had been on that shore. She had seen and heard it all play out. The stomping and roar were forever ingrained into my mind, and yet now not even a full day later, she was questioning my motives?
“And there has been no change?” Amory asked gently.
I shook my head. “No.”
Amory sighed. “The way you are able to use your Enchantment is quite beautiful.” She caught herself adding, “I am partial to our Enchantment though, of course.”
I used my other hand and flicked a finger, sending a slower tendril of magic toward them. It was slow enough they should be able to see the raven form my magic traveled in. It stalled in front of them and formed a flower, just before hitting them in the face with a breeze.
“It had wings,” Amory noted. “I have questions, but they can wait until tomorrow, Prince of Wylan. I think you have properly dismissed us.”
