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It wasn’t my business, anyway.
“We have the entire Royal Guards looking for her, Miri,” Zen muttered absently as he caught the gaze between me and Saint.
I cleared my throat purposefully and nodded toward the hallway.
“Elix is waiting,” I informed my entourage, but I turned back to the royal couple afterward. “We’ll be on our way back to Goldhaven tonight. Thank you for all your hospitality.”
“Don’t be insane!” Mirielle blurted out. “You can’t leave in the middle of the night, and not before we understand what happened.”
“Miri…” Zen sighed, but as I looked at the queen, I read a panic in her eyes that made me wonder if she didn’t already suspect the truth.
“Please!” Queen Mirielle begged me. “Don’t go until I understand!”
A spark of pity ignited in me.
Of course she’s worried about Lysandra’s safety. For as evil as she is, Lysandra was like a sister to her for years. They grew up together under Agnan.
But I stiffened my spine toward her, unable to accept Mirielle’s forgiveness of Lysandra’s bad deeds. “I’m sorry, Mirielle, but we need to return to Goldhaven. We’ve already been gone far too long. Elix is understandably eager to get home after the ordeal—not that I can blame her.”
With that, I spun around and marched toward the hallway, Saint and Cirilla on my heels.
“That was cold, Jace,” the enchantress told me. “Queen Mirielle is scared. She cares about the faeries at Homage.”
I cast her a stony look. “It’s not my job to placate her—especially when I don’t know what the hell is going on in my own house. From what I can tell, she and the King have been harboring a murderous cult member under their noses. Maybe more than one. We can’t hang around here any longer than necessary.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Cirilla muttered, “considering who you got engaged to.”
My cheeks burned with humiliation and Saint let out a low growl of anger. “Hey! That’s my sister?—”
I whirled around to confront them both, my temper flaring as my eyes darted to all corners of the hallway, looking for cameras.
“Stop it!” I hissed at them both. “Not here.” I halted and gestured for my guards to wait as I addressed them, my voice low. “We need to maintain a united front outside of Goldhaven.We’re leaving tonight and hashing out our differences at home, but here…”
I made a zipper of my lips, and they both lowered their heads in contrition.
Silently, we continued back toward the guest suite where Elix had been resting, and I knocked on the door tentatively.
“Come in,” she barked sharply. Her tone didn’t give me hope. I’d seen the look she’d given me in the shower, and now, she sat at one of the high-backed accent chairs, her hands folded over the pleats of her skirt. My eyes trailed along the curve of her thigh appreciatively, but she mistook my look.
“Queen Mirielle had an outfit sent over for me,” she said, explaining the clean clothes.
“That was kind of her,” I replied, ushering Saint and Cirilla fully inside.
Brother and sister eyed one another warily for a long moment, but Elix looked away first as Saint rushed toward her. “I was so worried about you!” he growled, moving to envelop her in a bear hug.
She didn’t resist, but she didn’t return his affection, either.
“Why would you do something so stupid, Elix?” he barked, withdrawing. “Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you caused?”
She whipped her head around and glared at him. “What kind of troubleIcaused?” she echoed. “What about you? You knew about me all along!”
“Okay, let’s not do this blame game right now,” I insisted, stepping closer to them. “Let’s just get on the plane and talk about this in the air, all right?”
Elix’s lips parted as if she was going to argue, but she nodded slowly. “Yes,” she agreed. “Yes, let’s get out of Silverhold.” She hesitated. “But the king and queen need to be warned aboutLysandra. She’s not on their side. She’s not on the side of any monarchy.”
I exhaled and slumped against the wall, my suspicions confirmed with Elix’s words. It looked like we weren’t going to make it to the plane before this debriefing, after all.
“That’s why she came for you,” I concluded, cold spiking down my spine. Saint grimaced, but Cirilla asked the obvious question.
