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“What do you mean?” he growled. “You didn’t need to access the other Council stones that way.”
“The Mother Pearl was the hardest to get because it was buried deep under water,” he explained. “Only the Council and its ruler can summon it to the surface from what one of my informants had heard.”
Travus’s grip on Aria tightened, and she now genuinely feared for her life. “And you’re sure it wasn’t the Councilmembers who brought the pearl up?” he demanded. Aria’s heart broke when she realized that he was still trying to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“I was there, your majesty!”
He let her go, standing up as Aria backed away from him with her body ready for flight. His eyes narrowed at her as his lips straightened into a line, leaving his face devoid of emotion.
“Leave us be,” he growled at the Human.
The man’s fists clenched impatiently. “But my pay–”
“LEAVE!”
Aria flinched as his roar echoed through the room, causing her eardrums to throb. His command had the man scurrying away.
Before she knew it, Travus was towering over her, and he grabbed her arm to drag her away.
“Travus, wait,” she said with a tremor in her voice, tugging against his strong grip. “He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”
“How is it that you couldn’t recognize your own Council stone?”
“Didyoubefore your coronation?!” she demanded, and he let her go with a grunt.
Rubbing his face, he turned to her with a visibly distressed expression. “Mierna, if there’s something I need to know, I’d rather it be from you.”
“You’re going to trust athiefover–”
“No, which is why we’re here,” he said softly, deeply, hands to his side as she felt a sort of emotional barrier come up between them. “Tell me what’s going on. I’ll take your word for it and never question you again. If I need to change the world to fit the lie you tell me, so be it. Theonlything I want is to know that you’re not here to hurt or abandon me deliberately.”
Aria was tempted to lie. If this is how far Travus would go for his mate, then she couldn’t imagine the catastrophe that might ensue if she lied.
“If you tell me the sun rises from the West,” Travus said heavily, stepping closer, “I’ll change all the maps in the realm to reflect it.”
The warmth of his proximity, the sincerity of his words, it sent a tremor through her heart.
“Just donotabandon me,” he pleaded. “Don’t throw me aside. Don’t make me vulnerable to anyone but yourself.”
She gulped, unable to fathom how anyone could be so devoted to her for absolutely nothing.
“All I am is your mate,” she reminded him. “I…I do nothing for you.”
He shook his head. “I adored you well before I knew you were my mate, Mierna,” he said. “So, please, tell me the truth. I can’t be angry with you.”
The way her heart was pounding in her chest, she might as well carve it out and toss it to the wind. She glanced at the pearl in his hand, knowing that all their efforts were for nothing. He got exactly what he wanted, and there was no more to lose than what had already been lost.
The truth had nowhere else to go with consequences that weren’t already upon them.
“I’m…I’m not Mierna.”
His face didn’t seem to show he was too upset about that. “I figured the real princess would have the sense to send a decoy instead, from her court.”
“No,” she breathed, looking him right in the eye. “Travus…we’ve met before.”
She knew she was dragging it out, but she needed to gauge his reaction before revealing the entire truth. Now that she knew she felt familiar to him, she needed to knowif he could figure it out for himself. Too terrified to say it out loud, she hoped he’d assume for himself and be correct.
His eyes furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
