AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lord Trechting was prepared to fight, even if it meant letting his father, Lord Petret, languish in a dungeon, all because of his loyalty to me and my family.
I could not let that happen. Lord Petret was taken because he was loyal to our family.
“It is a shame, my lord,” I said. Lord Trechting’s gaze darted toward me immediately. I reached into his mind to calm his nerves. Lady Queill let me. “I loved my brother and it pains me to think of him that way. But my betrothed is right. I cannot let my emotions get in the way. Emotions are misleading.”
I knew it was risky, but I had to do it. As I attempted to calm down Lord Trechting, I offered him a sense of joy. I hoped the unnatural feeling would be a clue for him.
His eyes widened.
“Do we understand each other, Lord Trechting?” Lugh asked. “This is not a threat. We want the realm to be at peace. The princess knows how important that is right now. Our wedding is in a week. Things have changed, clinging onto the past is futile.”
Lord Trechting hesitated. I saw it in his eyes. I pushed on his emotions harder. I could not send him words, but the sentiment, he got.
“Princess,” he said, offering me a bow with his head as the soldiers released him. “I am at your service.”
He was pushing Lugh. It was dangerous. Lady Queill was ready to seize his mind.
“Thank you, my lord,” I said. “Please go back to your land and take care of those in your charge. That is all I ask of you.”
“Are you sure?” Trechting asked.
“Yes,” I replied quickly. “I would have loved seeing you and your family at my wedding. But the Unseelie need your help. Go now and protect...” I was going to say 'yourself', but I stopped myself at the last moment “...the realm.”
I gave him hope and trust.
He knew the strength of his feelings had to have come from someone outside of him. He bowed to me once again, turned away, and left.
“Maybe we shouldn’t let him go,” Lugh said after Lord Trechting was gone.
“Lord Trechting has no other family members to take over his titles and land,” Lady Queill spoke quickly, her voice calm in a calculated manner. “Replacing him will draw attention. We do not want that.”
“We can send him to the prison and replace him with his father,” Lugh thought out loud.
A prison? It was the first time I had heard of such a thing. My surprise caught me off guard. I was unable to hide my thoughts from Lady Queill.
She did not say anything out loud, but the two of them stared at each other in silence. I knew what this was. She was in his mind to keep the rest of their conversation completely private.
“All right,” Lugh said after a while, agreeing to whatever decision they had concocted while the rest of us just stood there, waiting. The blue-eyed soldier tried to meet my gaze, but I did not look his way because I did not want to see the pity in him.
Finally, Lugh turned to me. “If you do that again, I will let one of Queill’s pupils take over your mind for good. It would be a nuisance to waste a pupil to focus on controlling your mind at all times, but it can be done.”
I did not respond.
“Do you understand?” he asked.
My cheek oozed right in that moment and I knew it was Lady Queill, reminding me of the pain to make me submit to him.
What they did not know was that the pain wasn’t what I was afraid of. I’ve been through a lot of pain. That did not matter.
What made me obey Lugh’s command was the fact that resisting him or rebelling against him was fruitless now. I was powerless.
My father had taught me to wait until that was no longer the case. Everyone had a weakness. Everyone had strength. I would have to find my strength and strike when I saw his weakness. And for that, I had to wait.
“I understand,” I said dryly.
“And if you try to escape,” Lugh continued. “Every single fae in that prison you pretend not to have heard about, will die.”
I looked up to meet his gaze.
