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Surprisingly, Cari didn’t object to that statement.
“Prison?” I asked. “What prison?”
“Lugh is taking prisoners. Lords and ladies who are loyal to your family,” Orla replied. “If a lord or lady disobeys him, he takes their loved ones or replaces them with their next of kin and imprisons them. Fiona believes Lugh has Lord Petret and Lady Erin’s mother, Lady Lizbeth as well. In order to take the crown back, you need their support. Saving their loved ones will give them an opportunity to rebel against Lugh.”
“You are talking about civil war,” I replied. “We cannot... She will be married in a week; there isn’t enough time. I just came to help Fiona get away. If we can find a way to save her...”
Orla’s face remained neutral. For a moment, she did not say anything.
“No,” Orla said. “She wants me to tell you... She won’t escape and leave the realm to its fate. Lugh will kill the prisoners if Fiona escapes. He needs to be dealt with. We cannot let him rule.”
“How can we...” I stopped. “If he has our supporters in prison and the rest support him... That means he’s won, already.”
Orla’s gaze widened. I felt the surprise of everyone in the room, but no one said anything as Orla seemed to be conversing with Fiona silently.
“I’m relaying Fiona’s message,” Orla said. It sounded like a warning. “You are the Prince of Dark. You were the Crown Prince since I was presumed dead, and that has not changed. Father is dead; that means you’re King.”
“I...” Orla lifted her hand, stopping me before I could object.
“As the King, it is your duty to protect the realm,” she continued. “And if you’re no longer interested in that responsibility and wish to forfeit your right, that means I’m the queen. In that case, I’m the one giving out the orders. You will stay here and wait for me to find out where the prison is. Once you know where it is, you will go and break the prisoners out.”
“Sound logic,” Cari mumbled.
“If we fail and I get caught,” I whispered. “He’s gonna kill you, Fiona. You should escape now when we have the chance.”
“I cannot escape. I have to be here to protect the Unseelie from him.”
I opened my mouth to object, but Fiona interrupted me once again.
“This is my order as the Queen of Dark,” she said.
I could almost hear Fiona’s voice that hid underneath Orla’s neutral tone. She was angry at me for wanting to give up.
“All right,” I said, returning her anger without much effort. “If the queen wants to die, I won’t try to stop her.”
Chapter 5: Feremir
“Hurry, boy!” Master Frin barked at me without looking back as I followed him. “We are late.”
“Yes, master,” I replied breathlessly.
