by Skye Malone
Niall looked away.
“But he wrote me,” I said, my voice weak. “These past few years, we wrote each other and he said he wanted to–”
“People lie.”
His expression was pained. I turned away, my arms wrapping around my middle to stop the way my stomach churned.
I couldn’t believe it. Not Granddad. It didn’t make sense. I mean, no, I hadn’t seen him in years. I had no idea where he’d been in all that time or what he’d done.
But still…
“No,” I said. “No, he wouldn’t–”
“Are you sure?”
I looked back at Niall. Hovering by the door, he watched me, his brow rising.
And the words hurt. No, of course I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure of anything anymore, from what I’d seen of Chloe to what I’d seen in that message from Zeke. My whole life had been turned upside down in the space of only a few days, and every other minute it seemed like one of my family members was accusing the other of being responsible.
I just wanted things back to the way they were before that girl had ever shown up.
Niall swam over to me and put a hand on my arm, about the closest he ever came to being affectionate. “Hey, it’ll be okay, alright? We’ll–”
“Ren’s going to arrest him, Niall. How is it alright? He’s going to lock him up and there’s no way he could have–”
Niall shook his head. “Ren’s not crazy. He won’t hurt him. He’ll probably just put Granddad under house arrest somewhere. I mean, it might even be good for him, right? Keep him safe, rather than out there on his own.”
I gave a choked scoff. Yeah, right. Trapped in one place for the rest of his life? Granddad would be miserable.
And stigmatized as the man who conspired to murder his own son, the king of Yvaria.
A ragged breath left me. It wasn’t possible. Granddad wasn’t a traitor, Niall wasn’t a cultist and Zeke wasn’t an idiot. Of everything, those three facts were all I was certain of anymore.
“Granddad is a good person, Niall. I know that. He’s loyal to the king – Ren and Dad – even if he didn’t always agree with Dad’s decisions, and he would never betray his family by taking our father away from us.”
Niall was silent.
“I don’t care who it was, or how much he agreed with them,” I continued. “He would never, ever allow someone to do that. Not to Dad, and not to us.” I moved to keep his focus as Niall turned aside. “He loves us, Niall. He could never be that horrible–”
“I’m not saying he doesn’t love us,” Niall snapped. “Okay, Ina? This isn’t against our grandfather. This is me trying to keep our family safe.”
He spun away, swimming back to where he’d been by the door. “I mean, that’s all I’m trying to do here. That’s all I’ve ever been trying to do. And if Granddad…” He made an angry sound. “Maybe he was trying to protect us too, you know? Maybe he just saw this as the only way to keep us safe, even if it came with a terrible cost. Because to him it was worth it. Because he loves us. Because he’s a good person, even if he did things that make him not seem that way.”
I stared at him.
“I care about our grandfather too,” Niall continued, looking up at me. “But what I saw…” He shook his head. “There’s a lot of bad out there, Ina. Dangerous, horrible things like… like crazy girls, and monsters, and stuff you can’t even imagine, and we’re in a war against all of it.” He paused. “Maybe Granddad just chose the wrong side.”
I didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure I could.
Niall grimaced as if trying to calm down and then he turned, touching the lighter patch of stone by the doorway.
“Ren won’t hurt him,” he told me firmly. “Even if our grandfather did work with those people… he’ll still be okay.”
He swam from the room without another word.
I didn’t take my eyes from the doorway.
The way he’d said that…
Shivers ran through me. My teeth were chattering.
His words…
The look on his face…
That desperate, angry, hurt, and tense look, like he’d been pushed too far and was about to break.
A sharp breath entered my lungs.
He’d done it. Oh sweet merciful…
Zeke hadn’t been wrong.
My stomach lurched. Gasping, I turned and my hand found the edge of the table just to stop me from sinking to the ground.
Niall… he’d…
I swallowed hard, trying to keep from throwing up. My gaze darted around the apartment, searching for something, anything to connect me to a reality other than this one.
There was nothing. The stupid, empty, boring room stared back at me.
I had to get out of here. Do something.
Niall had killed our father.
I choked, my hand clenching on the side of the table. My big brother who’d put squids in my hair… he’d murdered Dad.
My gaze snapped to the door. I needed to tell Ren. He’d probably still be on the upper floor. He had to know this.
Niall might be in the hallway.
My heart raced. Kicking my tail hard, I sped to the window and shoved past the leaves to the outside.
“Princess?” the guard cried as I shot by him.
I kept going. The opening to Ren’s floor came into view quickly, with guards on either side.
“Move!” I shouted at them.
They darted out of the way and then spun to follow me. Racing down the hall, I ignored them, my gaze fixed on the door to Ren’s study.
His guards flanked it. He had to still be there.
“Highness,” the guards at the doorway protested as I came speeding toward them. They moved to block the entrance. “You can’t go inside–”
They caught me when I tried to push by them.
“I have to talk to him,” I insisted, breaking from their grasp and looking past them to the door. “Now. Let me in.”
“You can’t–”
I darted at the door again. “Now, damn you!”
They grabbed me. Twisting in their grasp, I drove my elbow into the midsection of the one on my right and he choked.
Spikes came out on my arms.
The men let me go.
Shoving past them, I rushed into the room.
Ren paused halfway to the door, alarm on his face. “Ina, what the hell–” He glanced to the guards who’d followed me. “Get out. It’s fine.”
Breathing hard, I tried to find the words as the soldiers retreated and then sealed the door behind them. “It’s… Ren, Niall, he… he did it. He’s… Zeke wasn’t wrong.”
Ren stared at me. “What?”
I swallowed another breath down. “I talked to him. Just now. About Granddad and he…” I felt like crying. “Ren, Niall’s what Zeke said. He was behind it. He killed Dad.”
For a moment, Ren didn’t move. “Niall told you this?”
“He…” My brow furrowed as I struggled for words. “We were talking, and I was saying how Granddad would never let anyone take our father away. That he couldn’t be that horrible and Niall, he just… he just like snapped. He got so upset and–”
“Ina.” Ren came over to me and gripped my arms as if to steady me. “Breathe. What did he say?”
I closed my eyes briefly, trying to do as he ordered. “He told me that there were bad things out there, and that we were in a war, and that Granddad chose the wrong side. He told me maybe Granddad did all this because he loves us and wants to protect us, even if what he did made him seem terrible. But Ren, it wasn’t what Niall said. It was how he said it. Like, he made it sound as if he wasn’t talking about Granddad. It seemed like he meant it about himself.”
Ren was silent.
“If he did this, Ren… if he really–”
“I think I know what you heard.”
I waited.
Drawing a breath, he moved away from me. “Did Niall tell you…” Ren shook his head. “Ina, he blames hims
elf. He’s doing everything he can to help, but… he still thinks it’s his fault that Chloe got away. That he didn’t see what she was like sooner. And now with Jirral…”
I stared at him.
“Niall’s right.” Ren’s mouth tightened, as if he wished he didn’t have to say the words. “This is a war. There are bad things out there, bad people who want to hurt us, and we have to do whatever we can to protect each other from them.”
My brow furrowed again. I couldn’t believe this. “Ren, the way he said it–”
“I’m not going to turn against my brother based on the way he said something.”
A breath left me. The words stung. I wasn’t trying to turn against anyone. “But you’d turn on Granddad.”
Ren glanced back at me, his face darkening. “Jirral is a different story. Jirral is not one of us, and he hasn’t shown the slightest interest in being one of us since he took off ten years ago. That he turned up in the city now, just ahead of our father–”
A desperate noise escaped me. “He didn’t do this!”
“And Niall did?”
I stared at him.
“You can’t let them get into your head like this, Ina. Not like Zeke has. These people want us terrified. They want us fragmented and attacking each other, and so we have to stick together.” Ren shook his head. “Niall feels terrible about how things have gone, same as I do. We both wish we could have done anything to keep this reality from being what it is.” He paused. “And I’m sure you feel that way too. I’m sure Zeke does – even if he’s confused on who’s responsible. But don’t misinterpret Niall’s guilt over that into being something else. That’s just what these people would want you to believe.”
He swam back over to me and took my hands in his own. “I know you’re scared, okay? I’m scared too. But don’t you think it’s possible that what you heard was your own big brother wishing he could have done more for us, rather than some monster confessing to a crime?”
I looked away.
“Come on,” Ren said. “Head back down to your apartment. Get some rest. We’re doing everything we can to fix this. Trust me.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. Niall’s face, the way he’d said those words…
“I don’t think that’s what it was, Ren,” I whispered.
His mouth tightened. “I do. And once we have those people in custody… you’ll see.”
Pain twisted in my chest. I wanted to keep arguing, to try to make him understand.
But there wasn’t any point. I hadn’t heard proof. Niall hadn’t said anything. It was just my impression.
And the sickened feeling slowly choking me from the inside.
Trying not to cry, I swam from the room.
Chapter Six
Guards were waiting beyond the door, and they trailed me while I headed for the opening to the outside. Without looking at them, I dove along the slope of the mountain till I reached my room again, and when I slipped back through the window, the soldiers said nothing and stayed beyond the leaves.
I closed my eyes. I wanted to believe Ren was right. I wanted to push this all aside and go back to the way things were an hour ago… a week ago… before that damned girl had ever come to our home.
But I knew what I’d seen.
At least, I thought I did.
Gasping, I slammed a fist to the side of my tail. I didn’t know what this was. I didn’t know anything.
Except what I’d seen on Niall’s face… the chills it had sent through me…
Maybe it was what Ren said: guilt over not stopping Chloe.
Maybe it was something else entirely.
My stomach was in such a knot, I thought it would climb from my throat just to flee what my mind was thinking.
I didn’t know. Not for sure. I didn’t know if the Sylphaen were real, or if Niall had joined them, or anything in the world– Except that Granddad couldn’t be behind this.
And that Ren thought he was guilty.
I swallowed hard. Ren wanted us to protect each other, but to me, that included our grandfather. Who knew what the guards would do to him or what the sentence would be if he came back here? Niall thought – or maybe just consoled himself with the thought – that Granddad would simply get put under house arrest somewhere.
But if Niall was wrong… if Ren condemned our grandfather to die for treason and murder of the king… if there was even a chance he would…
Another breath left me in a gasp. Enough. I had to go find Granddad. I needed to warn him about everything so he wouldn’t come back. I had to stop at least one part of this insanity before it became any worse.
I just needed to figure out how to leave.
My gaze went to the door. The guards would be watching. They wouldn’t let me out of the palace, let alone the city.
Zeke had done it.
Yeah, and he’d gotten lucky. Making a break for it like he had… I’d heard the guards talking. He’d looked ready to kill anyone who got in his way. But the guards had caught hell for letting him escape like that. I doubted they’d be so lenient this time around.
I raked a hand through my hair. There had to be a better option. A cover story, maybe. Or a diversion. I didn’t want to race pell-mell across the city and end up with dozens of guards on my tail. But if I could come up with a plausible excuse to leave the palace, and maybe get close to the outer wall at the same time…
“Princess?” one of the guards called.
I froze, my mind racing through a dozen panicked scenarios before my mouth caught up with the need to respond.
“Yeah?”
The man slipped past the leaves blocking the door. “Tiago Colcoran is here. He says you asked him to come by?”
A breath left me. “Y-yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Please, yes, let him in.”
The guard retreated from the room. Tiago came in a moment later.
“Hey, princess.” He smiled, more than a hint of lust in the expression, as if he was already imagining us in bed. Without looking, he touched the lighter patch of stone on the wall, stilling the leaves.
A plan crept through my mind like a picture unfolding, all desperate and crazy and maybe, just maybe, possible.
I cast a quick glance around. I was fairly certain the guards wouldn’t hear us. Not through the sealed fejeria.
My bedroom would be safer, though.
I drew a breath, steadying myself. “Hey.” I let my smile mirror his own as I nodded toward the bedroom. “Come on.”
He followed me. As we passed the archway to my room, he paused briefly to unfasten the ties holding back the leaves. They drifted up to block the entrance.
Tiago swam over to me. His hands slid around my waist. “So,” he asked, amusement in his tone, “what would you like to do with the afternoon?”
I kept smiling. “Well, actually, I’d prefer to get out for a bit, if you wouldn’t mind?”
He paused. “Out?”
I nodded.
“Out where?”
“Into the city. There’s a production at the playhouse I’ve been curious about. Some modification of a human play. Shakes-something. I think it involves fairies.”
He was silent for a moment. “Sure,” he agreed cautiously. “But… do you think now is the best time? Things are, well, safer at the palace. I’m sure the king would be happy to have the playhouse hold another performance for you later.”
I fought to keep from grimacing. “I’d really rather go now. I need to get away from all this. Being here, it’s just a bit overwhelming.”
He nodded, but the expression on his face was anything but agreeing. Brow furrowing, he seemed to be weighing the words of his response.
“Princess, if I may ask… this wouldn’t have anything to do with your grandfather, would it? With the warrant issued for his arrest? It’s just, I can’t help but notice how I’ve never heard anyone say you had an interest in the theater before, and the playhouse happens to be right next to the city’s outer wall.”
&n
bsp; I wasn’t sure what to say.
“That’s it, isn’t it? You’re thinking of warning him.”
A breath left me.
“Princess?”
The grimace emerged this time. I couldn’t stop it. I’d really hoped he’d just go along with my suggestion. “Yes.”
He looked away.
“Tiago, please,” I tried. “My grandfather… he’s not guilty of this. I know he’s not. Something else is going on, but if he comes back here, the guards could hurt him. He might be condemned to die. I can’t let that happen. Please. I’m not asking you to leave the city with me, or even let on to anyone that you knew my plan. Just get me to the playhouse. Let me slip away for a second. I’ll take care of the rest.”
He paused again, longer this time. His hands dropped away from my waist.
“Highness,” he started. His jaw worked around. He still wasn’t looking at me.
“Please.”
He sighed. “I’m not going to do that. I’m sorry, but…”
A humorless chuckle escaped him.
“Tiago–”
He moved farther away from me. “Look, we’ve had fun and, trust me, I’ve enjoyed it. But my father is in favor with the king right now, despite all the tensions with your neighboring countries. I’m not going to jeopardize that. Not for you and your family problems. I’m sorry.”
I stared at him. “But I’m not asking you to get involved. You don’t even have to say you knew what I planned. Just get me near the wall and–”
“It’ll still look bad. Your brother’s opinion is the only one that counts around here, highness, and if you interfere with what he’s ordered, the political career of anyone near you will suffer. No one’s going to let that happen to themselves.”
He shrugged as if that was the end of it.
“But the king could kill him, Tiago.”
“And I’m sorry about that.”
There was nothing in his voice. I might as well have mentioned the chance that some food might go bad.
Shivers coursed through me.
He seemed to pick up on them. Turning away, he ran a hand through his copper hair. “Alright, well, I guess that’s it, then.” He returned to the archway. “See you around, princess.”
