The prince gripped the steering wheel tighter, Regar shifted uncomfortably, and Sinister coughed uncharacteristically. Isay’s hand over my heart was the only thing keeping the damned thing in my chest. I avoided her questioning eyes, not willing to explain my fear.

I wasn’t going to worry her before we knew for sure. Losing a mate bond hurt. Losing a mate… could destroy a fae.

“He could be merciful, should he choose to,” Hiko dragged out.

He could be. He could be. He wasn’t with the servant, and no one had known of her misdoing until it was announced to the court. We’d disobeyed him openly. He couldn’t let us walk free after this. There was no way he’d choose in our favour.

“What—” Isay’s soft voice pierced the tension between us as she raised her head off my shoulder to look around the car. “What’s going on?”

It was the first thing out of her mouth since we’d left the warehouse. Before that, she’d screamed my name. I’d seen red before my eyes. I had no clue what she’d said, but the screech still echoed in my head.

“Nothing you need to worry about.” I smoothed her hair and hoped she’d lean back against me, but she pulled away further and sat up straight.

I noticed Sinister sliding further away as if there was anywhere for him to go. I’d find it amusing if we weren’t about to face the king in a few minutes. To make things worse, the fae at the gate ushered us through without letting us park at the shed.

We were going to drive all the way to the palace to make this reunion fly by as fast as possible. I hoped I’d have more time with Isay. Just a little bit more time.

She did not believe it was nothing to worry about. Of course she didn’t. She was a smart young woman.

“I don’t want you to worry,” I amended. “We didn’t leave the court on the best of terms.”

“We disobeyed the king, you mean,” Regar chirped in, although not cheerfully like he usually did. “Best of terms flies totally out the window with that little notion.”

“You what?” Isay stared at me now, leaving the rest of the males to worry for their own fates. She likely remembered the last time a fae in Vindica had disobeyed the king.

I’d been the executioner then.

“I needed to come get you.” I wanted to hold her again, to just have her against me, but the way she squinted at me made me think drawing her closer again wasn’t such a good idea. “King Grath thought we’d had something to do with your kidnapping.”

“You didn’t—” She turned her eyes to Regar at the front seat. “Did you?”

The warrior tightened his fist around the sword he was still gripping. “I didn’t know Ferro was going to do that. I wouldn’t have left you with him had I known.”

He’d apologised to me already. He’d better apologise to Isay. When nothing else left his mouth, I was about to comment on it. Sinister beat me to it and yanked at his seat like a bored teenager on a five-hour car ride. That got Regar to turn around and catch the distraught look on Isay’s face.

“I’m sorry, Princess. I really didn’t know. I’ll ride to my death amending my mistake.”

Isay’s eyes widened. “No,” she gasped. “No more death.”

“My father won’t kill you,” Hiko growled unhappily. “I won’t let him.”

“Turn back,” Isay begged the prince, but it was too late.

The palace now loomed in front of us, four guards covering the entrance as if the court held more traitors to watch out for. No one got inside without the approval of the king.

“Nobody is going to die,” Hiko insisted. As if he could stop a death sentence. His disputes rarely ended in victory.

“Your mother is worried about you,” I told Isay when she refused to leave the car once Hiko stopped in front of the palace and shut off the engine. “I promised her I’d bring you back. She’ll either defend us in front of the king or there’ll be nothing anyone can do and nowhere we could go. It’s better to face the charges.”

“Not what you said before, Kar,” Regar noted helpfully.

“Shut up!” No need for Isay to know I doubted our chances.

She wasn’t moving. Her delay was not saving any of us from punishment. It got Sinister nervously tapping his foot no matter how aggressively he tried to keep it still. It had Hiko fidgeting with his hands, even though he had the least to worry about. Regar held a brave front, but he’d never admit to fear in front of a woman.

I sighed, “I cannot properly tend to your injuries, Isay. Someone more qualified needs to have a look.”

“I’m alright,” she whispered but slipped her hand into my outstretched one and let me help her out of the car.

When the first of the steps she took brought a wince to her face, I decided carrying her to the throne room wasn’t going to harshen my punishment. It would, however, lessen her pain, and that was more than enough for me.

I had Isay in my arms when the king and queen turned their eyes on our ragged group. There was no better way to face the charges.

Chapter 41

ISAY

THE EVIL ONE GLOWERED AT US FROM HIS THRONE. MY MOTHER next to him gasped and rushed from her allocated seat. I only had a chance to take one wobbly step away from Karmuth when she pulled me into a suffocating hug.

Her fresh forest scent did nothing to hide the blood and vomit covering my clothes. She smelled it too and unlike Karmuth, she pulled away rather quickly. I’d expected Karmuth to react in a similar manner, but if he’d been disturbed by my current state of hygiene, it hadn’t shown.

My mother’s upturned lip and a wrinkled nose reminded me of all the times I’d asked about my father. That had me take another step away from Karmuth as Elia’s words rang in my brain.

The very same Hessian. The very same… I shuffled even farther until I stood closer to King Grath’s throne than I truly liked to be. He had the decency not to react to the whiff coming off me, but his eyes were not on me, and it could’ve been that he hadn’t registered the stench.

Looking behind me, I saw all of the warriors kneeling in front of the One Who’d Killed a Maid for absolutely nothing.

Their elbows touched the ground, and so did their foreheads. There was no higher adulation, no greater show of humility. They could have bowed no lower unless they’d flat out laid on the floor. I hoped Grath wasn’t going to make me agree to something I wasn’t comfortable with this time, but I sure as hell would not keep my mouth shut should he strike out against Karmuth. My mate. My… my distant cousin?

“This is ridiculous,” the king’s heavy voice boomed through the room with authority, leaving my stomach hollow. “Stand! The whole lot of you, you insufferable fools.”

Hiko was first to heed the command. Karmuth raised his head, searching my eyes first and then the king’s face. Slowly, he shifted, then shoved himself into a simple kneel. He climbed to his feet in a carefully calculated motion, muscles tense. While his head remained lowered, his eyes assessed the king’s reaction.

A light brush through my hair brought my eyes away from the man that made my heart beat faster despite all the odds against us.

My mother combed her fingers through the knots with a gentle smile on her face. I couldn’t imagine her being happy in the face of another death sentence. Did that mean she knew they’d go unpunished? Or did I not know my mother at all?

I clearly hadn’t known my father one bit. I’d imagined things about him, but not that… not that he’d be a man-whore, who had no care in the world whether I lived or died if I didn’t choose to nourish the Hessian bloodline in me. Not that he’d be the distant grandfather of my… my mate. It couldn’t be.

Elia had been right; it was something to worry about. And while I was still worried for his life, I was also worried for the life we’d have with this unforgivable truth looming over us.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” the king asked the warriors that now stood silently before his throne. “How much trouble you’ve caused? The word of your invasion has already reached King Rothian. The council will gather in the morning.”

“King Rothian can go fuck himself,” Hiko gritted   through his teeth. “We were protecting our charge. It was our right and duty to rescue Isay. We are not in the wrong here. If the council refuses to see it, it is more corrupt than I thought.”

King Grath’s eyes narrowed on the prince. “Watch yourself, boy! Just because you are my son doesn’t give you the right to disobey me.”

“And Isay is your step-daughter. Shouldn’t you have ordered her retrieval?” Hiko fumed.