He’d sacrificed himself enough for me when I was being tortured. Revealing himself like this served no purpose other than to anger King Rothian further, and the Felrothian king was already fuming, with visual effects and all.
“I will not let you stand judged all on your own, Isay,” he whispered close to my ear so that only I heard him through the shout of King Rothian’s denial.
“Preposterous lies!”
“I don’t normally agree with Rothian,” King Neprion said in a much calmer tone, “but it is dubious that any amount of Hessian blood flows in the veins of a dark fae even if your grandfather was one of my court.”
“How about we do that reading and find out the truth of it?” Karmuth asked. Even though his voice was steady and his posture held a practised stillness, some of his nerves filtered through our bond. “There shouldn’t be any objections against Prince Nefari doing the one for me since we are not related. Should that be unacceptable, King Ilario’s interpreter will do as well. I have nothing to hide.”
Stupid man. Stupid, selfless, brave man putting himself between me and the conflict. I could strangle him for all the self-preservation he showed.
Didn’t he know that if he hurt himself, it would hurt me too, even if I didn’t feel it physically? If we stuck together, it meant both of us had to take care of ourselves, as well. It seemed that Karmuth considered himself less important, however.
Chapter 51
KARMUTH
I STOOD IN FRONT OF ISAY, HIDING HER FROM THE VIEW OF ALL THE prying eyes in the room. They could point those hateful stares my way all they wanted but not toward Isay. She had done nothing to warrant this response.
Out of every fae in this room, I included, she was the only one I’d entrust with a mixed bloodline and the enhanced power that came with it. I knew for certain if any of them would lay a hand on her, there was nothing stopping me from tapping into the unique power within me and destroying each and every one of them.
The only fae I felt I didn’t have to protect Isay from was Prince Nefari, which was also the reason I’d choosen him for my ecos reading. If he meant no harm to his daughter, he’d mean no harm to me once he found out we were mated.
“Proceed.” King Ilario waved his hand in approval.
Having already stepped out from the formation the rest of his court stood in, it only took Nefari four long strides to stand before me. His curiosity made him try to catch a closer look at Isay behind me, but I shifted to make him face me instead.
“You’ll learn all you need to know about her from me,” I told him quietly, which was when he started taking more interest in me. He didn’t need to read my ecos to come to the conclusions he did.
He smiled at the queen on her throne before looking at me again. “Of course Siya would approve of such a union. Well played. Very well played.”
“Neither the king nor the queen of Vindica had much of a say.”
“I’d imagine not. It’s rarely up to the rulers who we bed. I do doubt they condemned it, however, seeing as you stand between me and my daughter.” The Hessian prince had a glint in his eye that hinted of amusement.
“They called it a powerful pairing. You’ll find out for yourself as to why.” I offered him my hand, and he took it.
Unlike when Isay and I touched without her barrier between us, Prince Nefari’s life force did not immediately jump at me. I’d expected it to, which is why I kept a tight rein on my abilities to save myself from a crime there was no coming back from.
He tsked. “There’s no need for all of that. A practised life fae can keep their ecos contained from any prying forces. Siya should have thought of teaching the princess before bringing her here.”
“She’s found her own methods,” I assured Nefari.
“I’d imagine she’d need to,” he said with a smile before a tug at my life force made my heart momentarily stop. “Stay still, Prince Karmuth, it will be a lot easier not to mess things up if you do.”
The scene from Grath’s study last night already played in front of my wide open eyes. Then the one from the throne room when Isay announced who my grandfather was made Nefari nod in recognition.
“A strong pairing, indeed,” he agreed. “Even if his blood runs cold in you.”
My brows pinched. “His blood doesn’t run—”
“I said stay still,” Nefari reminded me.
I shut my mouth as he kept tugging at my ecos, releasing the strands he’d already gone through back into my pores. He had the decency to skip my night with Isay altogether, which made me like him a little more.
“There it is,” Prince Nefari said louder for the entire audience to hear.
Before my eyes I cradled Isay in her bloody and shredded garments in my arms, carrying her through the corpse-littered warehouse.
She was crying so hard her body shook in my embrace.
Through the haze of the scene, I noticed prince’s lips press together. Then the scene backtracked to the cell where Isay had been chained, and Nefari gritted his teeth.
“The princess was held in a warehouse,” the Hessian said aloud. His voice carried none of the amusement from before; it was now cold and rough. “This warrior here found her in chains.”
An evil laugh choked out of King Rothian. “Anyone could have put her in chains.”
He looked like the perfect villain with a black cloak concealing most of his features. It was easy to imagine his image fading into a dark shadow as Isay had described earlier. With his pale skin the only contrast, it was hard to think he’d ever seen the sunlight.
He did not fear appearing insane, it seemed.
If he thought any of his theatrics would work in his favour, he’d likely never seen a father see his daughter in the state Isay was in on the very first day of meeting her.
My heart had broken finding her on the floor of that cell.
We backtracked even more to the guard wreaking havoc on the fae inside the warehouse all the while Rothian spat insults on the whole process of ecos reading.
Then the whole invasion played out in the correct order until I found Isay on the floor again, then killed my own mother. I gritted my teeth at that until Prince Nefari mercilessly let it go and I was rushing out of my apartment to the sight of Felrothians invading Vindica.
