But now . . .
I wrapped my arms around myself. “I’m still in shock that they’re alive.”
His fingers immediately covered my lips, silencing me. A current ran through me at that light touch. He dropped his hand, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight, and the unspoken words that passed between us told me that he’d also felt that buzz of energy. But more importantly, my silence over that village in the Cliffs of Sarum was imperative. No one could know about it.
Magic rumbled inside me, and I called upon my air element and concentrated on forming a silencing Shield around us. My affinity flowed out of me, creating a wall of air until I knew nobody outside of my magic could hear us.
“I won’t tell anyone,” I said, my tone low in the dark room despite my Shield. “But I have to tell Cailis. I can’t keep this secret from her.” When he opened his mouth to argue, I added, “She won’t tell a soul. Not if it puts our family’s lives in jeopardy.”
He frowned but gave a curt nod. “Cailis and Cailis only. If word were to ever get out, my father would destroy that place, kill everyone inside it, and my end would come just as swiftly.”
I paled. We’d spoken of many things tonight, but it’d been mainly catching up with my lost family and learning how they’d been fairing. It hadn’t been about the logistics of why the prince had created that tiny city and how I could have been so wrong about him.
“Sit with me?” He gestured to the sofa before stoking the kernel of flame that was suspended in the fireplace. A fire immediately roared to life, crackling in the hearth as the crown prince fed it wood while I sank onto the couch.
“Drink?” he asked once the fire was roaring.
“Please.”
He ventured to the small bar in the corner. It wasn’t as extravagant as the ice bar in my chambers, but it held numerous bottles and decanters.
He poured two glasses of amber liquid, not leminai, and the scent that drifted to me when he neared told me it was just as strong.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?” I asked with a small smile. My heart pattered more the closer he got. My fingers itched to move, to touch him, to feel him.
Blessed Mother, is this what he’s been feeling for months?
I balled my hands in my lap until he held out my glass to me, then I grabbed it with shaky fingers.
The second I had it, I brought it to my lips. Bitterness hit my tongue, then a scorching fire cleaved down my throat. I coughed and made a face. “What is this?”
“It’s called whiskey. I had it imported from that other realm.”
“This could kill a domal.”
His lips curved as he took a sip from his own glass. He winced slightly, but the liquid rolled down his throat in a swallow, and my gaze snagged to the muscles of his neck.
Nostrils flaring, he gave me a knowing smile as he inhaled my aroused scent.
I quickly looked away, back to the fire where the flames danced. It called to my own fire affinity since my Outlets were open. Slight, steady puffs of my magic were exuding from my pores. I had to keep them open. The turmoil of the night was ratcheting through me, heightening my magic even more.
Taking a deep breath, I faced the prince, determined to ignore the ripple of tension. Attraction might burn like a wildfire between our souls, but there were more important things to discuss. Things that were bigger than him being my mate.
“Why did you have to create that village? How often do you go there? How hard is it for you to maintain? Why did you lie about killing my family? And did you know when we met that they were my family?”
He settled onto the couch as an amused smirk curved his lips. “Should I answer those questions in order? Let’s see. It was either create that village, or everyone in there died. And I don’t go there often, only when I need to replenish their supplies or reinforce the wards, and—” His jaw clenched as his amusement vanished. “It takes a lot of magic to reinforce the wards. When I do, I usually make sure it’s at a time when I’ll be allowed at least a full day of rest afterward to replenish my magic. And no, when we first met, I didn’t realize I held your parents and brother there. It was only when you told us your name at Liss Lodge that I made the connection.”
I pulled my legs beneath me, turning on the sofa to face him. “Why didn’t you tell me about that place once you knew you kept my family there?”
“Because I didn’t know if I could trust you.”
I frowned. “You thought I would report what you’d done after learning that you’d saved my family?”
His shoulders lifted. “I knew you would be happy beyond words to know they were still alive, but yes, I didn’t know if you’d report me or not. You hated me, Ilara.”
I nodded. “Yes, I did, but a lot of that hatred came from believing you’d killed them. I wouldn’t have reported you if I’d known they were still alive and that you’d saved them.”
“Even if it would disrupt the entire Trial and potentially stop you from being forced into an arranged marriage?”
My breaths grew faster. He knew how much I despised the thought of being forced to marry, but that accusation still stung. “Do you believe me that selfish? That ungrateful?”
“No, but I hardly knew you when I brought you here. I needed to see more of your character. I needed to learn if you could keep a secret.”
“And you now believe I can?”
“I hope so, but if we’re being truly honest, that’s not the only reason I took you there tonight.”
Mate.
The unspoken word hung between us again. That had been the deciding factor for the prince. He wanted me to accept him, so he’d made his decision to share that secret oasis with me because we were mates, because he knew I would never accept him despite the bond if I continued to believe he’d killed my family.
Breaths coming faster, I brought my glass to my lips and took another burning swallow. My heart was beating like a beast now. “But why would your father want to kill my family? And why did he make it sound like you were the one deciding to deliver those executions?”
A rumble of the prince’s magic vibrated the couch as he scowled heavily, and a moment of relief hit me that his power was swiftly returning. “My father knows of the unrest that’s been growing as of late. He wanted it squashed, so when fae began arriving to the castle, voicing their concerns and worries, he wanted them silenced. He ordered me to execute all of them.”
My jaw dropped as everything I’d believed of our king came into question. “Could he be behind the fae who’ve gone missing of late if it wasn’t you?”
Norivun scratched his chin, drawing my attention to the cleft in its middle. “I’ve been starting to wonder the same. It doesn’t make sense for Wormiful or Crimsonale to kill them. They want the unrest to grow, but my father . . .” He shrugged. “He wants talks of war banished.”
“If it’s him, that means he sent whoever tried to attack me in the hall that night. But why me?”
Another rumble of his power shivered beneath the sofa. “I don’t know.” His lips thinned into razors.
“If the king is behind it, how do you suppose he’s killing the fae he’s caught?”