Dad eyed her speculatively, a twinkle in his eyes. “You assumed the evil dragon king would spit fire and rage at you? Perhaps you thought I’d shift and gobble you up where you stood, the filthy wolf that you are?”
“Father,” I cried out. “Stop.”
Instead of being scandalized or offended, Elle burst out laughing. Dad chuckled along with her, leaving me gaping at the two of them.
“When I was a kid, everyone always talked about you as if you were some mad tyrant,” Elle said. “You don’t look so scary to me. Not here, anyway.”
“Yes, yes, I am a bit soft around the edges,” Dad said, still chuckling. “Nothing like I was at my peak. Though, I’m sure the wolves always exaggerated my true nature. The same way many dragons think you all are nothing but bloodthirsty pack animals bent on destruction.” Dad put a hand to his heart and looked up at the ceiling wistfully. “Ah, the drama and grandeur of political rivals. So lovely, and such horseshit.”
He and Elle shared another laugh. I looked between the two of them, feeling completely confused. Elle had a way of getting under people’s skin and making them reveal their true selves. It was a remarkable gift, and she’d done the same to my father. He was no fan of her family or the tactics they used, but he was a kind man. If Titus had given him all the information we had, he knew she was not involved in any of the plans or machinations her family used against us. She was an innocent bystander living apart from this strange magic world we were entrenched in.
“Father,” I said, trying to steer the conversation back on track. “Has Karinius arrived yet?”
Dad pulled his gaze from Elle to look at me. “Only moments ago. Titus tells me he’s on his way down from the upper levels now.”
Almost as if his name had summoned him, Titus walked into the room, his heels clicking on the wooden floor.
He bowed. “Your Majesty, I give you Karinius Barcona, royal envoy.”
Karinius looked harried and uncomfortable as he approached my father’s chair. He glanced at me, and the look on his face told me I probably wouldn’t like what he had to say. Had the Laurents taken offense to my dumbass friends kidnapping their beloved daughter? That was my greatest fear, and what I’d hoped to stop by sending him with our apologies. Perhaps they’d sent him with outlandish requests to make up for the slight?
“Your Majesty,” Karinius said, bending down on one knee before my father, who’d retaken his seat.
“Stand, Karinius,” Dad said. “Tell us what our friends the Laurents have to say about our…” He glanced at me. “Little mistake.”
Karinius stood and again glanced at me, then Elle, and back to my father.
“Sire.” He frowned and shook his head. “I’m not sure how to say this.”
My father leaned forward, all semblance of a smile vanishing. “Have they declared open war? Are they requesting a hostage in return? What is it, man?”
Karinius’ frown deepened, and the lines around his eyes tightened. “They, uh, they don’t care, Your Majesty.”
“Don’t care about what?” I demanded. “About our apologies?”
“No, not that, sire,” Karinius said and threw Elle a miserably uncomfortable look. “They don’t care that we have Brielle Laurent in our custody.”
“Excuse me?” I took a step forward. “What do you mean by that?”
“Yes,” Dad said. “Explain.”
Glancing over at Elle, I found an even greater surprise. Instead of looking confused, she was staring at the ground, arms crossed, a plaintive look on her face.
Karinius took a deep breath before beginning. “When I arrived, I informed them that I had pressing news about their eldest daughter, thinking that would get me an audience quickly, but I was told to wait until today. Their staff woke me at dawn and brought me before the patriarch, matriarch, and heir apparent of the Laurent family. I explained all that had happened, the misunderstanding and the kidnapping. I gave them our deepest apologies and offered them a time and place of their choosing to return her to their custody.”
“And?” I said.
“They didn’t hesitate,” he said, lowering his voice. “They told me they ‘decline to accept the political prisoner’. When I pressed them on what that meant, they said… Uhm, they said we could keep her if we wanted to. Your brother Bastien informed me they had no use for a”-he cast a sideways glance at Elle again and lowered his voice-“broken and worthless thing.”
My father and I shared a look, our faces twisted in horror.
Elle let out a bitter laugh. “I knew this would happen.”
BRIELLE
Iwanted to crawl in a hole and die. Aurelius, his father, and the messenger guy all looked aghast. Heat flooded my cheeks. I shouldn’t have been ashamed, but knowing that I was seconds away from having to tell these men my deepest secret still filled me with that strange childhood fear. Like telling your parents you’d broken something or gotten an F on your report card.
“Elle?” Aurelius said hesitantly. “What’s?-“
“I can’t shift,” I blurted. “Happy?”
Aurelius’s face became a mask of confusion. “What?”
Here it was. All on the table now. Once he knew how worthless I was, he and his father would be disgusted. I should have been used to it by now, after all the shit I’d gone through before being banished. Shifters, especially wolf shifters, were repulsed by abominations like me.
“I have no inner wolf. I never have, and most likely, at this point, never will,” I said, my voice shaking. “I’ve never been able to contact her or shift, which means I’m broken. I am pathetic and worthless.” My eyes stung, ready to spill tears down my cheeks. It was only through a powerful strength of will that I held them back.
The shame faded, and fear took over. How bloodthirsty were dragons? The flirting and laughing had been fun, but now that these men saw me for what I was, would they have me killed on the spot? I would see the prince’s true colors. He’d look at me with that same disappointed disgust my parents had when it became clear I’d never shift.
Keeping my head lowered, I glanced around, trying to plan the best route for escape should it come to that. Would I be fast enough? I could only hope.
Finally forcing my eyes up, I looked at the men in the room. Aurelius, Cassius, and Karinius were looking at me, but what I saw in their eyes was not what I’d expected. There was no derision or disgust. Instead, they all looked a bit befuddled.
“You can’t shift?” Aurelius asked, stating the obvious.
“No,” I said, again glancing at the door. How soon before they attacked? Would they be tying me up first? Let Vincent try his knots again? Perhaps I’d be executed as an abomination at nightfall?
“Is this a serious matter?” Cassius asked, a hard line creasing his forehead.
I blinked at him, suddenly off-kilter. “Excuse me
?” Was he playing with me?
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