Page 98 of Madness of Her Mages

Lady Veronica hung her head. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

A strange feeling of understanding passed between us when Lady Veronica cast me a furtive glance, and I knew she didn’t believe my parents killed her parents.

“I forgot you were a spirit talker.” Malvolia set down her goblet and leaned toward Ember, a curious look in her eyes. “Who else is with you, child?”

Ember grasped the table, licking her lips when a servant placed a steaming bowl of soup and fresh, hot rolls in front of her. “Lady Solana Frensia.”

“Solana?” Malvolia gasped, recoiling away from Ember. “My first cousin and Felicity’s mother.” Her tone turned from one of shock to disbelief. “What does she say to you?”

“Not much.” Ember shrugged before reaching for a roll. “She mostly weeps.”

Oh, elements.Icy dread coursed through my veins as the rest of Malvolia’s court gave Ember horrified looks. I cast a furtive glance at Felicity. She had a look of shock on her face, but her mates looked like they wanted to throttle my niece. I leaned across Aurora and placed a napkin in Ember’s lap. “Perhaps we should stop talking about your friends,” I whispered.

I sat back when Malvolia loudly cleared her throat and gave me a dark look.

“Why does she weep?” she asked Ember.

“She doesn’t say,” Ember said before ripping off a piece of roll and shoving it in her mouth.

“Does she say anything about me?”

I froze, looking at Felicity who gaped at Ember. I sensed no malice in her— though I had a foreboding feeling that would soon change if she didn’t like the answer to her question.

Ember paused, looking up at the chandelier above us while chewing and swallowing her food, and I knew that’s where her ‘friends’ were hanging out.

“What?” Ember whispered to the ceiling, her brow scrunching in confusion.

I worked hard to unclench my jaw while plastering on an impassive expression.

Finally, Ember looked at Felicity. “She says you have forsaken her,” Ember answered through a sigh. “She says she has no daughter.”

Felicity jumped to her feet, letting out a war cry, and I swear the temperature in the room plummeted twenty degrees. “This is why spirit talkers should be banished from court!” Her splotchy cheeks shone through her face paints as she waved a fist at Ember. “They’re all freaks!”

I was vaguely aware of Felicity’s mates and my mates jumping to their feet as I flew from my seat like a fire had been lit beneath me, rage fueling my words. “You dare speak that way about my niece!”

“I dare!” she snarled, jutting a finger toward me. “You should have never come here. Your mother was a traitor, and you defend her.” Her voice rose and cracked with each word, making her sound as shrill as a mating cat as a small cyclone twisted across the table, scattering napkins to the floor. “You are not loyal to the queen!”

Intentional or not, Felicity was creating more than one kind of storm in Malvolia’s court with her ability to manipulate weather.

I sucked in a breath, then slowly released it, desperately fighting back the siren who wanted to force her to stick a fork in her eye. “I’m not the one trying to manipulate her into making me her heir.”

“How dare you!” She recoiled as if she’d been slapped in a ridiculously false display of theatrics. “I know I have no claim to the throne.” She averted her gaze for a heartbeat, long enough for me to tell she was lying.

Drae let out a bitter burst of laughter. “Then why did you and your mates try to poison us last night?”

Felicity’s jaw dropped. “We didn’t.”

“You did,” I answered coolly. “It’s the real reason you were sick earlier, because I made you and your mates drink the wine meant for us.”

Malvolia slowly rose from her chair. “Sit down—all of you.”

Swallowing back my rage, I sat with my mates, Felicity and her mates following suit.

Malvolia’s glare pinned Felicity from across the table. “Felicity, did you try to poison my niece?”

“No, Cousin.” Felicity vehemently shook her head, her eyes flaring with the heat of a thousand suns as she glared at me. “She lies.”

“Speak the truth!” I commanded, my siren speaking through me and reverberating the glasses on the table.

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