Page 9 of A War of Three Kings

My entire existence narrows down to the agony blooming within my chest, doubling then tripling. A loud ringing fills my ears and I cannot hear a single thing. Betrayal ripples through my body, my soul, until it is all I know.

These revelations taint every memory of Aldrin’s kindness and the intimacy we had, making me wonder if any of his actions were altruistic or if it was all one giant manipulation.

He tried to steal me from my parents when I was a child. To take me to his court to grow up, so he could then claim me as his queen. That is what he has always wanted from me, isn’t it?

Fatigue rolls through me. I can’t trust my own judgment. My self-confidence withers. Maybe I am still that naive girl who gives her heart away too freely.

All eyes are on me, and I feel the weight of those gazes. “I still need to speak with him, Father.” The fight has seeped out of me, but I will still have this one last thing.

He sighs. “You can see him when the time is right.”

My grandmother gives him a sharp look.

It is a small win, suboptimal when I need to see him now, but maybe it is all I can manage.

At some point, Diarmuid left the room without my noticing, and he returns now and pulls me up from my seat by the elbow while our parents and grandmother argue over the top of my head.

“You don’t need to hear any more of this,” he says softly, leading me out of my father’s study and into his small personal library beyond. Both of my sisters are waiting there and fall into step with us. We don’t stop our fast pace until we reach my bedchamber, and the door is locked behind us.

I drop onto my bed, sitting there and staring at the floor while a hundred fears race through my head and my heart shatters to pieces.

All I can see is the tenderness in Aldrin’s eyes when he knelt before me in the priestesses’ temple and told me that he would live whatever life I wanted, in whichever realm I picked, so long as I chose him over Finan. That he would cherish me above all else.

He brushed away my tears while he offered all of himself to me and asked for little in return. I cannot believe that was false.

“We need to talk to you, Keira. Please. We are concerned.” Brianna leans down to peer into my face, her pale blond hair brushing my cheek. Her blue eyes are wide, and the worry in them drags me back to the present. My baby sister always knows how to reach me.

I drag in a deep, ragged breath and glance at Caitlin. “I’m guessing Diarmuid left the study to tell you about the fight.” Shame floods me. I cracked so easily under their two-pronged attack. I don’t know if my father is outright lying, exaggerating or telling the truth.

“Of course he did. Diarmuid cannot keep anything to himself. He might explode if he tried to keep a secret in.” Caitlin rolls her eyes at him, flicking her auburn braid over her shoulder. Secretly, she is delighted. My big sister always wants to rush in when I am under attack. But some problems she can’t fix for me.

“Harsh.” Diarmuid takes a seat on the couch opposite me. “I needed backup. Things were getting intense, and I could no longer tell the truths from the lies.”

“I was already hiding in the library and listening in.” Brianna takes my comb from the dresser, sits behind me on the bed and pulls the pins from my hair, soothingly brushing the long strands. “When a servant informed Grandmother of the fight,I may have followed her and strategically placed myself in a hidden spot.”

I cover my face with my hands. “I’m so confused. Everything they said about Aldrin is at such odds with the man I fell for. I thought I knew him, inside and out. That we had shared so much of ourselves with each other. Then to find out there is this whole hidden side of him? It doesn’t make sense to me. Maybe I’m not the best judge of character. I got Finan completely wrong.”

Caitlin stalks across the room, squatting before me and placing her hands firmly on my knees. “Iam an excellent judge of character. It is my job as heir to the Lord Protector, andIgot to know Aldrin as well. I became good friends with Cyprien and Odiane. You can’t tell me they were all devious and savage. That they treated us with anything but respect. And Cyprien bringing a small army here to kidnap you?Please. I don’t believe it.”

She lets those words hang in the air and a spark of hope ignites within me. It burns through the thick layers of confusion like dry kindling.

“Have you questioned whether it is our father and grandmother who are manipulating you instead of Aldrin?” Diarmuid asks, casually crossing an ankle over his knee.

“They wouldn’t,” I whisper. If I cannot trust them, then I can trust no one.

“They would, if they thought it was in your best interests. If they believed you were in serious trouble and it was the only way to save you.” Brianna squeezes my arm, then begins braiding my hair. “I’m not implying everything they said was a fabrication, but the way a person presents information can have a huge influence on its impact. Perhaps they exaggerate how Aldrin behaved when they questioned him. If he truly came here because you called him, then he would have a right to feel angry. Maybe key details were left out in Father’s story about Aldrin’s first visit here and how the battle broke out. Father might haveconvinced himself that a fae army is on its way to threaten us, so he tells it to you as though it is the truth.”

Caitlin lets out a long breath. “Remember, our grandmother had a very traumatic experience in the Otherworld. This fuels both her and Father’s prejudice against the high fae. To discover that a fae traveled across realms in search of her granddaughter would have been very triggering for her.”

My eyes dart between my three siblings. I know this. I have been fighting for Aldrin for days, but I needed to hear it again. To know that I have not lost my mind.

“We are not saying he is innocent.” Diarmuid slowly cracks each of his knuckles. “He might be the crazed and possessive fae they fear, but if you think there is even a chance he is not, then he deserves to be heard out.”

Brianna pins my hair on top of my head. “If Aldrin truly traveled here knowing the risks to himself to save you, and if he offered to give up his crown and be on the run just to be with you, then that is the most romantic thing I have ever heard.” When I glance over my shoulder at her, Brianna’s cheeks are rosy and her gaze is suddenly far away. “I would die if a man gave up everything and defied all odds just to be with me. If I were loved that much.”

My head hurts with the pendulum of thoughts swinging through it.

Caitlin stands. “Don’t forget he made you that oath, to never bind you or hold you against your will. Why would a fae do that if he saw you as his property or right? It could be argued that it was a manipulative tactic to earn your trust, but why go to the effort if he is a crazed fae who would force his will on you? He could have locked you up the first moment he met you, but instead, he escorted us to that portal when we left. We need to find him and his people. We owe them that much.”

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