Page 47 of Claimed By the Fae Lord

My friend looked like she wanted to argue but didn't. She grabbed my hand and led me over to the table. As we sat, the mood turned serious.

Nox was the first to speak. "As I said I would, I went to Snowfall."

It appeared we were getting straight to business, which was more than fine by me. I didn’t like being fawned over, anyway.

When Nox had originally told me he was going to search the manor, I'd told him to burn it. I neither wanted nor needed the estate.

"You found something," I stated.

Nox relayed the events of that night. He told me nothing there was alive, that there was a pit with burned bodies, some of which were younglings.

I thought I'd been growing numb to the abhorrent deeds my parents had a hand in, the evil fae they were associating with. I was wrong.

Their and their cronies’ crimes kept proving more and more abhorrent.

My hand covered my mouth and I felt a swell of vertigo. I had to fight to keep down what I'd ingested.

Nox finished his tale with rushing Lorne back to Thornewood and Liam showing up, seeing and recognizing the arrows.

"He ignored Nox and left immediately to find you," Aeryn added.

I struggled to process this information. Why would Liam have rushed to my aid after treating me so coldly for so long, especially after what he’d accused me of during the bride trials?

My heart clenched with a mix of gratitude and confusion.

Nox leaned forward. "Raina, I need you to tell me all of it. Every detail you remember from the night they came for you at the cottage until Liam and Saxon brought you back."

While Aeryn got up and poured me a drink, I recounted my ordeal. It wasn't much to go on, but each piece was part of a bigger picture.

"Do you think there are more?" he asked.

"More what?"

"Conspirators."

I took a drink, expecting water and coughed at the burn flowing down into my stomach. I looked at Aeryn who winked at me.

Inhaling first to clear my head, I looked my king in the eye. "Yes, I believe there are more. Llew, Tabor, and Vance weren't the brains behind anything. Whoever is, they won't be getting their hands dirty like that. Considering they had to hire the Vendeca, their numbers are either low or they're just trying to ensure no one has any grasp on their size and influence."

"What about those obligated to sell you off?" Aeryn asked.

"More? If so, it's a very small number, if any at all. It's an asinine thing to agree to. I'm surprised anyone bothered with it. I'm no one."

Nox tapped his fingers. "You're valuable. If they were so desperate to agree to a magical contract, they were going to get a lot for you. It seems they already had a buyer which means they had a number. I assume it would be to further fund their efforts."

"Then why not sell me directly? Why go through the effort it took to get me to Dusthaven?"

"It would be harder to trace the sale. By the way, I have plans to deal with that shithole city."

"Nox, it's not part of your kingdom," I countered.

"No, but you are."

His adamancy surprised me and I was left speechless. Luckily, I was saved by Mirrelle and Astrid knocking on the door.

Nox bowed and said, "I'll leave so you four may catch up."

Aeryn, Mirrelle, and Astrid all ganged up on me, insisting I remain at Thornewood where they could protect me. It warmed my heart to know I had friends who cared so deeply.

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