Page 161 of The Fae Girl 1

“I got held up.”

“With what?”

I shook my head before looking at the man stood before us all. As I took him in I realised exactly who’s livery he was in.

I looked back at Uther who met my stare with a deadly glint.

“Continue.” Uther said.

The man bowed quickly. “As I was saying my Lords, your Highness. The man is now in the dungeons. We’ve had no reports to suggest the Crown Prince isn’t safe but with these papers, it begs the question of what he was up to.”

Uther let out a low breath.

“Have you discovered where the passes came from?” Lord Highflynn asked.

“No my Lord. Just that they are genuine.”

Uther scowled.

I did too. Whatever was going on it was clear we had a traitor.

“You think the spectral was sent to distract us?” I murmured to my brother.

He nodded. “Highly likely.”

“We should bring Prince Hal here.” I stated.

Uther shook his head. “No. It could be a trick to ambush him on the way.”

I clenched my jaw. There was a possibility sure but it felt riskier to leave the boy where he was.

“We need to find out what he was doing. What their plan is.” Another Lord stated, like it wasn’t obvious.

A few looked to the High King. “Could Jelric discover it?”

“Jelric is otherwise disposed.” Uther grunted.

That made me pause. Where the hell was Jelric? I side-eyed my brother. Why the hell hadn’t I been told either? Somehow I knew it was to do with Alice, that he’d gone off on some sort of quest to discover why she was different.

I tried not to react but I still felt it, my anger, my frustration too. Because whatever it was, I knew it would tie her more to my brother.

And as I sat here I realised that was the last thing I wanted. The last thing she deserved.

“What about the Fae girl? She could do the same thing she did with Prince Rillon? Use her magic to get the man to spill everything.”

“She’s still learning to control her magic.” I said. “I don’t think she knew what she was doing last time. It was more of a fluke.”

It felt an effort to keep my voice neutral. And more of an effort to control where my blood was rushing to at the mere mention of her.

It wasn’t like I was wanting to hide what had happened. Wasn’t like I wanted it as our dirty little secret, like it meant nothing, but it was our business, mine and hers, and certainly not for the arseholes sitting around this table to know about.

But the urge to stand up, to claim her like some primal beast was there, festering under the surface all the same.

“Well fluke or not, it’s worth the try.” Uther stated getting to his feet. “Get the girl and bring her to the dungeons.” He ordered. “Worst case scenario we’re no further along than we are now.”

I watched the servant go, clenching my fists under the table, knowing there was little I could do to intervene.

“Good night?” Nela asked with a smirk.

---