Page 68 of Enchanted Crown
“What proof do I have other than gut instinct? I have always been the top suspect,” Jagen snapped, finally losing his cool. “I assumed you all would just think this was a manufactured story. To cover myself. All I have is the suspicion Samori knew more than he let on.”
My eyes went to Malachi’s and I knew we had both thought that very thing.
I leaned forward, again getting in Jagen’s space. It was a move my father did often, and I hated myself for using it. “If I find out all of this really was your doing, that you have been attacking and hurtingyour sister,your queen,your people, there is not a place you can go in which I will not reach you. If you did this, you will feel the weight of your actions. I will make sure of it.”
Jagen let out a defeated sounding snort. “Believe me, I knowhow it looks, but I am somehow being set up. I never wished to rule. Something I would think you, of all people, would understand.” His eyes went to Charlotte’s. “I do understand where you are coming from, though. Should anything befall my fiancé or future child, I could make the same promise to you.”
Was he countering a threat with a threat? Only a mad man would do such a thing. A mad man or a desperate man.
I immediately let my hold on him fall, the result that Jagen slumped to the ground. Charlotte ran over to him.
“I do not wish to harm Charlotte or her baby,” I told him. I was not my father, murdering potential heirs. Or pregnant women. Even if I had just looked an awful lot like him.
Jagen looked me in the eyes as I said it. As if gauging if he believed me or not.
“Esta will have heirs of her own. This is not about the heir. This is about the blood being spilled in Dra Skor. The repeated attempts on Esta’s life. The people we have already lost.”
Jagen gave me one nod of understanding.
Then I thought of what Esta had admitted at the shore. That being in the cells like this made them targets. And now I knew there was another future heir to the Dra Skor line in this cell. Even more vulnerable than the others. “Dammit.”
“I can feel your head turning,” Malachi commented. “Care to share?”
“We cannot leave them down here,” I said. “Because of what Esta said earlier and what we just found out. Which was said none too quietly. Also, a cell like this is no place for a pregnant woman.”
“I thought you were going to kill him!” Charlotte snapped.
“If he is responsible, I still will,” I promised. I looked to Jagen. “Come with us.”
“Where are you taking us?”
“To your queen. I have no desire to leave an heir of the Mallick line here. To be clear, I do not know if I believe that you have hadno involvement in this, I do not trust you, but I do not believe Charlotte is to blame for what may be your choices. I doubt you will leave her side. Nor she yours. So we need to figure out what the hell to do with the two of you.”
“Will you ever?” Jagen asked, finally standing.
“Will I ever what?”
“Will you ever trust me?”
My chin went back. “What is my trust to you? It is Esta’s trust you should seek to regain.”
“After all of this, I don’t know how she would trust any of us ever again,” he admitted.
“Keeping the knowledge of an heir to the royal line from her likely isn’t a good start,” I snapped.
Now we had a future heir to add to the mix. Of all the things I thought we would find out in coming to see Jagen in this cell, this had been a development I hadn’t seen coming.
A twist which only thickened tensions.
I had finally fallenasleep when I heard a light rap on the door. It had been a long day. Too long. For now, Jagen and Charlotte were being kept in a remote wing of the castle, under lock and key. Men that Zaccai picked were guarding the two of them, ensuring they didn’t so much as breathe funny without us knowing. Meanwhile we had neither found Morana’s body nor any scent of her anywhere in the castle.
Miles quickly peeked his head in. “Sorry, boss. I think you are going to want to hear this.”
I groaned but threw my legs over the side of the bed.
Esta had opted to stay in my room again. I was too tired to do a quick count, but I was fairly certain she hadn’t stayed in her own room since I returned from Wylan.
I grabbed some sweatpants and threw them on, taking care not to wake Esta, but of course, our bond must have alerted her as she roused.
