Page 26 of Song of the Heart Scale
But I was watching, too.
And I wouldn’t forget a single word they said.
“If I may interrupt?” Uncle Bai raised a hand and stepped forward from the corner where we stood. Everyone quieted and turned to look at the royal prince. “My brother was healthy and robust. As such, it would be impossible for him to die of natural causes. We must declare an investigation into his death.”
Julian snorted. “My question is, who would want the old man dead the most?” He eyed me knowingly and everyone’s attention shifted to me. “Brother, where wereyouthe day of our dear father’s demise?”
“Julian!” Uncle Bai thundered. “Howdareyou!”
“Uncle, please,” Julian scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You can’t protect him forever. We all know he’s your favorite, but if he dared to kill our father, he deserves to be punished.”
I leaned against the stone wall and crossed my arms over my chest. Tilting my head to the side, I offered an infuriating smirk. “I have no problem providing an alibi. My only concern is… I’m not so sure our dear brother Thorne would want me saying it to everyone in this room.” My gaze trailed lazily toward Thorne. I smiled and watched as realization dawned. His jaw tightened, his hands fisted, and if he gritted his teeth any harder, I worried he’d crack a tooth. A vein on the side of his temple pulsed and I knew I hit a nerve.
Thorne didn’t care about Cat. He didn’t love her, much less like her. But he viewed her as a possession. Something he needed to obtain in order to gain the throne… to gain the peoples’ approval. And if I told everyone in this room that I spent the night with Cat… well, he’d lose his possession.
“Damien did not kill our father,” Thorne stated bitterly.
Julian whirled on him in shock, as if he’d expected Thorne to side with him. “What? Brother—”
“I was with Damien all night, which was why I wasn’t in Dragon Valley,” Thorne said slickly, giving himself an alibi as well.
I raised a questioning brow but kept quiet.
“Then why wouldn’t he want you to tell everyone in this room?” Julian deadpanned as if nothing was making sense.
Thorne didn’t have an answer. He was stuck.
I laughed, garnering the attention of everyone in the room. “Apologies brother, but I think we’ll just have to tell everyone.”
“Damien…” Thorne warned as he leaned forward, his hands fisted on the table.
I swept my dark gaze around the room, lingering on a minister here and there. “As you all know, I’ve been in exile sincebirth. This is my first time in the castle and I’m meeting Julian for the first time now. But… I’ve known Thorne for years.” There was a pause as everyone processed the information. “Thorne reached out to me a few decades ago, wanting to get to know me, even though it was against our father’s wishes, which was why we kept our meetings a secret. But also… because we were together at The Gilded Serpent.” I smirked and looked over at Thorne, who visibly relaxed. I shrugged. “We’re men. What can I say? My big brother was going to get married. What’s a few whores before he gets tied down for eternity?”
The room burst into laughter, but Julian and Thorne weren’t laughing. Neither of them even cracked a grin.
“Well, that settles that!” Lady Mirena chuckled awkwardly, laughing but not finding any of it hilarious in the slightest. “But the question still stands: how do we proceed? Royal Prince Bai brought up a good point. His Majesty was healthy, which means he couldn’t have died due to natural causes. Someone must have poisoned him, but to poison a dragon to death is no easy feat.”
“I agree,” Lord Vauren said. “We have a traitor in our midst.”
Everyone looked around, wordlessly accusing one another of the deed.
“While I agree with the assessment,” Thorne said, his head held high, “I don’t believe we should alarm the public. We need to let Elaria know that the emperor is dead. I agree that we cannot wait any longer, but they don’t need to knowhowhe died, or that we have doubts. We keep it simple and vague. Anyone who dares to question us…”
He left the statement hanging, but the implication was there. Whoever dared to defy him would be killed.
“I will put out an official statement first thing tomorrow morning,” Lord Zacharia said as he jotted down some notes.
“Excellent,” Thorne said. “Now, as for my wedding with Lady Arya, we all know I am supposed to mourn for a year before any sort of celebrations or rites can take place, but in light of–”
“No buts!” Uncle Bai cut him off. “These laws were set by the Immortals. We cannot go against their wills.”
Thorne narrowed his gaze at our uncle and if looks could kill, I was sure Uncle Bai would be dead on sight.
“Royal Prince Bai is correct,” Lady Mirena agreed. “We cannot go against the Immortals.”
Julian scoffed and rolled his eyes. “When’s the last time any of us even saw an immortal? They’re long dead and gone! Who cares what they think? I say we get on with this wedding and get it over with.”
“Youmay not have seen an immortal, but the fae have. And they remember,” I said somberly. “History should not be forgotten. We do not know what the repercussions of it would be.”
