Chapter 384

Faeries had come and gone from the Throne Room continuously since Elain, Ashk and Sheera had been brought in. She had watched them and tried to listen to what had been said in the hope that she might glean some kind of information on what was happening in the rest of the palace. Nothing had been said to give her any indication of the whereabouts of her mate, however, Elain had begun to pay closer attention to the hushed whispers and body language of their captors. It had not escaped her notice that more faeries had been leaving than had been returning and the agitation in the room seemed to be growing.

"Something is happening." Elain murmured, head turned slightly toward Ashk who nodded once. Ashk's russet eyes were sweeping the room before coming to rest on the throne, and Elain knew that the older female had been aware of it longer than she had. That made sense, considering Ashk was not a stranger to this type of thing. Elain didn't know if that comforted her or not. Clearly Ashk had survived those situations which was promising, but the fact that it seemed common enough to be a reoccurrence unsettled Elain. Was this to be her future? No. She knew that when Lucien was High Lord and life had settled here, they would enjoy peace. She had seen it.

The doors opened and Elain's breath caught in her throat for a moment. Disappointment swelled in her when a tall dark haired male walked in, and then she recognised him. This was the male who had been with the others in the hallway when they had been attacked. He had been the one who had thought she was disgusting and who had run away after keeping watch for his friends.

"Who is that?" Elain asked Tisia as the male walked straight for the dais and up to the throne. Amala's uncle leaned forward to listen to him.

"Rian." Tisia told her.

"They seem close…" Elain was unable to take her eyes off of Rian and Amala's uncle.

"He's from a village not far from Amala's family manor." Tisia breathed, trying to avoid attracting attention as they had been instructed not to speak or make any kind of noise. "Colm fostered him since he was a youngling." Elain leaned toward her friend, trying to make sure she didn't miss anything Tisia was telling her. "See the way Rian looks at him…?"

"Yes…" It certainly did seem to Elain that Rian looked at the older male with something close to reverence.

"I'll bet that Colm raised him to think that their family should be on the throne rightfully, and they're just using this as an opportunity to justify what they want."

"Possible." Elain agreed, thinking that if these fae thought that they really were in the right here, that what they were doing truly was the correct thing, then they were going to be so much more difficult to stop.

Tisia was still talking however. "Rian only arrived here in the court not long before you did, actually. I kind of think that maybe Colm sent him to keep track of Amala. She used to receive letters from home nearly daily."

"Sounds like a lot of pressure." Elain murmured, and Tisia snorted a little.

"Maybe she wasn't doing a good enough job spying on us for them?"

Elain looked at Amala then. She still stood beside the throne, her eyes now on Rian and her uncle as she evidently listened to what was being discussed. The expression on Amala's face gave nothing away, however. "Do you think she really wants this?" Elain hadn't really realised she had asked the question until Ashk shifted beside her and Tisia let out a soft sigh.

"No way to know." Ashk breathed.

"She did it." Tisia muttered, and Elain could hear the bitterness of betrayal there. She didn't blame Tisia for that. It must have hurt deeply to be betrayed by someone you had thought was a close friend. "She poisoned us on our walk… she helped them do this… she stood by while they killed our friends…"

Turning her head, Elain looked at Tisia as she reached out and set a hand against her friend's wrist. "I'm sorry." She didn't get to say anything else however as everyone around them suddenly stiffened and when she turned back around it was to see Colm stalking down the steps and toward them.

"So," he began, voice false and lilting, "who is going to tell me where the High Lord and his pet have based themselves in the palace to pick off my guards?"