CHAPTER 24
Zander moved through the crowd and brushed past Helena to pull me into a hug. I was so stunned by the action that I didn’t react
immediately- I just stood there as he held me close to his chest with his hands around my waist.
Helena gave me a soft smile and excused herself. The weight of the situation finally dawned on me and I hugged him back.
He pulled back slowly, “I am so sorry, Lyla,” his hands cupped my cheeks, “I am sorry that I had to leave you there.”
His voice and posture told me that he was being genuine but there was something off about him. There was a withdrawn look in his eyes that told me that there was more to the story and it was a huge issue.
“Why did you do it?” I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice and he sighed.
“Let us go inside: I will explain everything.”
I allowed him lead me into the pack house, past the staring eyes and the whispers and into an empty room. The room had a round table with an enlarged map of the palace and surrounding territories and I realized we were in the council room.
He shut the door behind us and gestured for me to take a seat next to him at the head of the table.
“What do you know about my family?” he asked and I was taken aback by the question, “Humor me, Lyla.”
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CHAPTER 24
“I know that your parents are dead and it is just you and Ender,” I admitted. “We aren’t taught much about the royal family in my pack.”
“Someone poisoned my parents,”
I don’t know what I was expecting but it was not the bombshell that he just dropped on me. How could someone get close enough to poison the king and queen? They are the most protected and sought after people in the entire world.
“It isn’t public knowledge so do not mention this anywhere else.” He added and I nodded to let him know I understood, “We thought their deaths were normal until recently. I found out that someone deliberately poisoned them.
“So they were assassinated,” I said and he gave me a short nod, “I am
SO SOITY.
I cannot imagine how he feels now knowing that his parents were murdered and they didn’t die just like he thought. It must be devastating and heart breaking.
“That isn’t why I left though.” I looked up at him in confusion, “I found out that the person who poisoned them has resurfaced again.”
“What do they want?”
He opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the door opening. I saw annoyance fill his features but they quickly disappeared when he saw who it was. I turned to see who had interrupted us and was met with the smiling face of Camilla.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” she said in her usual airy voice, “Sorry I‘ m late, I went to the bathroom.
She was in a pair of leather trousers that stuck to her body like second skin and she paired it with a corset like black crop top and a leather jacket over it Her hair was perfect as usual in a slick ponytail and I wondered if she had a special spell or something that always kept her looking prim and proper.
“You aren’t,” Zander assured her, “I was just filling Lyla in.”
“Are you sure that’s wise? We don’t want to incite any unnecessary panic in the people.”
“Lyla can keep a secret,” he turned to me, “Can’t you?”
“Of course I can.” I was quick to answer.
Camilla gave a small smile and made a humming sound but I knew it wasn’t genuine. She crossed the length of the room and took a seat on the other side of Zander.
“Camilla informed me about it on our mating ceremony and I knew I had to leave immediately.” Zander continued, “We hunted them for two days but unfortunately we lost their track. We will continue hunting them soon and Camilla has gracefully offered to help me in the search.”
“Lyla I am truly sorry for pulling him away on your mating ceremony, Camilla grasped both my hands in hers and gave me a soft smile. “But it was so urgent. I really hope you can forgive me.
On the surface she looked genuine. Her mouth was shaped into a soft smile and she held my hands with the softest grip but in the depth of her eyes held a look of mischief and a glint of glee and superiority. She wasn’t sorry, not in the least but there was no way for me to prove it so I gave her a soft smile.
“It’s okay, it was for the greater good.” I pulled my hand out from under
hers, “I should go in and get cleaned.”
As soon as the words left my lips, Zander seemed to finally realize that I had blood on my clothes and skin. “What happened?”
I opened my mouth to speak but Camilla cut me off, “Why don’t we discuss it at dinner?” she suggested, “That way, we can tell her everything about the search and she can tell you about… her incident.”
I wanted to refuse because I haven’t seen Zander in two days and I wanted to tell only him but before I could speak he agreed with Camilla. He told her that it was a great idea and I had to swallow down my refusal.
She pulled him into another conversation and I quietly excused myself from the council room and made my way back to my room. I don’t know what she has planned but I know that I don’t trust Camilla one
bit.
I didn’t see Zander again until evening. He didn’t return to the room once and I used the silence to think about how dinner would be. It didn’t matter how much time I spent thinking, by the time I got to the dining room door, I was still unprepared.
I pushed it open and saw Zander and Camilla already seated and deep in conversation. As soon as Camilla saw me, she stopped what she was saying and gave me a look that said I was interrupting.
“We didn’t know you would be here now,” she said in a seemingly innocent tone, “Please sit down.” I ignored her obvious taunt and took my seat next to Zander.
CHAPTER 24
“So Lyla,” Zander began, “What happened?”
“Don’t you think we should eat first?” Camilla cut in. “We haven’t had a proper meal in two days. I am sure the story can wait until after we have eaten. Don’t you think so Lyla?”
She had put me in a tough situation. If I disagreed it would seem like I didn’t care about their well being so I nodded. She clapped her hands. in glee and put some pasta on her plate and dug in.
Dinner was tense and there was no sound save for the scraping of our utensils against the plates and Camilla’s voice. I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling the tension because Zander would occasionally look up at me then at Camilla.
Camilla was playing ignorant to the whole thing and droned about their time searching for the criminals. I don’t know if it was in a bid to make me feel left out or simply because she enjoyed the sound of her own voice. While she was speaking, she mentioned something about rogues and I used that as my opening.
“Are there supposed to be rogues around the palace?” I asked.
She looked annoyed that I interrupted her but it was Zander who responded to me, “There shouldn’t be, why?”
“We- Kyle and I encountered some rogues at the palace border while we were patrolling. There were four of them and that just seemed off because rogues are solitary creatures.”
“You have a point about them being solitary creatures but it is normal to encounter a few rogues once in a while.” Camilla said with a dismissive shrug, “You must not have had a lot of experience with patrolling if you’re surprised by a few rogues.”
She kept her tone dismissive and her eyes cast down but I saw the hint
of a smile playing on her lips which confused me. She must have noticed I was staring at her because she looked up at me with a raised brow.
I knew something was off about her, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it and her presence made me uncomfortable so I cleared my throat and stood to my feet.
“I think I’m quite full,” I said more to myself than anyone else, “Excuse me.”
I quietly walked out the door and into the hallway. I turned to face the dining room just as the doors were about to close and I saw Camilla looking at me with a look of victory shining in her eyes.
