Page 52 of I Destroyed the Elf Prince's Harem

The elf turned toward me, sucked in a breath, opened his mouth, and then said, “No.”

“What?” I screeched, only to slap my hand over my mouth for being way too loud. “What do you mean, no?”

His shoulders slumped and head hanging, Nylian shuffled over and dropped onto the crate next to me, his knee knocking into mine. “I hate to admit it, but none of this was technically planned out. Not a second of it. My brain has just recently gotten over the denial that Orian is gone.” His voice caught on those last three words, and he swallowed hard. “It’s like I blinked, and I’m suddenly exiled and branded a murderer. How…how could my father believe I would…”

I wrapped a hand around the nape of his neck and squeezed. “The people who know you don’t believe it. Maybe your father was angry and hurting over the loss of his child. Give him time to come to his senses. Right now, our job is to find out who would plot such a thing.”

“That’s the one thing that’s kept me moving since this happened. I’ve had a list running in my head of people who could benefit from this chaos.” He paused and turned his head to stare at me, his expression growing complicated.

My hand fell away from his neck and returned to my lap. “And you probably thought the gods had dropped a huge clue into your lap when you stumbled across me, only to have all your hopes crushed in Riverhold.”

“Well…not all of them.”

“Thanks,” I muttered.

Nylian bumped his shoulder into mine. “Victor Montcroix was on my original list, and it seemed lucky to suddenly run into him, but I knew something was off the moment you opened your mouth. After Victor, it was always King Beldroth and Queen Sumina of Galinaes and then…my siblings.”

“Not the rulers of Lockeheim or Kodra?”

He shook his head. “Kodra has a good trade deal with Wolfrest, one that was negotiated with my father. If someone else were to take his place, it’s doubtful that the deal would remain as lucrative for them. There’s no benefit to Kodra in creating this chaos.”

“And Lockeheim?”

He spread his hands out in front of him, open and empty, appearing helpless. “We haven’t had problems with Lockeheim in generations. There has been no tension between our peoples as far as I know. It’s possible, but I can’t imagine why.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’ll check each and every lead we can until we find the true mastermind behind this plot against you and Orian.”

A slow smile grew on Nylian’s face, wiping away some of the sadness that had settled in his eyes. “Thank you. Part of me wishes to know why, but I honestly don’t care. I’m just glad that you’re here. Normally, something like this, it would be my brother at my side. I don’t think I could have done this alone. We?—”

Nylian was on his feet in a flash, his sword singing as it flew from its sheath. I was slower, mostly because I couldn’t hear whatever had tipped him off that trouble was approaching. But I didn’t have to wait long to hear the echo of footsteps drawing closer.

Lots of footsteps.

An entire platoon of footsteps.

“Want to run for it?” I demanded, squeezing the hilt of my sword to the point of hurting my knuckles.

“It’s too late. They’re already here. Just stay behind me.”

Sadly, I didn’t have much choice otherwise. We hadn’t gotten around to my sword training yet. The best I could do was to look threatening with my blade drawn. Anything else and I was in danger of cutting one of my own limbs off.

As the first of the City Watch rushed into the warehouse, their stone gray uniforms like ghosts floating into the darkness, Nylian rushed forward, his sword flashing. He cut the first two down, but they kept coming faster than he could stop them. My stomach twisted into bigger and bigger knots. I wanted to jump in, to help him, to not be so fucking useless.

In the end, there were too many. The guards flooded into the room, surrounding us with swords drawn. Nylian retreated to my side, his face splattered with blood and his breaths coming in sharp pants. He grabbed my arm, forcing me behind him as he kept his sword lifted, daring them to take a step closer.

“Prince Xeran Elrich, you are under arrest for illegally entering the city of Ulmenor,” one guard, who had more medals and shiny gold emblems on his uniform than the others, barked. I guessed that made him the captain or sergeant in charge of this horde.

“What about my companion?” Nylian’s fingers tightened on my wrist to the point of pain.

“That will be put to death immediately,” the captain sneered. “It’s the only way to keep the vermin population under control.”

My heart leaped into my throat. “Fuck.” Not even a fake trial and the threat of a hefty fine. Going straight to the death sentence. My thoughts briefly drifted to Adeline and Jasper and I hoped they’d done a better job than us of staying hidden, but that wish was blown away as the first elf took a step toward me with a short sword raise to cut my head from my body.

“No! He’s my pet!” Nylian shouted, halting everyone in the room.

I’m his fucking what?

So, maybe now was not the best time to argue semantics, but I had never been called that.

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