Page 105 of The Last Heir of Elsewhere

In the meantime, it had taken over an hour for me to relay everything we’d done while in Underneath to Bael and Scion, and in turn, for them to recount where they’d been this last week. I was pleased to hear that they’d managed to void my bargain with the quarry serpent, but shocked by what they’d learned from it before it died.

It was almost too much to process that Scion was now the King of Elsewhere, and more importantly, my husband. The only person unsurprised by that revelation was Ambrose, who insisted he’d known all along. Personally, I didn’t know how to feel about it. For me, it didn’t change much. I was already certain we were mates.

What interested me more, was the fact none of my princes were princes any longer.

They were kings.

A knock sounded on the door, which pulled all of us from our respective musings. I stood to answer it, but three Fae males moved to shove me back. I sighed. I had a strange feeling that I was about to have even less freedom than I’d had before.

Bael–who was closest to the door–went to open it. On the threshold, stood the prisoner we’d rescued from the dungeon. We all tensed as one.

I realized in that moment that it was not only my mother I’d pushed from my mind. I’d all but forgotten the prisoner was here. I certainly hadn’t thought to warn anyone where we’d found him, or that he might be dangerous.

For the first time, I realized that beneath all his hair and the rags that had once been clothes, he was not as thin nor as injured as I might have expected. In fact, he was quite as muscular as Bael and nearly as tall as Ambrose. For some reason, that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Not that size was always an indicator of strength, but what kind of magic must this male have to survive in a dungeon for seven-thousand years?

With me still unable to use magic, and both Bael and Scion recovering from the dungeons, only Ambrose’s sword stood between us and potentially deadly power.

The prisoner stepped inside, seeming to either ignore, or be unaware of the tension in the room. He glanced around, his violet eyes flashing with interest. “I apologize for interrupting.”

“You didn’t,” Scion spat. “What do you want?”

“I was hoping to speak to you.”

Bael narrowed his gaze on the male. “All of us?”

“No.” The prisoner smiled slightly beneath his matted beard. His eyes fell on Ambrose. “Only the seer.”

I felt a tension fall over the room, and was sure that we were all thinking the same thing: what did this male want to know, and why couldn’t he ask in front of all of us?

“I don’t think–” I began, just as Ambrose shoved past Scion and toward the door.

“It will be fine, love.”

Scion stiffened at the sound of Ambrose’s endearment toward me, while Bael simply looked curious. Neither commented however, their attention still focused on the prisoner.

“Are you certain?” I asked, my voice wavering slightly with nerves.

Ambrose tapped his head and grinned at me, before stepping out onto the deck. “Very certain. I’ll see you soon.”

The door closed behind them with a defining snap, and an ominous silence rang through the room.

“What do you think he wants?” I asked to break the silence.

“Hopefully to commit a quick murder,” Scion mumbled. “If we were not in the middle of the ocean, I’d–”

“Well, it’s a good thing we are, then,” I interrupted, having no wish to hear all the ways he wanted to kill his brother.

“You don’t understand.”

“I do,” I said. “Perhaps better than you do, for once.”

Scion glared at me, practically vibrating with an anger that seemed a bit disproportionate to the issue at hand.

I glanced at Bael, and found that he too was scowling. With a start, I realized that the last time we’d been together like this, all three of us, had been the night in the inn. The night of the bathing tub…and the night I left.

“If you’re both angry at me, just say so,” I said, my own frustration rising.

“This isn’t about you,” Scion snapped.

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