Page 31 of Royal Lies

The Winter King was saying something. Something related to the shadows and chaos. What was new there? But then he said something odd, something shocking. As much as I hated my brother, I also was aware of his power. After all, not anyone could just dethrone my father, coupe or not.

"This here was, and is the Duke of Spring. His kingdom was overrun by shadows. And I have called him here to help me confirm if you truly are ambassadors of Dracool. Seeing as Mr. Lucarious here has seen their badges before."

It was hard not to scoff at that line. I could feel the bubbling laughter just waiting for me to break into hysterics. Did the king seriously think my brother would help him? If anything I had no doubt that was aliemy brother had told.

Who did he lose to? And how? How in the world did he lose to those shadows, if he even did lose to them? The last time I saw him, he was well into an alliance with those shadows. For gods sake, he created them. So how in the world did he lose control of them?

As for how he could spot if the badges were true or not, I have no doubt he has seen one before. Considering how many lives we both lived. I have seen them too. Which is why I know my brother was going to agree that the badges were in fact true. Unless the design has changed since I last spotted it in my fifth life. But the one Eli pulled out was an exact replica or possibly the real deal. Which brings up the question of how he obtained it and if what he stated was truly true. Fae couldn't lie so how in the world was the boy able to spew those words?

But one thing at a time.

In all our lives my brother had never been the hero, the victor. He'd been the murderer, the killer, the assassin. So then what in the world was he doing here, playing the victim nonetheless. For me? No, it was true that in all my lives my brother had tried to capture me, and when he did I had died. I had lived several more lives, before finally meeting those wretched blond beings again. Which means my brother was up to something.

Being dethroned?

As if.

So how did he manage to get into this meeting with us and the Winter King? Just what did he want? Did he want to lead us on with false niceties only to betray us in the end? Is he going to? No, he couldn't, not if it wasn't something to help him achieve his goals.

I don't think outing us as false ambassadors would help him accomplish anything.

I watched the two blondies share a gaze. My brother flitted a fleeting look of admiration, regret, and longing towards the golden-haired girl. But of course, to mask those loving gazes my brother quickly dawned his cocky smirk and lazy drawls. He was in all but name still a Duke. The behaviors of a nobleman of the Spring Court were still ingrained into his bones. The same cool detached look hardened my brother's charming facade.

That and I was pretty sure the other golden-haired being was going to have my brother's head chopped off if he even dared to out us. His slightly glowing blue eyes threatened violence to come as he glared down at my brother.

As if confirming my thoughts my brother spoke, "And from what I can see, they seem to be true to their word," Lucarious gazed down at me. A glint of pity softened his eyes but I must have been imagining it.

For a brief moment, his lips tilted down. Before the cold charismatic smile slipped back on his lips. I was most definitely hallucinating all this. I must be. My brother has never shown any form of mercy.

The great whites of his teeth shone against the lights above us. The rigid back of the golden boy in front of me relaxed as he nodded quietly toward my brother. No doubt coming to the same conclusion I had. He was aROYAL, after all, an acronym of which I loathe but was part of along with these creatures.

No doubt the boy sensed the overwhelming power that hid beneath the dashing grins that dropped panties across the realm. "I see." The king frowned, his brows furrowed in disappoint- ment at the confirmation.

Well, isn't that intriguing? I always did suspect the King of Winter to be a little odd. Even in the past, he'd left his son for years until finally, he took his son in.

Why all of a sudden? What caused the change of heart? It can't just be that the king came to his senses. More than anything, if what I gathered from those memories of this lifetime was true, it meant the boy was still the Winter King's illegitimate son. Which means, that the king might already know we're not really ambassadors so, why the pretense?

The king never truly loved Flynn, even if he was his legitimate son. So, it can’t be Flynn's words that convinced him to let us stay. But what was the reason?

Before I could dive deeper into the thought the king's words held my ears. "Well, in any case, you are all here now. So you might as well state your reasoning and why the Dragon King sent you lot instead of true Dragons?"

It was clear to him that it was odd having fae of different courts as ambassadors instead of the Dragon King's own people, whom he could trust more. That and the idea that the Dragon King has been neutral this entire time about the whole situation with the new rulers and the change of names to each court. “Why send ambassadors now?” I'm sure that’s what must be going through his head.

So how will the boy answer these questions? Will he have an answer to what we all must be dying to know?

Just why did the Dragons diverge from the Fae Realm and create their own world?

"We aren’t sure why, Your Majesty," Eli replied, causing eyebrows to rise throughout the room. Well, that was unexpected.

Did he just state he had no clue why we were here? I thought he had a plan to sell the idea, even if the king didn't believe us- surely he woul- dn't be so daft as to state nothing.

"Excuse me?" The king blinked, as did we all.

From the corners of my eyes, I could watch the gears physically turning and shifting in the girl's gaze as her confusion and shock turned into understanding. I narrowed my gaze at the marbled frozen tiles below me. So they do have a plan. What was it? Why say those words then?

"We do humbly apologize for our lack of knowledge; however, we were only asked to gather an audience with the rulers of each court. The Dragon King told us to just remain quiet and help the courts prepare for his impending arrival in a few weeks. We do humbly apologize once more for our ignorance however, as you had pointed out we are not of Dragon descent and thus nottrusted by the Dragon King. As we know the Dragon King is very wise, of course as are you, your Majesty of a Thousand Wolves. The storm of Snow and Ice. However, he believed, or as we have been told. Since his sudden aid would be questionable, he would talk with the different courts himself. Our orders were only to assure the rulers that his arrival did not mean to spark any wars. As for why he did not send his people, well, as I have just mentioned earlier I only go so far as to assume his intentions, that he does not wish to endanger his dragon civilians and found sending fae of the current courts might be better at soothing any discomforts each ruler may have. In other words, the Dragon King felt that the current monarchies would be more familiar with their own fae race." Eli finally finished as the tick on his forehead thumbed rather loudly in the silence that followed.

I wondered just how he could tell that lie.

---