Page 55 of Royal Lies

The problem was how would I locate Flynn. Not only would I not have to deal with a rather unhinged Everetta then again I could just toss that job to Flynn if I brought him with me, bound and gagged. At the moment if I went alone I would not make it out unscathed. I do love my pretty face. It would be such a shame to have it hurt and my body, mhm even I would bang me.Protecting my well-being always comes first; it's as necessary as magic. I nodded to myself. One should protect a fine piece of art such as me.

Now that I think about it Everetta might be the better choice. I might finally get the upper hand with her mind being fucked up.

I might not be able to convince those two and my sister but, Flynn, if I can manage to get him to my side- but that boy hates me with all the bones in his body. No, it doesn't have to be direct. Akasuki, we might not be engaged anymore but it wasn't as if she hated me. In fact, she was one of the few fae who had tolerated me throughout all my lives. It may have been due to our little bonding during the small years we had been engaged. Who knows. What matters is she understands the concepts of tradition, and tradition dictates I ascend the throne and not some little shadow minion. If I could convinceherto speak toFlynnabout helpingmeget back my court faster, thenhewould convinceEveretta to help me.Everyone knows she loved the hell out of the boy, the lucky bastard. If Everetta was on board with Akasuki then Eli was sure to hop on board as well. As for my dear little sister, she'll come around.

This was by no means a surefire way to ensure my claim to the throne but I was not going to grovel. I was still a king, crown or not.

I do not bow to anyone.

How about this, first I find Flynn, then go to Everetta. Yes, I'll tell her I found Flynn. Tell them, Flynn and Ev, that Eli was keeping him from her, after all, why hasn't he told her about him and that fake prince yet? Then convince her I wasn't pulling some scheme behind her back and pray that during our little discussion, she doesn't kill me. The only problem is that I have a very small window right now. I have to beat Eli to the punch in telling her about Flynn.

But, if she didn't have her memories back would she still care for him? No, she has to. They were and stillaremates. Surely her madness must be somewhat related to her memories trying to come back to her right? No, this has to work. Shehasto still care for him, memories or not. I'll just explain to her how much Flynn truly means to her. Surely, her feelings for the little snake would shine through with or without her memories, yes?

With a determined grit of my teeth, I took a small map out of my pocket space. I'll find Flynn using an ancient spell, one made by Everetta herself so it should work. I'm only able to do it now because I know he's back in this realm. If he was still in the spirit realm this spell would have been useless, I didn't have a map of the spirit realm.

Unfurling the dirt-colored leather map for the first time since I arrived in this frozen tundra I took note of all the little hills and rivers, the bodies of water, and barren wastelands. To the far right of this court laid a sprawling landscape of dense forests and towering trees. To the left was of course my court but in between laid a massive body of water. It was believed to be home to the few remaining gilled sirens. Once you pass the water you will reach the desert lands of my people. It was like I could already feel the sun kissing my skin as I stared down at the roaring sands. This was a magical map so the images shown were like pop-up miniature figurines of each court in this realm. After my lands, the map starts to welcome the sprawling greens of lush trees and mountains, waterfalls so high it could touch the sky. Once the Spirit Realm portal had been located in the heart of the Dracool Court, that was until they disappeared and created their own little haven. In truth, I was never close with the ruler of that particular fae species. I heard he had a real martyr complex. He and my sister would have gotten along swimmingly. Nothing but leaves and jungles surround the Dracool Court that is until youget closer to the golden empire of this realm, the Griffin Court or as fae call it now the Summer Court.

That court in and of itself is more complex than the whole of the realm. It has two sections the lower and upper court. The capital that allows all fae in is located in the lower court, where those in the upper court call peasants and undeserving. There were two castles one for the queen to host and welcome her guests located in the lower court, and another in the upper court where she rules over her subjects, and they call me vain? The upper court hosts the holy temple, dedicated to the great Chimera who gave the Griffin Court their magic and faeness, I guess you could say. Each court has its own creature who gave us magic but as I said the Griffin Court got theirs from the chimera which is why they worship it. Then there was the select section of nobles who also resided in the upper courts and 'servants' because the Griffin Court couldn't possibly have slaves being the beacon of light in the realm and all. At least my court wasn't trying to hide slavery for what it was. Those“servants”never see their family again, aren't paid, are required to live with their “hosts” and what's worse they are convinced that-thatis considered a perfect life. If you ask me that's just wrong but this is just coming from an outsider. Everetta's always said her court wasthemost vile court there was.

"If you can't smile then you might as well just die." She'd told me once on one of her many tirades about her court.

Like the Winter Court, the Summer was located near the ocean so it had more ports, and because it was also surrounded by lush greens and water that weren't always frozen for most of the year, it could sail more freely. Which was how Everetta's court was dubbed the empire of the realm. It was the court of Dreams and Wealth, so every fae claims.

Slicing the palm of my hands with my small dagger, I watched as the deep red beads of blood splattered onto the parchmentlike a painter's brush meeting a finished canvas. As the drops made contact, they seemed to come alive, curving across the valleys of the miniature town depicted on the map. The deep red liquid slithered across the paper, tracing the contours of sand and sea, over hills and valleys. The room became coated with my energy as I chanted. The ancient words that slipped past my lips were the only sounds that rang in my ears.

Since I couldn't exactly pinpoint him without a personal part of him, like a lock of hair, I opted for a scavenging spell, allowing me to see everything without physically being present and at ten times the normal speed, in real-time too! It was like a quick speed run across the realm. However, there was a drawback. The more distance my blood traveled through the map, the more magic the spell drained. That's why they, that disembodied voice, wouldn't have been able to usethisspell to spy on me, so howwas he ableto spy on me? It's been plaguing me ever since he told me he could see me, see us all.

Damn it, I can't find them anywhere. I tried to track them using what I had last felt of Akasuki’s magic, but nothing so far. Were they concealing their magic? But with my abilities that shouldn't matter.

You see every magic has a lingering signature, but it is a lot harder to track while casting another spell. Although I could ask that bastard, I'd prefer not to. I do still havesomepride left in me. Besides if he hadn't been able to sense that Flynn was alive that meant they were definitely cloaking themselves.

Closing my eyes to try and focus more, I tried again but it was useless with their magic suppressed. Damn it! Frustration surged within me, as I slammed my fist against the solid hardwood desk chipping off a few splinters. Suddenly the doors to my room opened as an unexpected visitor entered—a presence I had never anticipated in this realm.

It was none other than the little princess of this frigid territory, Princess Snow Haukea Steffina Nyrial Olyph Willice Mermaid Wolf, the ice princess, both literally and figuratively. She had an affinity for ice magic with a frosty demeanor to match. In the span of a week, she had turned down no less than twenty men at once before she had her coming-of-age party, or so I've heard, but no one was as alluring as me. Ok, maybe Everetta, but that was because she was part Siren. Those birds were always attractive. I have no clue why the Griffin Court detested them.

I smirked at the disgust the little princess showed towards my obvious appreciation for her rack. The girl had a damn fine body. I let my eyes wander her body, lingering a tad bit on her chest. She got a nice set of tits alright. I wonder if this is what Eli would look like if he were a female.

Mmm, how fun that would be to taste.

As she opened her mouth to speak I interrupted her. "Alas, I'm currently quite busy," I smiled sharply knowing fully well I'd just interrupted her.

The little princess frowned at my dismissal of her. But I really didn't have time to babysit a petite fledgling like her. After all, I was deca millennial sun cycles ahead of her.

I needed to find that boy, though I suppose he was also her elder brother. Maybe if I got a little of her hair I might be able to track him down with it. Being siblings and all, then again they aren't blood siblings in this life, are they?

"I never asked if you were busy or not,little king." Her chin lifted regally in the air her glare as clear as the sky was blue.

I rolled my eyes. No need to imagine how Eli would be as a girl, it's obvious he's standing right here. I swear this little girl was precisely like her older half-brother. I don't understand how they didn't get along, they were so similar. One would think Eli was related to her by blood completely. Coming up to me the girlglanced down at the map. I should probably hide it from her, but then again what would a little princess like her know?

"Oh? What sharp teeth-" I began remarking on her little dig back at me but she stopped me with that small gloved hand of hers. Holding the tips of her fingers firmly against my lips caused me to cock a brow. Well, that was quite rude, so 'unbefitting'of a princess.

"Did I give you permission to speak?" She bit back, cocking her little manicured brow.

I scoffed at her entitled tone but I suppose it would be entertaining to see how this undersized spitfire fights back.

I gestured for her to continue with a flick of my wrist seeing as my lips were still firmly pressed shut by her fingers, and not in a good way. She continued, “If you had allowed me to speak, I would have told you that you're just wasting magic trying to find my brother. Using that little map isn't going to do you any good. Let me guess, you're hoping to convince my elder brother to persuade my half-brother to help you? To alter thatlittlebargain you made with Everetta and my half-brother?" Brows arched my eyes widened at her words. I'd thought no one else knew about it, let alone this little princess.

The princess smiled, a bit menacingly if I do say so myself. Damn maybe shewasa Wolf, no. As if.

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