Page 70 of Until the Stars Fall

Over the king’s shoulder, a pair of dark blue eyes watched me with awed suspicion, but I forced myself to meet my father’s stare. I set my jaw.

And my mind went blank.

I should have probably thought of a reason before shouting, but all I was sure of was that she couldn’t die. Not like this anyway. Not over the death of a fae who fucking deserved it. But that reasoning wouldn’t work. I needed something else.

I scrambled for words. Giving any response at this point would be better than just standing here. I looked to my brother, who was shaking his head at me, as if he knew what I planned to say. I couldn’t use him though. He’d just proven to everyone in this room that he didn’t care about her—at least not enough to save her life.

But what would change my father’s mind?

The king’s brow shot up in a silent question.

If I was going to persuade him to alter her sentence, I’d need to better understand his reasoning. While he’d claimed it was because of the precedent this could set for our other human staff, there had to be more to it.

The crowd at the far end of the great hall began to murmur and whisper again as I remained silent.

The crowd. Of course.

My mind raced through the memories of every public gathering I’d witnessed over the last few months. The people were all angry and afraid. Each attack stoked their ire against the humans a bit more. My father couldn’t be lenient with a human in front of them.

Not without a good reason.

I froze as a thought struck me. He couldn’t argue with this, not when it could mean fixing everything—stopping the attacks, calming the unrest, and protecting the alliance with Arenysen.

I wanted to sink into the floor or maybe request a private council with the king, but there was no whispering these words. For this to work, I needed everyone in the room to hear.

My gaze shifted to the woman being held by the door. She wasn’t going to like this. Stars, no one was going to like it, but at least she’d be alive.

Drawing in a deep breath, I looked at my father and said, “She’s my fiancée.”

CHAPTER 34

Lieke

I opened my eyes to a darkness so deep I couldn’t see anything.

Everything hurt, so I couldn’t be dead. My head throbbed. My knees and hands ached.

The more I tried to recall what had happened, the stronger the thumping against my temples became. Everything remained fuzzy and confusing.

Well, not everything.

Griffin was dead.

I had been found.

They had taken me before the king.

He had sentenced me to death.

But then…

I jolted up but clamped my hands around my head when the movement delivered a burst of pain.

What had happened?

It couldn’t have…

He wouldn’t have…

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