Page 60 of Dark Prince's Captive

By implication, it’s an Alit, one of our own.We’re the only race that possesses powers.The royals have the strongest powers, and I don’t know any royals as skilled as my mother in creating portals—not in any of the five kingdoms.But there must be someone.

The question is, who?

My father drops his head, hiding his face from the people watching us with scrutinizing attention, and rubs his brow.“Keep this to yourself for now.We don’t need a national pandemonium.Once we’ve solved our own problems on the inside, we’ll return to the portal mystery.”

He leaves me with that order and heads over to the group who waits in pregnant silence.

“Lorak,” my uncle Incus—Suno’s father—exclaims.“What in Zerra’s name?Who dared to let the Phaelix in?”

My father turns to Kian, who gives an imperceptible shake of his head.He hasn’t been able to find the guilty party, which may mean the culprit isn’t inside the palace walls.

Only, everyone is accounted for.Everyone who lives in the palace has been screened by Kian.It had to have been someone on our side.Someone opened that archway from the inside.Then why isn’t Kian picking up anything?It doesn’t make sense.

Frustration mounts inside me.

My aunts shift to the far ends of their benches when I enter their circle.My uncles clear their throats.

Yes, they’re still petrified of me, even more so now.

Giving them a sardonic grin that makes them cower, I sit down.

My father listens to everyone’s complaints about the rising unrest in the kingdom.The people feel unsafe.The villagers don’t want to make the journey to the borders to trade their grain and other harvested crops for precious opals and metals from the mines in the south.It’s grown too dangerous.Too frequently, they’re intercepted by Phaelix who steal their goods.It’s impossible to go unarmed.We need to reestablish order.

Vitai arrives while the griping is in session.We move to the border of the courtyard where we can have a private conversation.I tell him about Elsie’s sicknesses, everything she suffered on Earth.When I’m done, he looks at me curiously.

“Well?”I say, impatient.“Do you have any theories?”

He scratches his jaw.“I’ll have to think about it.”

“What about now?”My heart goes into a gallop with the speed of a rabid dragon on the loose.“She’s not dying, is she?”

He replies calmly, “If she were, you’d know.”

Yes, I’d feel it.

I probe the connection carefully, already feeling the sharp sting of her resistant withdrawal at my unwelcome intrusion.As before, there’s only vitality.

Vitai pats my back sympathetically.“I’ll do some research and see what I can come up with.”

I clench my jaw.“We need to speak to Mother.”

Vitai knows why.If she sent Elsie to Earth, she may be the only one who knows why Elsie’s body ended up malfunctioning so badly.The Alit are notoriously healthy and strong.We don’t suffer from diseases.And Elsie is an Alit.Of that, there’s no doubt.

Healthy or sick, she’s my mate.She will be until the end of time, and nothing can change that.The knowledge is simultaneously soothing and frightening.To lose her a second time would kill me.She’s the only cure against the lethal numbness that was slowly swallowing me whole.Now that she’s here, I can be who I was born to be—a ruler.And when my father passes on the title, a king.

The fruitless discussion between the royals takes another hour to dwindle down to murmured complaints.Every person has said what they wanted to and repeated it to their hearts’ content, until they’ve worn it out like a threadbare rug.They carry on expressing their fears and injustices, not looking for solutions but for a soundboard for their grievances.What matters is action.

At long last, it’s agreed that we’ll send the Phaelix a message.No more plundering.No more stealing.No more harassing.No more attacking.

My father shares a private look with me.

No more slave trading either.They will put an end to bringing in humans, however they’re doing so.

Negotiators will deliver our ultimatums, everything but the embargo on the slaves.That part will be my responsibility.The situation is far too sensitive to let it leak out.Contact between Zerra and Earth is not only forbidden but also punishable.I understand my father’s unspoken message only too well.I’m to stop the slave trade at all costs, which means finding the person or persons responsible for creating the portals and executing those who won’t be swayed to give up their lucrative talents.

When the drinks that normally mark the end of a meeting are served, I excuse myself at last.I’m not tired, but I’m weary.The friction with Elsie is weighing on me.

Back in my quarters, Elsie sits in a chair facing the window, her elbow on her knee and her chin resting in her hand, staring unhappily—no, longingly—at the blue sky beyond.

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