Page 72 of Enchanted Kingdom
“Are you all right? I’m sorry I scared you. I’ll try not to leave you alone in the castle again.”
I forced myself to nod. “I’m fine.”
He gave me a wince of a smile. “Easton is arriving in a few hours, early for the night shift. I need to go assist the princes.”
Assist as in help Prince Krewan with a body?
He again patted my feet. “Get some rest. Tomorrow will be a better day.”
Tomorrow. The good news was that I wasn’t expected to look presentable and go to the evening dinner tonight. But tomorrow? Tomorrow I would have to face both Owen and Prince Krewan and pretend that I hadn’t seen a man brutally murdered in the forest, one that was more than likely no more a traitor than I was.
* * *
Keir didn’t comethat night, which was probably for the best. I sat at the window for a long time, unable to sleep or make sense of what I saw that day.
Prince Krewan had murdered a man.
Seeing the blood flash across my vision, the way it had trickled down the dagger and stained the man’s shirt red, I felt as if I would vomit. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to ever be in Prince Krewan’s presence again.
I opened up the door to the balcony and went out on it for the first time. I placed both hands at the rail and took some deep breaths. I didn’t even notice the tears until they were pooling at my chin.
Why did that man have to die? What did he do that was so horrible? It seemed a lot of us were traitors at heart when it came to the king, so why would Prince Krewan do that? Wasn’t he the one conspiring to overthrow his own father? My outrage mixed with the transgression I had seen had anger flowing out of me.
I kept sobbing, but tried to do so quietly, as to not wake anyone up.
I remembered Keir’s words from just the other evening in the kitchen. That Prince Krewan had always been themastermindof their plans.
What if Prince Krewan wasn’t who Keir thought he was? What if he was just as bad as their father? What if Prince Krewan wasn’t loyal to Keir, but only to the crown he wished to wear?
That thought had my tears stilling and my head spinning.
What if there was another game at play here? One that Keir was not privy to?
I sniffed loudly and wiped at my eyes and that’s when I saw it.
The gray wolf.
There he laid, under a tree at the edge of the forest. My sniff must have gotten his attention because he was looking up at me.
We just stared at each other for the longest time. I didn’t even want to blink for fear he’d run off.
“Hi,” I whispered.
He just laid there, resting under the tree. I wished I had more jerky or was brave enough to head down there to take him something.
He cocked his head and then put it back on his paws.
For some reason his presence was calming. I stood there for a long time, thinking through everything I had seen.
Maybe what I had seen that day changed nothing.
Or maybe it changed everything.
CHAPTER23
“You’re quiet,” Owen stated as we headed down to the evening dinner the following night.
I gave him a shrug. “Still have a headache.”
