Page 33 of A Story of Sinners

I hadn’t forgotten. I simply had never known, despite all those years spent watching her from the wings of the palace. That simple yet important bit of information had slipped through my grasp, and I hated myself for it. When we first started speaking, there was no ‘hello’ or ‘how are you?’. We never had the opportunity to get to know one another beyond stolen moments, cutting banter, and ultimatums.

I blamed Aiden for that, but also myself.

The door cracked open, and Aiden’s voice filtered through. “Redmond, why didn’t I know about this place?”

“You never asked.” Redmond shrugged as he entered the room, taking a seat beside Matilda.

Aiden took a seat at the opposite side of the table as me, George and Brandon at his side. “I shouldn’t have to ask. This is my kingdom, and I should know every inch of it.”

“Be careful what you wish for, Your Highness,” Redmond said.

Those at the table waited patiently for Aiden to elaborate on why he called us here, but he didn’t say anything. He only crossed his arms and peered at me with those blue eyes, his lips pursed, as if second guessing what he would say next.

“What took so long? Were your pants too wet to bear?” I asked.

Eulalia groaned, and Aiden narrowed his eyes.

“Do it,” George demanded. “You can’t keep holding on to her.”

What Aiden said next was a shock to us all. “High King of Faerie,” he started, then stopped with a sigh. “We need to discuss Dahlia. She shouldn’t be in Cambriel anymore. You should take her away. Take her to Faerie. Having her here has only placed her and my kingdom in danger and will only continue to do so. I won’t be able to save her, not when her existence attracts so much chaos.”

“Agreed,” I blurted, almost automatically. My original plan was to murder him in cold blood whilst he slept, but this would do. Take Dahlia to Faerie first, return and kill Aiden later—once the war was over and he held no more use. “What do you want in return?”

“Reinforcements will do. I might need assistance further down the road, but I think the best thing for Cambriel is to be rid of her.”

His words angered me. Dahlia was not an object or toy to be used and thrown away, but I was not one to overlook a gift horse. So, I rose from my seat and held out my hand in offering, unwilling to give him the opportunity to change his mind. He could learn his lesson later, once I dealt it out. “It’s a deal.”

Before Aiden could reach out and shake my hand, solidifying the deal, a small, timid voice piped in beside me. “That won’t work.”

All eyes in the room zeroed in on Matilda, shock rendering the space silent. Nobody had ever heard the little seer speak before, minus Eulalia. The little girl’s wrinkled features pinched together as her eyes quickly turned white, then normalized—if you could call her features normal. “It’s best to stay where we are.”

I slid back down into my chair, my eyes narrowing at Eulalia, then the child next to me. “And what happens if we don’t?”

She turned her strange void eyes to me and met mine. “You would not wish to know the answer to that question.”

A groan sounded from the other end of the table; George was clearly annoyed to be burdened with my mate.

Aiden breathed a sigh of relief, and I shot him a scathing look. He didn’t want Dahlia gone—the only reason he’d agreed to it was because George had finally gotten through to him.

“Time is fluid, as is fate,” Eulalia interjected, glaring down the two simpletons. I smiled, then quickly righted myself when she turned her glare in my direction. “One wrong step could end the world as we know it. There are multiple possibilities, and nearly every outcome ends with our world in tatters. All except one.”

“What are the possibilities?” Aiden asked, directing the question to the little seer.

“Matilda can’t tell you,” Eulalia interjected, and Aiden seethed at being brushed off. “No one besides Matilda is allowed to glimpse into the future. Knowing the possibilities of what will happen often send our destinies off course.”

“Then what is the point of her?” George waived his hand in the air.

“She is to be our guide, not our tool. Using the seer’s visions for our own benefit will only set the course of fate onto an unmerciful trajectory,” Eulalia said, her eyes growing hazy as she whispered, “I’ve already made that mistake once.”

I didn’t know what she was referring to specifically; whether she spoke of the tribunal with Dahlia, or how the entire coven had been captured by Aiden’s crew to be used as pawns. Still, whatever had come about from her attempt to use the seer clearly haunted her. The witches should have been able to avert capture, and it was clear something had previously gone wrong.

Yet, Eulalia still hadn’t learned from her mistakes and continued to use the seer’s vague visions as a basis for future actions. It was hypocritical at best.

Fin squeezed Eulalia’s hand beneath the table, and Aiden released a defeated sound, scrubbing a palm down his face. “Then what are we supposed to do?”

“Matilda,” Eulalia prodded, “Tell them.”

The little seer’s gaze unfocused. “We do nothing. We stay uninvolved and let fate play out without any interference. For one of us to interfere is to damn our world. We must trust Dahlia’s judgement and keep the King of the Otherworld appeased.”

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