“It appears that when everything went down in the ballroom, most of the guests in the garden fled, not entirely knowing all the details. And the culprits were likely among them so the search for the sword has now moved to the wall.”
My eyes briefly went to Keir’s, sitting across from me, and I saw an evil smirk quickly cross his features before vanishing.
Keir planted twenty Rallis people among the crowd to start a human stampede,Krew explained to me.
“So now we go back to the banquet and try to salvage this disaster of a night.” It wasn’t a suggestion; it was a demand from a king to his subjects. “And wait for the sword to be returned to me.”
It won’t be,Krew told me through the bond.One of the men hid it behind the hedge for Keir. While another has the fake they are running to Rallis with.
“Go apologize to your people for this ruckus you’ve caused,” the king finished.
“We’vecaused, you mean, Father?” Keir asked calmly. “We weren’t the only ones with a scheme tonight.”
The king groaned in disgust. “Just get the hell out of my sight.”
CHAPTER37
Greeting our guests after they had all been patted down by the king’s guards was a somber experience.
Though the orchestra continued to play music softly in the background, no one really felt like dancing or even drinking too much. The Enchanted were all on alert, eyes darting around and constantly scanning the room while they whispered. Likely looking for both a sword and the wrath of their king.
It made my stomach sink. To think of the raw power in this room. The power that was being told to use magic sparingly and only as needed with the attached fear that they could lose their magic if they used it too often. Yet if they were using it more often, this room would be far stronger. There was so much wasted potential in this room and very few people even knew it.
The king hadn’t really wanted an army of Enchanted. He wanted a human wall of protection, with no one ever being more powerful than himself.
And it was disgusting. A disgrace to the entire realm. If enemies from the other countries ever did come knocking, we were in trouble. Our Enchanted were weaker with the king on the throne. The throne he had built on a web of bloodied lies.
But then again, if he really was responsible for the disease that had weakened the other countries’ magic, he had effectively created himself a bubble in which he was the strongest Enchanted in the entire realm.
“Should we wait for you?” Molly whispered to me.
My eyes went to Keir’s where he stood with Gwen and Delaney. “No. You two get out while you can. I’ll try to find you tomorrow as soon as I can.”
Molly hugged me hard. “Be safe, Jorah. Be safe!”
I turned to hug Renna.
As soon as they left, I felt a deep breath of relief. My mother and Flora were gone. Silvia was gone. Renna and Molly had left. In fact, only a small fraction of people remained.
Maybe we would all survive the night yet.
“So the telepathy,” the king said as he sidled up next to me. “Can you do it on demand?”
I turned toward Krew to await his answer, but the king added, “Oh my son is way too furious at me to speak. I’m asking you, Jorah.”
“If you wouldn’t make a habit out of murdering his lovers, he likely wouldn’t be this angry,” I commented as if we were discussing the weather.
The king gave me a nod. “Point made. Now answer.”
“Yes, we can do it on demand.”
He pondered that. “That day in the throne room? When you barged in on the joint parliament session?”
“I can feel his emotions down the bond. I felt he was in pain. I felt his helplessness and the pain of having his magic caged. That is why I did what I did.”
The king gave a slow nod. “I used to be able to feel some of Katarina’s stronger emotions, so I assume it is a stronger version of that.”
“Before or after you siphoned her magic?” Keir snapped, having arrived with Gwen and Delaney on the other side of Krew. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one done playing nice with the king.
