Page 35 of Enchanted Throne


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“I just want to ask about the plan tonight, but also do not know if I even want to know,” I admitted.

Renna sat back down beside me, setting a glass that matched her own next to me. “Here, you might need something stronger than the tea for this.”

I smirked. I hated the taste of whiskey, but I appreciated the gesture. “Thanks, Renna.”

Krew launched into explaining all of it, leaving no details out. Evidently, Nara and the king liked to partake in alcohol before their...festivities. So she was going to make sure he was good and drunk, passed out completely, and then she’d pull the ring off. If she could. They had a backup plan which involved a bath, but I put up a hand and told Krew to explain it to me if we needed it.

It was all still so very disgusting to me.

Nara often stayed the entire night with the king, so they had a secret pouch in the lining of her robe. If he woke up and immediately noticed the ring was gone, he could get angry, but he wouldn’t be able to find it. Neither on her or anywhere else in his bedroom. Nara would ensure that it appeared she was as drunk as he was, that way her confusion about it was all the more believable.

But rather than Nara getting caught by suspiciously delivering the ring to either of the princes afterward, they had a drop off location set up. She’d never be seen so much as speaking with either prince.

I rubbed my forehead again. “So let’s be irrationally optimistic and say that this little plan works. Nara gets the ring, and the ring is in fact the object holding your mother’s magic...” I tried to find the proper words to express what I was thinking. “What will you do when the king goes on a rampage trying to find it to get it back? We have a ball coming up quickly. Not to mention he might hurt Nara and blame her if only because she is the nearest scapegoat.”

Krew’s voice was laced in determination. “We have another ongoing disloyal hunt in the works which will get the king in the throne room and away from Nara tomorrow morning. As for the ring, we will get that ring out of Kavan Keep and away from the king for as long as it takes.”

As long as it took...

To kill him.

CHAPTER10

Iwas convinced the magic had turned me fully nocturnal. I stayed up until almost dawn most nights with the princes. Whether it was practicing my barriers or using my magic in other ways. I used enough at night now that I was allowed to sleep in for the mornings. Owen needed sleep too, after all.

But not this morning. There would be no sleeping until lunch today. Not when I was waiting to find out if Nara was successful or not. And knowing what she’d had to do, that she’d had to get the king drunk and likely slept with him too, it made me queasy just thinking about it.

I’d barely slept.

Worst case scenario, the king killed Nara on the spot. Best case scenario, we got the ring. But even if they managed to pull this off successfully and get the ring, there was still no guarantee it was the object which even held the queen’s magic.

Short of stripping the king down to naked and removing all jewels except the familial kind, there was no way for us to really know what object it was. Enter Nara onto the scene. To do exactly that.

With a sigh, I threw the covers back and got out of bed. This was useless. I wasn’t sleeping until I knew whether Nara was okay. The sun had barely lit the sky a purple color, so she should be waking up soon.

I almost wondered if it would have been better to have her steal the ring and then just disappear. But then again, Nara would not have agreed to that because she preferred to not leave the castle at all.

I turned the shower water almost as hot as it could go and let it pour over me. Krew had still been asleep when I got up. I didn’t wish to wake him, but I also didn’t care that much if I did. It was his reckless plan which was waking me in the first place. That might be petty, but at this early in the morning, I didn’t really care.

With a deep breath, feeling my magic churn under my skin, I released the magic to turn the droplets to steam. This time it went much better, the droplets turning to steam before they could hit my head.

The tub I broke the first time I’d tried to use magic had been replaced. The new one almost identical to the old one, which now sat in the bathroom. I hadn’t used it yet, but I was fairly certain it was even bigger than the old one. Likely big enough for two people.

Krew had told the king he was arguing with me and broke it in anger. If he knew his son at all, he would know that Krew would never do that, but the king seemed to like that Krew and I were arguing. In fact, we were considering staging a fight at the ball to get me out of there sooner.

I just hoped I was beyond the days of splitting a tub in half. The ball was tomorrow. And that was only if we lived past this day and this plan to get the king’s ring. I was better at controlling my magic, and containing it seemed natural now. But could I stage a fight with Krew and contain it? That was the question. My magic seemed to want to defend him. So it could all be problematic.

But alas. One flawed plan at a time. Hopefully leading us all the way to the king’s demise.

Are you in the shower?

I rolled my eyes.No. Owen is in the shower in your wing while I am off gallivanting in the forest solo.

I could feel Krew’s amusement.A simple “yes” would have sufficed, love.

Fine. Yes, I am in the shower.

You barely slept.