“And judging by which direction the horse she had stolen returned from, would you say she fled to the Heartwood Forest?”
“The horses came from the south-east, yes but she could have gone anywhere in that direction or she could have left the horse and changed course on foot. There is no way of knowing for sure.”
“Yes, of course, but would it not be the first place to look if you were to search for her, as it is the biggest landmark south-east of your estate?” Oleander’s smug grin says it all. She thinks she has him cornered.
“I suppose. I sent my men out to search for her. I had other pressing matters to attend to at my home; our gromlins had a united flip that needed to be resolved,” Pyralis scoffs, waving his hand at her as if she is an irritating child asking useless questions. I don’t think I told Oleander about the gromlins and I can see the cogs turning in her mind as she ponders this new piece of information. It gives him an alibi I bet she did not expect. A moment later I see her cool and calculated grin form on her lips once more. She has found the solution.
“I am through with my questions. Thank you.” She nods to Pyralis who looks to The King for his confirmation before returning to his seat. The Wolf does not question Pyralis about whom the Elemental fae was, I am not even sure if they are allowed to enslave the Elementals.Why is he letting that slide?
“If I may, to bolster these statements, I will call Lord Clayborn to the dais for a few questions. I believe he was present that evening as well,” Oleander says coolly. Pyralis pauses before taking his seat. He is facing the crowd and I can see the split second of worry cross his brow before he turns and sits. The portly Lord Clayborn, who had been sitting a few rows back, waddles up the steps and takes his place. He gives The King a nervous bow of the head at which The King shows his teeth,something halfway between a smile and a snarl. Clayborn starts shaking.
“Lord Clayborn, we have established that there was a gromlin flip the evening of the forest fire and I would just like you to help us with the timeline. How long did the situation take to resolve?” Oleander is speaking more gently to Clayborn, as if he is a scared child she is trying to coax the information she wants out of.
“Yes, it was a frightful event. I hid under the dining room table as the servants handled the gromlins. It took around an hour for all of them to be doused.”
“An hour you say? Well now, that is fairly quick. You have very efficient servants, Lord Pyralis.” Oleander smiles and narrows her eyes in her father’s direction. “Did you happen to see Pyralis after the event?” Clayborn starts wringing his hands and looking to The King for direction. The King merely stands there with plastered on pleasantry.
“Y-yes, I saw him mounting his horse and taking off with a small pack of vargs.” Clayborn is now visibly sweating.
“Which direction did he go, Lord Clayborn?” Oleander’s excitement is now palpable.
“S-south… east.” He bows his head, avoiding everyone’s gaze. The crowd gasps and a whispering murmur spreads.
“Thank you, Lord Clayborn, I have no more questions for you. As you can see, my fellow fae, Lord Pyralis, the head of House of Flame, was seen riding towards the Heartwood, in an angry pursuit of his Elementalslave. You decide for yourselves whether a man who was seen riding towards the forest with reason to burn it in order to smoke her out is more likely the guilty person than I, someone who had no motive and who has always cared for The Divine Mother’s creations.” Oleander does not hide her smug excitement, she even goes as far as crossing her arms and tilting her head as she looks at The King as if to say,bring it on.
She would have made a good lawyer in the human realm. I am now vigorously chewing my nails and looking back and forth between The Wolf, whose smile has turned sinister, and Oleander who is still exuding smugness.
“A fair argument, Miss Pyralis. You may return to your seat Lord Clayborn, I have no further questions for you," The Wolf snarls, Clayborn quickly stumbles back to his seat. “Instead, I shall call upon my chief witness to attest to Miss Oleander’s crime.” He claps his hands together and narrows his eyes at the crowd.He looks like he is up to no good. Who is this witness they have been going on about?I am now destroying the nails on my other hand with my nervousness.
“I call upon Miss Lillian, a servant from Lord Pyralis’ house, who claims to have seen Miss Pyralis in action.” I am the only one who audibly gasps. I duck down behind the pig fae again to hide from The Wolf, who is now searching the crowd for who made the sound.
Shit… Lillian? Is she the spy that Oleander mentioned? She knew of my plan to escape… She knows what I am!
Lillian appears through a side door that leads onto the dais. She is no longer in her servant’s uniform but instead is in a dusty pink gown that cinches at the waist before it puffs out into a long tulle skirt. Her hair is braided into a coil on top of her head and she does not prance in like I half expected, she walks, with poise.Who the heck is this version of Lillian?
“My dear Lillian, might you recount the events of the evening of the horrific fire for us all?” The Wolf motions for her to step beside him and gives her a gentle, fatherly smile while placing a hand on her shoulder.They look awfully comfortable around each other and my confusion about the difference between the Lillian I met and this Lillian is making my head swim. If she was planted in the Pyralis estate, I wonder if The Wolf knew of me all along.
“I will do my best, your majesty, as it was a very frightful evening indeed.” She clasps her hands in front of her and lowers her head.An act? Or is she scared of The Wolf? Is he forcing her to do this?
“I was busy helping some of the servants polish the silverware and keeping out of the way of the fancy dinner Lord Pyralis was holding, when I heard a loud racket coming from the lower levels of the house. I peeked around to the servant’s hallway and saw massive gromlins tumbling out of the kitchens! They were frothing at the mouth and flailing their arms in the air. You see, when a gromlin is flipped they are huge, maybe three times bigger than me! So I did what anyone would have done I suppose…Well any ten year old – I ran away.” Her acting is very convincing.
“I went straight for the stables, because that’s where my brother Jacob usually works and I thought I could find him. He was not out there though, and when I looked back through the windows of the main house I could see servants running and screaming and gromlins setting fires and flipping tables! Vargs were running around with buckets of water trying to douse both the fires and the gromlins but there were far too few of them. Everything was getting out of hand quickly.” Lillian is quite the actress I must say, the whole crowd is enthralled by her recounting of the night so far. To be fair, I did not see her at all that evening so perhaps this part is still the truth.
“I – I was really scared! The door of the stables was already open so I went in and saddled up the pony that Pyralis has been allowing me to ride. You see, he wants me to become a lady and all ladies know how to ride.” She smiles down at her hands.
“anyway, I rode her right out of there! I haven’t gone far from the estate before and I was not thinking straight so I just let my pony lead the way. After a while I realized I had no idea where we were and got really scared. It was so dark out and no one wasaround. But then I saw it, a huge flame erupting ahead of us in a forest! The pony kept its distance but we were close enough for me to seeher!” Lillian dramatically sweeps her arm to point at Oleander. “She started the fire!”
The crowd erupts, shouting accusations at Oleander and pushing forward to get closer to the dais in their outrage. She shakes her head and tries to speak but the crowd’s voices drown her out. I am trying to keep my cool and stay within the angry mob but the smug grin that is slowly spreading across The Wolf’s face sets me over the edge. The chaos he has sown is a contagious disease spreading too quickly. He knows what he is doing. That conniving, devious man staged this whole farce to entrap Oleander. I cannot let this go any further. I see red.
In the next moment, I am charging forward, pushing my way through the crowd and past the row of seated fae nobles.
“You liar!” I run towards the steps but am met with two vargs instantly pulling me back by the arms, lifting my kicking body into the air.
“She lies! I can prove it! Let me go and I will show you!” I kick and wriggle in their arms, their grips tighten and I know they will leave huge bruises.
The Wolf’s predatory grin drops the moment he lays eyes on me. He does nothing to hide his shock. “Let her go. I will allow it!” The crowd stills, the vargs release me.
I snarl at the vargs then straighten out my now disheveled clothing before I step up to stand beside The King, eyeing him warily. The man that has been haunting my dreams, that has been lurking behind the fear of my new found friends, is here… beside me. He is only a few inches taller than me but his presence seems to take up all the air in the room. His green eyes can’t hide their shock and what looks like… sadness? Or is it longing?He recognizes me…
