Prophecy Unravelled- Heir Series Box Set

by Rin Grey

  “That doesn’t make what he did right.” Elizabeth was embarrassed to hear her voice shake, but she couldn’t control it.

  Hugo’s voice softened as he replied, “No, it doesn’t, but we all make our mistakes. Don’t let this be one of them, Elizabeth. Take my deal to Jocelyn and let her decide.”

  She would of course, she had no other option. Besides, right now, she couldn’t wait to get out of this room.

  It was far easier to ignore her past when no one else knew about it.

  Even so, this deal was more than she had hoped to achieve. She nodded. “I will, thank you for your help, Hugo.”

  Hugo smiled, and stood, holding out his hand in an unexpected gesture of friendship among equals.

  Elizabeth hesitated for only a moment before putting her hand in his. The squeeze he gave her fingers was firm, but friendly. “Until we meet again, fair Elizabeth.”

  Without hesitation, she replied, “May that day be soon, Hugo.”

  He smiled warmly and released her hand, and she was left wondering where the words that had tripped off her tongue automatically had come from.

  Then the official returned and was showing her back out of the audience chamber and into the still crowded room, and the moment had passed.

  Chapter 8 - Questions

  Elizabeth slid her fingers around the stone in her pocket, and tiredly gathered her energy, teleporting directly to the stairs of the Salinga offices. At this late hour, no one was around to witness her arrival.

  She’d only been gone a few hours, but in that time, darkness had fallen on Selenthia. Her knock at the door was answered readily and the night guard led her down the hall to a comfortably appointed parlour.

  Gemma and Jocelyn were seated in front of the fireplace. Each had a warm cup of tea in their hands and the smell made Elizabeth’s stomach growl. The ham sandwich she’d had for lunch seemed half a lifetime ago.

  Gemma jumped up when she saw her, her cup clattering onto the saucer. “Did you find him?” she asked anxiously. “Where is he?”

  “I didn’t actually get to see him, but he is in Linarra,” Elizabeth assured her.

  Elizabeth’s answer didn’t abate Gemma’s anxiety at all. “Why didn’t you see him? Wouldn’t they let you?”

  “I didn’t actually think to ask. As I mentioned, getting him out of the Dome isn’t as simple as finding him. I need to discuss that with Jocelyn.”

  Elizabeth still wasn’t happy about the deal the king had presented her with, and the wary expression in Jocelyn’s eyes suggested she probably wouldn’t be either.

  She hoped, for Gemma and Mitch’s sake, that Jocelyn agreed.

  “Yes, Elizabeth? What is it you wish to discuss?” Jocelyn asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “They’ve offered us a deal,” Elizabeth said bluntly.

  Gemma stared from one to the other, her expression anxious.

  “A deal? What sort of a deal?” Jocelyn asked sharply.

  Elizabeth took a deep breath. “They say you have directions to a cache of items that you are unable to retrieve. They are prepared to send someone to help retrieve the items, and of course, return Mitchell, in return for one of the items.”

  Jocelyn raised an eyebrow. “They do, do they? And who exactly might ‘they’ be?”

  Elizabeth hesitated. She wasn’t quite sure how Jocelyn would react if she said she’d spoken to the king. She still didn’t quite believe it herself.

  While she deliberated, Gemma broke in. “What does it matter who ‘they’ are? It seems like a simple deal, they help you get something you want, and give Mitchell back. Why are we even discussing this, Jocelyn?”

  “Because,” Jocelyn said firmly, “things are not always as easy as they may seem at first. Why are they willing to do this?” She turned back to Elizabeth. “Is it usual, Elizabeth, for a mage to leave the Dome after they have gone there?”

  Elizabeth was reminded, suddenly, of Gemma’s comment about Jocelyn’s mages. If they in fact existed, were they Dome trained? Did Jocelyn know more than she was letting on.

  Elizabeth watched her carefully as she replied, “No, leaving the Dome is virtually impossible. It requires permission from the king or the council. Very few mages request permission, even fewer are granted it.”

  Jocelyn smiled in triumph, and Elizabeth was just trying to work out why when Gemma broke in.

  “It can’t be that unusual,” she said, her voice agitated. “You left, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, how did you leave, Elizabeth?” Jocelyn’s tone was more honeyed, but she had a sharp look of interest in her eyes. “How did you get permission from the king or the council?”

  Freck. She should have seen that one coming.

  “That’s a long story,” she said evasively. “And it isn’t relevant right now.”

  She didn’t expect either of them to be satisfied with that, and they weren’t.

  “I beg to differ, Elizabeth,” Jocelyn said firmly. “Since we’re discussing how to get Mitchell out of the Dome, your manner of leaving is quite relevant I think. Did you make some sort of deal?”

  “No. I didn’t,” Elizabeth said shortly.

  “My departure is not relevant to getting Mitch out, and it’s only distracting us from the one possible option we’ve been given.”

  Gemma’s expression wavered, but Jocelyn simply leaned back, putting her fingers together in front of her. “Is that so?”

  Elizabeth sighed. If she continued to refuse to tell them, Jocelyn was only going to get more suspicious, and that wasn’t going to get them anywhere.

  She tried to distance herself from the thoughts, hoping not only to keep her stomach from tying itself in knots, but also prevent her turmoil showing on her face. “If you must know, I had an affair with someone. When we broke up, he arranged for me to leave.”

  It was impossible to stop thoughts of Sean, as he handed her the stone and told her coldly that she had no place there, from entering her head. Hopefully her face was stony enough not to give anything away.

  Or at least to stop any further questions.

  Jocelyn looked disappointed. “He wanted you out? So not someone we can use to get Mitch out without making this deal then?”

  “No,” Elizabeth said shortly. “If I had thought it was a possibility, I would have gone to him myself. However, I highly doubt he’d be interested in doing me any favours.”

  “So much for that then.” Jocelyn sighed.

  “If he wanted you out, how are you able to get back in when you want?” Gemma interrupted curiously.

  Jocelyn looked surprised at the question, then turned to Elizabeth. “Yes, that’s a good question. How are you able to come and go as you please?”

  Elizabeth swore under her breath. “I don’t know. I didn’t happen to ask him, since he wasn’t speaking to me at the time.” She didn’t even bother to try to keep the annoyance out of her voice. She did not want to talk about this. Not now, not ever. It was none of their business, even if she had known the answer.

  Jocelyn looked doubtful, but to Elizabeth’s relief, she changed the subject. “Back to the deal then. If I agree, who exactly would I be making a deal with?”

  After her near miss with explaining about Sean, it somehow seemed easy to say flatly, “I talked to King Lisanna himself.”

  She took a strange amount of pleasure in the fact that even Jocelyn’s eyes widened. “You talked directly to the king? And you’re trying to pretend you don’t have any influence?”

  “It was Plea Day,” Elizabeth said flatly. “Otherwise it is highly unlikely he would have seen me. But on Plea Day, anyone who turns up has a chance at an audience with the king. We just got lucky.”

  Gemma accepted her explanation at face value, but Jocelyn still looked suspicious. “That is certainly a fortuitous coincidence. You’ll both have to excuse me. I need to think about this for a while.” She stood and put her empty cup down. “I take it you can wait, Elizabeth?”

  “What do you mean, y
ou need to think about it?” Gemma demanded. “We have no choice, we have to do this to get Mitch back!”

  Jocelyn stared at her in annoyance. “I didn’t get where I am today by making snap decisions, Gemma. I understand you’re distraught, but I need a few moments alone to think clearly.”

  “Yes, I’ll wait, Jocelyn,” Elizabeth interrupted, “But I suggest you make your decision quickly, I don’t know how long the offer stands.”

  Jocelyn nodded and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

  As soon as they were alone, Gemma exploded. “I can’t believe she has to go off and consider this! This isn’t one of her deals we are talking about, this is my son!” She burst into tears.

  Elizabeth crossed the room, knelt next to her chair, and gave her a hug. It felt very strange to be holding her grown up daughter. Both uncomfortable and right, all at once.

  “We’ll get him back somehow, Gemma.”

  Gemma sobbed quietly for a moment, then sniffled. “But what if Jocelyn says no to their deal? What do we do then?”

  “She won’t. She’s probably just working out her damage control,” Elizabeth said with a confidence she didn’t quite feel.

  It seemed to calm Gemma though. She gave a few shuddering breaths, and then said shakily, “Thank you… Mamma.”

  Jocelyn hurried down the hall to her own study. She pulled a book out of the desk drawer and flicked through the pages until she found the one she wanted.

  Running her finger down the list of items that were believed to be in the cache they’d been looking for, she searched for something, anything, that might give her a clue as to what the mages might be after. It had to be a specific item, they wouldn’t bother just out of curiosity, would they?

  But nothing stood out. Some names were amusing, like ‘The Perticulator’, and some gave obvious clues as to their use, like ‘The Hair Straightener’, but many were a mystery, and she couldn’t pinpoint anything specific the mages of Linarra could be after.

  She swore softly and stared off into space. They did need to get Mitchell back, but she wished she knew what they were up to so that she could at least be prepared.

  “They want the Tarrogate” the voice in her head said ominously.

  “Why?” Jocelyn returned, hoping that he would actually be helpful for once.

  “I do not know. But you can let them have it. Neither you nor they can use it.”

  “Then why do they want it?” Jocelyn asked.

  “You could try asking them, but I doubt they’d give you an answer.”

  They weren’t the only ones.

  Jocelyn sighed. At least her decision was made for her, she could agree with a clear conscience. She had just one more question to ask the voice. “Did you know Elizabeth was involved with them?”

  “Yes.”

  “How heavily is she involved? Should I trust her?”

  “You will have to decide that for yourself.”

  Typical, he told her just enough to make her curious. She sighed heavily, and closed the book. Looked like it was up to her. Did she trust Elizabeth and her deal from the king, or not?

  It wasn’t like she had much choice. No one else could go to Linarra and bring Mitchell home. And he was her heir.

  She stood up, and headed back down the corridor.

  Elizabeth sat in Jocelyn’s chair, drinking tea, she and Gemma looking quite cosy.

  Jocelyn frowned. Did that woman have no idea of the deference owed to her? Not that she’d care even if she did.

  Gemma though, looked up. She said nothing, but the hopeful expression on her face annoyed Jocelyn even more.

  “All right, seems like we have no choice,” she said flatly. “I agree to their deal.”

  Gemma jumped out of her chair and hugged her. “Thank you, Jocelyn.”

  Her thanks mollified Jocelyn a little. As did the fact that Elizabeth immediately put the cup down and stood up.

  “I suppose I’d better head back there then.”

  “Yes, the sooner Mitchell is back here, the better,” Jocelyn agreed.

  Elizabeth nodded to Jocelyn, then turned to Gemma and said, “I’ll be back in an hour or two, Gemma. Shall I bring Mitch straight to your house?”

  There she went again, ignoring Jocelyn as though she weren’t even there. She was the one making this deal with the king, the question should have been addressed to her. Did Elizabeth mean to disrespect her?

  She wouldn’t put it past her.

  Normally, she would have immediately put Elizabeth in her place, but this situation was a little… unusual. Technically, Elizabeth was her senior. That wouldn’t count for much, given the fact that she’d deserted her family, but it was enough to give Jocelyn pause.

  That, and she wasn’t convinced Elizabeth would pay any attention to her.

  Gemma was oblivious to Jocelyn’s annoyance. “Thank you so much, Mamma. I’ll be waiting for you.”

  Elizabeth nodded, then to Jocelyn’s amazement, she slid her hand into her pocket and disappeared.

  Gemma had told her about ‘teleporting’, as Elizabeth had called it, but it still didn’t prepare her for seeing it first hand. One minute Elizabeth was standing right in front of her, then the next she was… in Linarra she supposed.

  Jocelyn shook her head in disbelief. Lacking any magical ability herself, she had no way of telling how powerful Elizabeth was, and how much of her ability was knowledge she’d gained from her time in the Dome. If only her mages knew these kinds of things, how much easier their jobs would be.

  “I’m going home, Jocelyn. Thank you again for agreeing to their deal, I know it was a big deal for you.” Gemma’s voice intruded upon her thoughts.

  “That’s fine, Gemma, but make sure he doesn’t do it again,” she said absently.

  Perhaps there was a way to gain this information for her mages. Elizabeth may be willing to share what she knew in return for a place in the family. Not a key place of course, but she could surely find something…

  Chapter 9 - The Treaty

  “You did what?” Sean demanded.

  “I offered them a deal,” Hugo repeated. “Though we could technically keep the boy under the terms of the treaty, it isn’t really in the spirit of the agreement. And we’d hate to be called on a technicality ourselves at an inopportune moment, wouldn’t we?” He raised an eyebrow.

  Sean winced at the mention of the treaty. The Salinga’s were virtually untouchable. They’d given up so much for that one clause. Hopefully it would be worth it.

  “Besides,” Hugo continued, “we do need to get hold of the Tarrogate you know. If it falls into the wrong hands, all the prophecies in the world won’t be enough to save us.” Hugo’s voice, and his comments, were far too reasonable.

  “I don’t care about the boy, they can have him for all I care,” Sean snapped.

  Even if everything else didn’t hinge on it, he had enough personally invested in the treaty to not want to risk any breeches. Nor could he dispute the importance of retrieving the Tarrogate. Those weren’t his issue.

  “Sending Elizabeth back to teach the boy wasn’t necessary to get the Tarrogate, and you know it. The Salinga’s have more than enough mages to do that themselves,” Sean said firmly.

  “True, they do have several mages, but I don’t think Elizabeth is aware of that. It might be interesting for her to discover, don’t you think? Either way, none have the skill level she has. She is the best person for the job,” Hugo insisted.

  What was Hugo playing at? He knew the prophecy as well as Sean did. And how much the Salinga’s could mess it up. Why had he sent Elizabeth back to her family? Now, of all times.

  Sean didn’t want to be reasonable.

  “What do you care about how well the boy is taught? It’s not our problem. Leave that to him.”

  “I don’t care about the boy. However, I do see the benefit of Elizabeth leaving her partner. I thought you would too,” Hugo pointed out.

  “The guy she was with was litt
le more than an annoyance. Her family though, they could ruin everything. Her leaving them was the best thing that ever happened for us.”

  Hugo raised an eyebrow. “She already left them for you once, Sean. Do you really doubt she’d do it a second time?”

  Sean’s heart constricted without warning. Hugo had hit on the one doubt that Sean couldn’t ignore, no matter how hard he tried. “She went back, remember, after she left me. This is no different.” His voice was gruff.

  “You said yourself that she regretted it,” Hugo said softly.

  “It didn’t matter, it was too late.” The pain threatened to overwhelm, him, and it took a few moments to banish that horrific memory. He’d barely survived that one.

  He changed the subject before he could get sucked in again. “And don’t forget, she has a husband there as well.”

  The distraction worked.

  Or else Hugo was as reluctant to discuss the past as Sean was. He, of all people, knew how bad it had been.

  Hugo raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Do you really think there will be anything other than uncomfortable silences between them? He’s an old man. I suspect it will come as a surprise to her that he has never filed for divorce. The sooner that is done, the better, don’t you think?” Hugo said smoothly.

  Sean heaved a sigh, his anger evaporating in relief at avoiding the previous topic as much as from Hugo’s soothing answer. “All right,” he said grudgingly. “You have a point.”

  “I always do my friend, it's just that sometimes you just don’t see it when it’s right under your nose.” Hugo sounded amused. “So, do you want to take care of this matter, or shall I send someone else?”

  Sean’s heart skipped a beat at the thought. He hadn’t planned on seeing Elizabeth this early. Just days ago, he’d made the decision to wait. Did this change the situation?

  He was torn. His instinct said to draw her away from her family as quickly as possible, before they could pull her in.

  His heart though, wasn’t ready. And he’d hoped to have his business with Senika wrapped up first so that it didn’t interfere. Without being told, he knew that wasn’t going to go down well.