Alaric slams his fist on the table, then slowly gets to his feet. “Everyone remain where you are.” He starts to walk around the table. “Someone here intended to poison my daughter.” He glares at each one of the rebels, including Sebastian and his parents. “And I want to know who it is.”
No one says anything, or even moves. Everyone’s faces are pale, and a few are trembling. Sebastian looks just as mad as my dad. His fists clench and unclench at his sides.
“Now,” Alaric says.
Again, nothing.
“Now!”
We all wince.
Alaric spins around to face Salia, Merla, and all the other women who brought the food and drinks down. He stomps over to them. “Was it you?” he demands Salia. “Or you?” He turns to another, then another. They tremble beneath his hard gaze.
But like before, no one utters a word. Every single rebel exchanges a glance with one another. They look like they want to run into one of the caves outside and hide. I want to tell him to relax, but I was nearly poisoned.
“As your king,” he says. “I order whoever is guilty to reveal yourself this instant.”
Once again, everyone looks at one another. Sebastian eyes each one, most likely trying to sniff out the culprit. I do the same, but everyone just looks terrified.
“Okay,” Alaric says. “It seems you leave me with no choice.” He holds out his hand to me. “Lily, please step forward.”
I get up and head over to him. “Alaric, you don’t have to—”
“You’re going to interrogate each one until you find the person responsible for this.”
I gape at him. “Interrogate?” I hope he’s not alluding to torture or something along those lines.
He nods. “Yes, you’re going to probe the minds of everyone here until you discover who did this to you.”
“Probe the minds? But you said I can’t use magic to read minds.”
“Yes, but there’s something I haven’t told you.” He leans close. “Only the true king, or princess in your case, has the ability to probe minds. But we try not to do so often because we don’t want to abuse the power. Fortunately, Sorenten isn’t the true king and can’t probe minds, for if he could, we would all be in grave danger.”
I stare at him, my head spinning. Just when I think I have this whole magic and true princess stuff figured out, I learn something new. Something I don’t want. Probing the minds of all the Ortarians? It doesn’t seem right.
But I need to do this. I need to find the betrayer in our midst. I need to protect my people.
“Okay,” I say to Alaric. “What do I do?”
“I don’t have much experience with it, but you need to let your magic guide you.” He thrusts his hand out to one of the women quaking at the corner. Salia is holding onto her tightly.
“Step forward, Fara,” Alaric says.
She can’t be more than twenty years old. She hesitantly makes her way toward us. Her eyes are brimmed with tears. “Please, my king. I haven’t—”
“Silence. If you’re innocent, you have nothing to hide.” He motions for her to stand before me, then nods for me to begin.
I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. Do I touch her head? Nothing about this seems right, but we’re at war now. I have the other rebels to think about.
Shutting my eyes, I focus on trying to reach her thoughts. A strange thing happens. I find myself zooming into her head. All this is going on inside my mind, but I see it as though I’m actually inside her head. All her thoughts and memories swirl around me. There are so many and I can get lost in them. I need to locate the correct one. I picture the events that took place only minutes ago. The way I was about to take a sip from that sweet drink, how the liquid created a hole in the ground. As I flip through Fara’s memories, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. No wicked thoughts, no memory of poisoning the drink. Nothing of the sort.
I open my eyes. “She’s innocent.”
A sigh the size of Jupiter leaves her mouth. Alaric pats her back. “You’re free to go.” She nods and rushes back to her spot.
Alaric calls a few more women. I scan each one carefully, but don’t find anything. The only two people left who were in contact with the drinks are Salia and Merla. Salia and Merla? I doubt they had something to do with this. I tell my dad that anyone here could have slipped something in my drink, not just the women, but he waves his hand, claiming there’s a high chance it’s one of these two.
“Alaric, you can’t seriously think Salia or Merla are responsible for this.” Salia is one of the sweetest, kindest people I know. And Sebastian’s mom? She wouldn’t do this…would she?
“Lily,” Alaric says. “Please do as I say.”
I sigh. “Salia…”
She bows and quickly rushes over. I felt terrible doing this to my fellow rebels, but my guilt is much stronger when it comes to invading Salia’s mind. We’ve gotten close these past few days, and she shared so much about her life with me. It just feels wrong.
Alaric rests his hand on my shoulder. “Lily.”
Salia nods to me. “It’s all right.”
“I’m really sorry about this,” I say before diving into her mind. The first thing I see is how happy she was during our celebration. It makes me smile. But suddenly, I’m chilly and the place is dark. An image pops before my eyes. An image of Salia standing in Merla’s kitchen. She’s shaking terribly as she waits for Merla and the other women to leave. Then she sets one glass cup filled with that sweet drink. Her hands are shaking more than her body. Her thoughts are all over the place. Guilt, fear, worry. She slowly looks to her right and left before holding a closed fist over the cup. She shuts her eyes and bites her bottom lip before opening her fist and dropping a small leaf into the drink. She then places the cup onto the tray with all the other drinks and climbs down the steps to the basement. Her heart is pounding, sweat breaks out all over her body. She’s beyond terrified. The guilt is overwhelming, so strong it nearly knocks me backward.
When she reaches me, she pushes a smile on her face, her hand hovering over the poisoned glass. Then she hands it to me.
My eyes shoot open and I back away from her. I can’t…I won’t believe this. Salia can’t be behind this. It’s a mistake. Her eyes are wide as they well up with tears. She doesn’t say a word, but she doesn’t have to. I can read in her eyes how sorry she is.
“Seize her!” Alaric yells.
Hastus and a few other men grab hold of her arms and pin her against the wall.
“Wh—why?” I sputter, my heart racing. “Why would you do this to me, Salia?”
Her back faces me as the men press her head into the wall. “Please, Princess. I’m so sorry. So very sorry.”
“Should we kill her, my king?” Hastus asks.
“No!” I jump toward them. “I want her to explain.”
“Lily, the guards came after us because she told them we’re here. We need to get out of here before they return.”
Salia shakes her head. “They won’t return. Sorenten put a tracking device on me, and that led the guards here. But they couldn’t find you. I…I destroyed it, so it’s safe now—”
“Why should we believe anything that comes out of your mouth?” Alaric snaps to the guards. “Kill her.”
“Not yet,” I say. “Please.” I turn to her. “Why would you betray us, Salia?”
Tears pour down her cheeks. “To free my father.” She looks from Alaric, to Hastus, to me. “I figured if I go over to the palace and tell King Sorenten of the revolution, he would free my father. I didn’t tell him about Lily. Just that there’s a group who wish to overthrow him.”
Hastus grabs her by the collar. “You traitor! I’ll kill you right now.”
“Wait,” I say. “Salia, I told you I was going to free your father. I gave you my word.”
More tears pour down her cheeks. “I couldn’t bear to see him being tortured every day. In exchange for being a spy, Sorenten promised to free my father.” She low
ers her head. “He lied to me. He didn’t free my father.”
“It was you who led the guards to our first compound, wasn’t it?” Hastus says between clenched teeth.
She nods, keeping her eyes on the floor. “Gortien was innocent. He didn’t betray you.”
A lightbulb goes off in my head. “That’s why you convinced Alaric not to come back to save Sebastian and me. Because you wanted the guards to capture or kill us. And it was you who poisoned Sebastian, wasn’t it? So I would be alone, with no help.”
Sebastian clenches his jaw.
Salia nods. “I poisoned you, too, but it only affected Sebastian and not you.” Her voice trembles. “I needed…to…to search around the caves outside for the plant that would give me a stronger dosage. And I needed to wait a few days for the plant to be…potent.” Which would explain why she hadn’t poisoned me right when I got to the house. “I hoped to bring you to King Sorenten—”
Hastus lifts his hands to Salia’s neck and twists it. Salia drops to the floor.
“No!” I say.
“Lily, it had to be done. She couldn’t be trusted anymore,” Alaric says.
He’s right. I know he is. Salia betrayed us and we couldn’t have her among us anymore. But to kill her? She was only trying to save her father. As much as her betrayal stings, I can’t help but understand her. She was desperate.
“Come,” Alaric says to everyone. “We’re leaving.”
“Where?” Candon asks. “You’re not safe anywhere.”
“We’re not safe here,” Alaric argues.
Candon motions around. “Why not? The traitor destroyed the tracking device. Lily can block the secret entrances. The guards won’t be able to get in. You’re safer here than you would be in any cave.”
Alaric is quiet as he thinks over Candon’s words. He says to me, “Lily, quick. Reach into her mind and see if she destroyed the tracking device.”
“But she’s dead—”
“We have only a few minutes before her brain is completely dead. Go.”
I get to work, plowing through all the memories until I find the right one. The tracking device is no bigger than a button. I see Salia smashing it with a hammer.
When I tell them what I saw, Alaric doesn’t seem any less satisfied. “Sorenten will wonder why the device has been destroyed and he’ll send the guards after us.”
Candon nods. “Most probably, but we’ll be ready for them.”
Alaric shakes his head. “I appreciate you wanting to help us and I appreciate everything you’ve done so far, but we need to leave. Immediately.”
Candon sighs. “All right.”
“We’re coming with you,” Merla says.
Sebastian steps forward. “Mother, Father, I told you not to risk your lives for us.”
She pushes some hair off his forehead. “You’re my children. All of you. Candon and I have decided to be part of the rebellion. We have magic. We can help.”
That’s right. They’re the only ones except for Hastus, me, and some of the others who have magic. We could use their help.
Alaric nods. “Thank you. Now we need to decide where we’re going.”
Candon smiles. “I can think of only one place.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It’s dark out, but we won’t be able to hide in the shadows for long. Candon and Merla lead us through the tall grass until we’re standing before a large shack.
“What is this place?” Alaric asks.
Gazing up and down the building, Sebastian says, “Our old home.”
“No one will look for us here,” Candon says. He scans around “Quick. We need to get inside before the guards catch us.”
The place looks to be in terrible shape from the outside, but the interior is much, much worse. The walls seem like they’re going to cave at any minute, the furniture would probably crumble under our weight. But who am I to complain? This place is most likely the last place anyone would look for us.
I can’t believe Sebastian’s family lived in these conditions before they upped their status in Ortarian society. It breaks my heart that there are still many, many Ortarians who come home to this every day. I lift my hands, ready to fix the place up a bit, but then it occurs to me that it wouldn’t be the greatest idea. This rundown place is our cover. If I change it to look like a normal house, we might be exposed.
Merla motions around. “Please make yourselves…comfortable.”
Before we gather on the dirty floor, I use my magic to clean it up a bit. No one utters a word. I’m busy thinking about everything that happened in the last hour. Being betrayed by someone I trusted, someone I was developing a friendship with. Though I understand Salia’s reasons for doing what she did, I don’t think I can ever forgive her.
Sebastian, who is sitting near me, takes my hand and gives me a small smile. I can’t return it, but I rest my head against his chest, showing him how much I appreciate his care.
Renaya is sitting with Alaric at the other end of the room. They’re talking in hushed voices. From the looks on their faces, I can tell they’re discussing leaving the shack to spy on the guards. We need to know exactly what’s going on out there.
“How are you?” Sebastian asks me.
“I don’t know.” I feel numb, but also not. The shock of what happened crashes over me like cement. Salia, who was one of us, betrayed us. Are there others? Before we left to this building, Alaric had me scan the thoughts of everyone here, including Sebastian and his family. I haven’t found anything, but what if a traitor is hiding his thoughts?
Sebastian pulls me close, softly kissing my temple. “If I would have lost you…” His voice trails off and cracks.
I run my finger down his cheek. “Don’t think like that. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere for a long, long time.”
“I just want to protect you.”
“I know.” My lips sweep across his. I wish we were in our own room so I can show him how much I love him. We’re all sitting on the floor, on top of one another because this room—which I would describe as the living room—is tiny. Ten times smaller than my living room back home.
Home. I almost forgot about everyone I left back on Earth. Mom, Macy, hell, even my job. I miss everyone so much. When will I see them again? What if I don’t succeed in killing the king? I know I told Sebastian I’ll be around for a long time, but I also need to be realistic that I might die. Will Mom wonder what happened to me for the rest of her life? Will she die from heartache?
I can’t do that to her. Yet, what am I supposed to do? I can’t leave this place until I kill the king. Even if I do kill him, how do I know for sure if I’ll be able to return home? What if I’m stuck here forever? Alaric said I’ll be able to, but what if he was wrong?
Sebastian’s arms loosen from around me. “What’s wrong?” His face is pinched with concern as he gazes into my eyes.
“I was just thinking about my mom.”
“You miss her. I’m so sorry.”
I don’t say anything. Missing her is an understatement.
Sebastian’s arms come around me. “I have my family with me here in Ortarus while your mom is miles and miles away. In a different world. I’m selfish.”
I place my hand on his chest. “Not at all. You’re lucky you have a chance to rekindle your relationship with your parents.”
“And you with your dad.”
“Yeah, although sometimes I forget he’s my dad and is our leader, you know? The way he behaved when I was nearly poisoned made him seem like a completely different person.”
He nods. “He loves you very much.”
I still don’t know if I can ever get used to that.
Sebastian looks into my eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I want to shrug, but my shoulders are stiff. “I think I’m okay. I’m just worried about everything.”
He brushes his lips across mine. “Me, too.” He looks around and lowers his voice. “I feel like we can’t trust anyone.”
“I know,” I whisper. “I thought the same thing only a few minutes ago. I scanned everyone’s minds and they’re clear, but…”
“But we can’t really be sure.”
I nod, biting my lip. “Alaric told me that because I’m royal, I have stronger magic and no one should be able to hide their thoughts from me, but I don’t know. I hate having to be suspicious about everyone here. We’re all working so hard to make Ortarus a good place to live in. But still, we’re in a time of war and need to be careful.”
He tightens his arms around me. “You rest and I’ll keep watch just in case.”
“Sebastian, you need rest, too.”
“I’ll be okay.”
I snuggle up to his chest. “I’ll just shut my eyes for a few minutes.”
The truth is, scanning everyone’s minds has taken a toll on my body and as soon as my head rests comfortably on Sebastian’s shoulder, I drift off.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
My eyes shoot open to blackness. I’m not sure, but I think I’ve been woken up by someone shaking my shoulder. Squinting, I make out Alaric standing over me with an unreadable expression on his face.
Looking around, I find myself sprawled on the floor, my head resting on someone else’s foot. It all comes back to me. Salia’s betrayal, the rebels moving to Sebastian’s old home. How we’re all cramped in a tiny room.
I sit up. “What’s going on?” My eyes examine the area. “Where’s Sebastian?” Last I remember, he told me to sleep while he kept watch.
Alaric is quiet as he stares at me. My heart skips a beat as hot liquid fills my head. “Did something happen to him?”
He lowers himself next to me and touches my arm. “Renaya left a few hours ago to spy on the palace. She didn’t return, so Sebastian went to look for her.”
My heart pounds as I wait for him to go on. He doesn’t, just looks at me with the saddest expression I’ve ever seen. I want to shake him and demand to know what’s going on, but my limbs are frozen in place.
“He didn’t want to leave you, but he had to go find her,” he continues. He pauses, sighs, and shuts his eyes. “They haven’t returned.”
Keeping the Genie (Genie's Love, Book 3) Page 15