Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

J agen.

If I had to swing out one accusation based only on what I knew, it would have been on Morana. She had been entirely too interested in both Emric and me when we arrived. Add that she and Zaire had a history, another such person I did not trust, and between Morana and Jagen, I would have picked Morana.

But Jagen also had all the motives stacked in his corner, ready to wield. If there was someone who did not want me to heal Dra Skor, it would be him. With Esta now healed, he had lost the most. An opportunity to inherit the crown without having to even murder his sister.

Yet there had been so many conversations, small tidbits, which led me to believe we had an understanding. We both understood the pressures of being an heir to a throne. But had it all been a farce? A mask to disguise his true intentions? Or had I wanted there to be a sense of comradery when there was none? Had he just played nice so that I would turn the other cheek when he moved to stab us all in the back?

Then again, it could be Oziel, trying to clear his own path to the crown.

"Where?" I stopped to clench my jaw. If Jagen truly was responsible, he would not see another day. He had killed Savanna. Samori. Kidnapped a child. Created an entire Civil War. Over greed. "Where is Jagen?"

Amory gave a sharp inhale. "As of this morning, Nana is holding all three of her children plus spouses, plus their children, at the castle cells. They are all under arrest."

"Her method is a bit archaic," Esta commented as she shifted to her human form.

Amory shrugged. "If it is effective, do we care?"

My eyes went in the direction of the castle as my first Enchantment burned in my veins. I needed to speak to Jagen. Like Malachi always told me, I did not need to know all the next steps, only the one right in front of me. I knew what the next one was. Interrogating Jagen.

How could he?

Malachi also shifted into his human form and reached an arm out as if holding me back. "Whatever you are scheming, prince, you take me with. Understand?"

Something I was feeling coming from Esta gave me pause. "What?"

She looked to the skies, thinking. "I am not angry that Nana is detaining my family. It is long overdue. Had I not been confident in my ability to defend myself, I would have done the same months ago."

"But?" Amory asked.

"But is having all the heirs to the throne in cells in the same location truly a good idea?"

Amory let out a sharp gasp. "If it is not one of them, we've just lined them up for slaughter."

This. This was exactly why Esta needed to remain as queen of Dra Skor. Her instincts. I ventured to say she could give even my own father a run for his coin in outwitting her opponents. "I volunteer to babysit Jagen," I offered.

"And I need to get to Nana," Esta stated. "See what she suspects."

"We will head to the cells," Malachi added while giving me a look as if asking if I was good.

I gave him a nod.

Esta looked from one of us to the other. "Okay, but please try to keep the violence to a minimum. Just because Morana went missing does not mean Jagen is automatically our culprit. She had plenty of enemies of her own. Or could have simply found something out which put a target on her back. Or had a tiff with her brother."

Within minutes we were all in the air, heading toward Halikaara. Zaccai and Wit soon joined us, as well as a large portion of Malachi's unit. Esta hadn't told them to, but since Samori died, rarely did they allow her to fly alone.

I needed an update from Emric too. And Esta needed more of her army. The more shifters we had healed to help us, the better. We were not training for war; we were already in the midst of one.

And our enemy was becoming more and more desperate. I only hoped it would all come to a head sooner rather than later.

"Talk," Malachi gritted out as he slammed Jagen into the wall of the cell.

It turned out the cells of the castle were far beneath it in a damp and dark area. It was so damp down here it hurt my lungs. Not to mention the lack of sunlight. The lit lamps were the only thing allowing us to see and it was still midday above us. Nana Mallick had put her own blood down here? No wonder they all feared her.

Jagen's soon-to-be-wife was crying, saying over and over again that he didn't do it.

Jagen, to give him some credit, was not really fighting Malachi off. Was it because he knew he would lose or because he didn't feel the need to? I wasn't sure if I wanted to help shake a confession out of him or merely observe. I was angry enough I didn't completely trust myself to touch Jagen right now.

"I didn't kill Morana." Jagen was shaking his head vehemently. "I have no idea what happened."

Malachi moved to shove him against the wall again, his hands fisted in Jagen's shirt.

"He's being set up!" Charlotte wailed. "He didn't do it."

My father was adept at getting confessions out of people, so unfortunately, I knew exactly what we needed. I sent my magic out to wrap around Jagen. "Malachi."

"I know she said no violen—" He cut off as chains of blue began wrapping around and around Jagen.

"She said minimal violence, not none." I wanted to encase him in my power, head to toe. Let him feel the level of terror Esta had all these months. Though I may have looked like him in this moment, had I been my father, Jagen would already be dead.

I unleashed more of my power at him even as I reminded myself of who I was. And there was the very small chance that Jagen was innocent. Still, I let my magic wrap and squeeze, until Jagen was feeling the pressure on his lungs. Enough to inflict terror, not enough to seriously injure.

"That is oddly helpful," Malachi noted.

Jagen's fiancé cried harder the more covered Jagen became. "Please! Stop. He didn't do it."

I tightened my hold further and kept as cool a countenance as I could manage. I wasn't going to hurt him or kill him, but I needed Jagen to believe I was capable of it. Though I didn't like using it often, fear was rather efficient at shining the light on secrets.

"Stop! Stop it!" Jagen's fiancé shouted as he became covered up to the neck. "I am pregnant!"

My eyes were focused on Jagen's to see his widen with terror.

"Charlotte, no," he gasped out.

"I'm pregnant and no one knows," Charlotte added more quietly. "I have been feeling sick with the pregnancy and he has been with me. He hasn't left my side. He was with me the entire night Morana went missing."

I stilled. If Jagen's fiancé was pregnant, that only made him more suspicious. I squeezed the chains tighter and moved close enough to intimidate with my height. "Do you want the crown for yourself? Your future child? Is that what this is about?"

Jagen choked out, "No." I released my magic only slightly and he added, "But this is exactly why we haven't told anyone." He looked to his fiancé, and I could see concern all over his face. The only thing clear to me from this entire exchange thus far was how much Jagen cared for his future wife. "I—" he closed his eyes.

I willed my power to retreat some, keeping his hands at his sides, but sliding down to his chest and letting up on the pressure. "You what?" I spit. "Please tell me. Tell me anything. Because all signs are pointing to you, Jagen. You have the most to gain. Particularly with a child on the way. Your alibi manages to make you even more suspect."

His eyes were on mine as he said, "I think Samori knew something."

"Like what?" Malachi asked, looking like he wanted to grab for Jagen again.

He shook his head. "I don't know. I just know he was acting odd."

"Before or after I healed him?"

"Before." He swallowed and took a shaky breath, likely feeling the stress of the weight of my magic. "I cornered him to try to get him to talk to me. You know how he was. He lived life to the fullest." Another pause. "He wasn't himself. He's always been close to Esta and me. So I went to talk to him. Cousin to cousin."

"And?" I never took my eyes from Jagen's. Looking for every weakness, every flinch, every lie.

"And he told me he was handling it for now. Whatever it was." He let out a sigh. "Shortly after, the attack on Esta happened."

Malachi looked to me before quickly looking back to Jagen. "You don't think he was responsible? Because I know for a fact he was not in that dining room nor near it when it all went down."

Jagen shook his head. "No, but the shifter we found impaled? I think he was involved somehow."

That had been the most haunting part. What had been big enough to chase the shifter or cause that? I hadn't suspected Samori, he was just a kid. Yet stuck in his dragon form, he was definitely big enough to cause damage.

"Why are you only now telling us?" Malachi said none too softly.

"What proof do I have other than gut instinct? I have always been the top suspect," Jagen snapped, finally losing his cool. "I assumed you all would just think this was a manufactured story. To cover myself. All I have is the suspicion Samori knew more than he let on."

My eyes went to Malachi's and I knew we had both thought that very thing.

I leaned forward, again getting in Jagen's space. It was a move my father did often, and I hated myself for using it. "If I find out all of this really was your doing, that you have been attacking and hurting your sister , your queen , your people , there is not a place you can go in which I will not reach you. If you did this, you will feel the weight of your actions. I will make sure of it."

Jagen let out a defeated sounding snort. "Believe me, I know how it looks, but I am somehow being set up. I never wished to rule. Something I would think you, of all people, would understand." His eyes went to Charlotte's. "I do understand where you are coming from, though. Should anything befall my fiancé or future child, I could make the same promise to you."

Was he countering a threat with a threat? Only a mad man would do such a thing. A mad man or a desperate man.

I immediately let my hold on him fall, the result that Jagen slumped to the ground. Charlotte ran over to him.

"I do not wish to harm Charlotte or her baby," I told him. I was not my father, murdering potential heirs. Or pregnant women. Even if I had just looked an awful lot like him.

Jagen looked me in the eyes as I said it. As if gauging if he believed me or not.

"Esta will have heirs of her own. This is not about the heir. This is about the blood being spilled in Dra Skor. The repeated attempts on Esta's life. The people we have already lost."

Jagen gave me one nod of understanding.

Then I thought of what Esta had admitted at the shore. That being in the cells like this made them targets. And now I knew there was another future heir to the Dra Skor line in this cell. Even more vulnerable than the others. "Dammit."

"I can feel your head turning," Malachi commented. "Care to share?"

"We cannot leave them down here," I said. "Because of what Esta said earlier and what we just found out. Which was said none too quietly. Also, a cell like this is no place for a pregnant woman."

"I thought you were going to kill him!" Charlotte snapped.

"If he is responsible, I still will," I promised. I looked to Jagen. "Come with us."

"Where are you taking us?"

"To your queen. I have no desire to leave an heir of the Mallick line here. To be clear, I do not know if I believe that you have had no involvement in this, I do not trust you, but I do not believe Charlotte is to blame for what may be your choices. I doubt you will leave her side. Nor she yours. So we need to figure out what the hell to do with the two of you."

"Will you ever?" Jagen asked, finally standing.

"Will I ever what?"

"Will you ever trust me?"

My chin went back. "What is my trust to you? It is Esta's trust you should seek to regain."

"After all of this, I don't know how she would trust any of us ever again," he admitted.

"Keeping the knowledge of an heir to the royal line from her likely isn't a good start," I snapped.

Now we had a future heir to add to the mix. Of all the things I thought we would find out in coming to see Jagen in this cell, this had been a development I hadn't seen coming.

A twist which only thickened tensions.

I had finally fallen asleep when I heard a light rap on the door. It had been a long day. Too long. For now, Jagen and Charlotte were being kept in a remote wing of the castle, under lock and key. Men that Zaccai picked were guarding the two of them, ensuring they didn't so much as breathe funny without us knowing. Meanwhile we had neither found Morana's body nor any scent of her anywhere in the castle.

Miles quickly peeked his head in. "Sorry, boss. I think you are going to want to hear this."

I groaned but threw my legs over the side of the bed.

Esta had opted to stay in my room again. I was too tired to do a quick count, but I was fairly certain she hadn't stayed in her own room since I returned from Wylan .

I grabbed some sweatpants and threw them on, taking care not to wake Esta, but of course, our bond must have alerted her as she roused.

"Whoever it is," she said as she stretched, "I am going to kill them."

Archer stuck his head in from where he and Miles were waiting for us. "Please do not! I don't even have enough meat on me to be a decent sized snack."

I snorted a laugh and realized he was up entirely too late. Now that Esta and I were both awake, I gestured him in. "What is it, Archer?"

He moved in the room a step or two. "I already had Miles grab Emric and John." I noted the way he was standing. Like he was about to begin pacing or bolt for the door.

I sighed. "It is that important? To wake us all in the dead of night."

He began speaking so fast it was hard to keep up. "Yes, and I know Emric will want every detail, and then John will have dozens of questions." Even as my personal attendant, he had spent more time with the two of them than he had me.

Esta threw on a silk robe that I immediately wanted to remove from her body, but considering the company, I supposed I could not.

"Keir," she snapped.

"What?"

"Now is not the time," she suggested. "Focus."

We have been terribly busy lately, I reminded her. Even now, the exhaustion she felt from our bonding had been resulting in her falling asleep rather quickly. She was either in queen mode or asleep.

Unfortunately, John and Emric arrived at that exact moment.

I gestured for Archer to come in farther and sit down, his antsy body language making me nervous for whatever blow he was about to deliver. It should speak volumes about the state of Dra Skor that I wasn't even surprised we were about to be hit with something else, merely waiting for it.

"The servants have been talking," Archer began without delay.

"Of course they have," Emric said, voice groggy.

"I have two things to report on, really," Archer clarified. "The first of which is in regard to the royal family being detained, and no, we aren't supposed to know that happened, but we all do anyway." He looked to Esta with a wince.

Esta gave a shrug like she wasn't terribly surprised.

"The whispers are that there was a shadow in the cells tonight. Lurking. A presence of some sort, though no one ever saw anyone."

"A presence?" The word "shadow" had me thinking along the lines of our Agrian spy, but he was long since gone.

"Nothing ever happened. Reyald said he felt he was being watched and alerted the others, including some guards. Whatever it was left immediately. As soon as he began making noise and calling for help."

I felt a chill sweep down my body. Someone had gone looking for something. And not found it.

Esta's eyes shot to mine as I stated the obvious. "Jagen."

"Why wasn't I told?" she snapped.

"I was in the kitchen when the guards were discussing it among themselves. They were on their way to fetch you, but I knew you'd be here and not your room. I came right away."

Esta was moving for the open balcony without another word. I knew she needed to check on Jagen and Charlotte. If this shadow was looking for Jagen, though not many people knew of their location within the castle, if the servants knew this much, it couldn't be that hard to figure out.

I opened the doors for her with my magic, and she shot directly into the sky .

Anger and annoyance hit me while I felt that pinching and ache between my shoulder blades just before my wings shifted outward, as if sensing their need. Everything in me was wanting to go with her. Fly beside her. Yet here I stood. In a room full of men who knew the truth anyway. Logically I knew there were too many eyes at the castle for me to fly, even at night.

Still, I was left standing there. Torn between my need to protect her and my respect for who she was as a queen.

Get Malachi, I ordered Esta, none too nicely. And whatever shifters are running patrols right now.

She of course, did not respond. She still hadn't used the bond to communicate to me. Which did not help my feeling slighted one bit.

I clenched my teeth as I turned back to Archer and bit out, "And there was a part two to this?"

Archer gave his head a shake. "I'm not sure which is most unsettling. It's the servants who were ordered to clean up the mess in Morana's room."

I cocked my head, listening. I felt down the bond Esta was okay. That was the only thing keeping my feet even remotely planted.

"The blood was . . . in a pattern."