36. Adrianna

36

ADRIANNA

O ne week.

Seven whole days.

One hundred and sixty eight hours.

Ten thousand and eighty minutes.

Six hundred and four thousand, eight hundred seconds.

And…

Nothing.

I’ve played my part. I haven’t hunted, I haven’t demanded, I haven’t scorched the ends of the earth in my desperation. And for her part, Clementine hasn’t attacked.

The kingdom has been… quiet. Calm and collected, just like I should be.

I don’t trust it.

“Hey, Dagger,” Brody murmurs, entering the royal council room with a tired smile and a subtle shake of his head.

“Hey,” I breathe, my eyelids falling closed when he presses a kiss to my temple before sitting at the table. “I’m guessing there was no luck?” I ask, and he nods in confirmation. I try not to let the fact bring me down; I’m over that shit. If I don’t keep my head up, no one else will do it for me.

“The trail we thought we had dwindled in Foley Hill. Beau is still out there making sure, but it looks like it’s gone cold again,” he explains, and I nod in acknowledgment.

Just because I haven’t been out hunting Clementine, demanding, and searching the farthest reaches of the kingdom, doesn’t mean no one has. To ensure we keep our trail as hot as possible, they’re operating separately, switching out every twelve hours to ensure nothing gives us away. It’s not bringing the misery to an end, but it’s better than doing nothing, which is the alternative, and we’re not succumbing to that.

“Is this everyone?” Arlo asks, glancing around the table, and I nod.

Brody, Raiden, Flora, and me.

Cassian left this morning after spending the first night in a week with us. The compound is taking its toll on him. Not that we spoke about it, but I could see it in his eyes. He seemed to want to pretend it didn’t exist, so that’s what I did, too. He’ll talk when he wants to; I can’t force him. If he needs a moment to escape his troubles, then I can offer that.

Kryll is sleeping. He returned from his hunt last night, trading places with Brody when he left, and he’s been passed out ever since. I’m not disturbing him. He needs to rest. We all do.

“Okay. As Brody said, there have been no strong leads for the past twenty-four hours. Clementine’s trail has run cold, Fairbourne and her army along with her. It could be because they’re onto us, but nothing points to that, so we’re going to assume we’ve just missed a step,” Arlo explains, and I nod, exhaling as I press my fingertips into my temples. “The issue we face this morning is the fact that the media has been gathered outside since the sun rose. They want to know what we’re doing to protect our kingdom from Clementine’s impending wrath.”

“Well, if we tell them, she’ll know too. That sounds dumb as fuck,” Raiden grumbles, exasperation dancing over his features.

“I agree. I did give them a statement along those lines this morning, but it seems they’re not interested in taking the hint,” he explains, the corner of his eyes crinkling with a sense of helplessness.

“So you’re saying they won’t leave until we give them something, even if it makes no sense to give them anything at all?” Brody clarifies, and Arlo nods.

“This is ridiculous. She’s under the microscope enough as it is. She hasn’t left the castle grounds since she returned from the tour, which was cut short for this reason. Right now, Addi is the one imprisoned in her own home,” Flora hisses, irritation clawing its way out of her usually composed frame. I try to offer her a smile, but it falls far shorter than I planned. “Something needs to change,” she insists, waving her hand at me like that explains everything.

“It’s okay, Flora,” I offer, completely aware deep down that I’m far from okay.

Every single minute of the last seven days has felt like I’m slowly being strangled. The walls are closing in. The castle is growing smaller, I’m sure of it.

I’m allowing my kingdom a moment of reprieve from the chaos, to not have my actions cause any pain, but in doing so, I’m only hurting myself.

It’s strange. I feel stronger now than I did last week.

I feel more in control. I’ve been buried in the library in the castle, reading and reading and reading. Nothing exciting, nothing fictional, nothing alluring. Facts. Facts. And more facts. I’m hunting for information on this dark magic my father spoke of, but I’ve come up blank so far. That won’t stop me from searching, though.

“So, to summarize for this morning, we need to give the media something so they back off, but we can’t give them too much because then that will give us away to the woman we’re secretly trying to track. All while our queen shrinks away in these four walls as a way to protect the kingdom. Which really means she needs a second to breathe, but we’re unsure how to offer her that?” Raiden clarifies, and Arlo nods, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“That sounds about right.”

“It’s bullshit,” Flora interjects, and I clear my throat, ready to put everyone’s mind at ease, even though it’s a giant lie, when Raiden stands from his seat, hand extended in my direction.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” he states, eyes locked on mine. “I’m going to take Adrianna out of these grounds. Somewhere safe. An hour, maybe two, max, depending on how I feel,” he says with a smirk, making one form on my lips, too. “Then, with a fresh mind that’s not solely occupied by the information from all of those books she’s been reading, we can come back and address the media with a polite fuck you before we readdress everything with a new perspective.”

“But—” Arlo attempts to interject, but Raiden lifts a hand in his direction, slowly shaking his head.

“Maybe then we might be able to find a new lead. It’s for the good of the kingdom, really.” His gaze remains on mine, unwavering. Even when Brody grumbles something under his breath about sneaking me away again. But the idea of approaching this mess with fresh eyes is too appealing.

I silently hope that he wants to whisk me away to ravish me like last time, but the sparkle in his eyes isn’t filled with heat; that sparkle is one of concern and love—two emotions that only mean one thing. My gut tells me I know where we’re going. So before anyone else can interject, I place my hand in his, and we’re gone.