Chapter Fourteen Arthur

I t's the middle of the night, or the early hours of the morning, who knows. Either way, it's too damned early to be summoned to the queen's war room.

"Why is there a ship trying to breach our shores?" the queen asks of Mabel, and I frown at the words. "And why is the ship empty?"

More confusion arises as the other monsters all look to Mabel, then back at the queen, just as perplexed by her words.

"Why would I know?" Mabel asks, stepping forward, her hands clenched and her look defiant. That's my girl, she will not be swayed by Siorah's power .

"Did you orchestrate this?" the queen demands, and I can see an uneasy edge to her sanity slipping onto her face. She is genuinely fearful of whoever it is that has reached our shores. I am sure Siorah thought having Gilberd's monster hunter close to her side was an advantage and, sure, being able to read Mabel's emotions helped bring her to that decision, now I suspect she is rethinking that logic.

"What does it matter?" I ask. "No one can get through to the castle without your consent, anyway."

"It matters," Siorah spits at me, her expression glacial, "because Mabel is the second monster hunter to venture onto the shores of Kiros Somu in the last year. And before that, there hasn't been any here since the humans stole our magic for making them."

I glance quickly at Mabel to see the knowledge of where the magic to make her came from and the words sink below her skin, paling her skin as they take lodgings in her soul.

"It can't be a coincidence," the queen continues before Magnus interrupts.

"Settle down, Siorah," he says, and I brace for her fury because no one ever calmed down from merely being told to–especially not the queen. "Mabel is not here to harm you. That was my job, remember."

Ignoring Magnus, Siorah shouts out, "Guards, lock all the doors."

The instruction is prompt but not entirely unexpected. This room is secure and there are enough guards here to keep an eye on all the monsters in the room. They do as they are told and then form a circle around the queen, showing everyone exactly who they are here to protect. Although, to be honest, there are four monsters in the room and two monster hunters. While Magnus would never harm the queen, the odds are actually in our favor, should we decide to storm the queen.

Not that I plan to hurt her.

And judging by what Mabel is thinking, she won't either. Which means the others won't. But Siorah doesn't know that. Although, looking at Magnus, I can tell he's reading Mabel's mind as well. He knows there's no threat. Because of this, the queen can tell by his relaxed stance we are no threat either at the moment.

Still, it's a bold move on her behalf.

Stepping up to Mabel, the queen is eye to eye with her. Two short little fiends that are much scrappier than they look.

"What have you done?" she asks slowly, one eyebrow raised.

"Nothing," Mabel says through gritted teeth.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not. Surely you can tell that I'm not?" Mabel utters a soul-weary sigh to prove her point, but the queen is not to be swayed.

"It can't be a coincidence. There are never coincidences, not from anything I've ever seen. However, you're right, I don't think you are a part of this. Not on purpose, at least." She glances quickly at Magnus. "Of course, you could be masking your thoughts just like he does. Did you teach her how to do that?"

"That's not a teachable thing, Siorah, and you know that," Magnus replies.

"What does it matter, anyway," I utter and Siorah gives me a withering look for a fraction of a second before she returns her gaze once more to Mabel. "You're safe here unless you leave the castle. Sacruemus is nearly upon us, so there is absolutely no need for you to do that until the threat is sorted."

"And surely everyone would understand a threat to you that must be taken seriously," Magnus says. "Stay inside this year."

"The one true reason I am here is because I have always kept my world to my people. I will not be like all the other kings who went before me."

That was the irony of Sacruemus. While it was the most dangerous day for the queen when it came to threats to her person, it was also the one day she was expected to mingle among the commoners. It proved to them–without a doubt–that she valued them more than her own safety. It was what made her a good queen. She was the first in the line of royalty who had done that. To not present herself during the festival would be a disaster she wouldn't want to risk.

"That's likely the plan, isn't it," Siorah continues with a hiss and glaring at Mabel. "Lure me out, then capture me. Is that Gilberd's plan?"

"How would Mabel even know about Sacruemus?" Magnus asks and it's a valid question. I turn to Mabel, who looks somewhat confused by everything being said. What is going on in her mind is further proof that she has nothing to do with anything that is going down presently.

"King Gilberd knows, therefore, she would," Siorah answers, not even looking at Magnus.

"She knows nothing," both he and I say at once.

"I can read it in her mind," I add.

"So can I," Magnus offers.

"And, yet I can read none of the minds in the room, so I can't tell if you speak the truth."

"Well, now I'm offended," Magnus says, although the smirk says otherwise.

"You're supposed to kill me, how can I trust you?" she asks of him, finally turning to give him the full staredown, complete with a grimace that shows off all her pointy teeth. I don't know how he doesn't flinch under that gaze. It has always terrified me.

Magnus simply shrugs. "You know in your heart that I would never lie to you about something like this. I would never risk your safety."

I watch as they stare each other down. Magnus is toying with her, but Siorah is deadly serious.

"Why don't we just leave," Mabel finally says and there is a roomful of awkward monster movements as they all start to object. "I mean, you don't trust us anyway, so why not be rid of us?"

"We can't," Fenn says.

"Not yet," Brugo adds.

"We need to recover," Zeklan declares and, gods, don't I feel sorry for him. Out of all of us, he is the one who truly needs to rest for the time being.

"We can, and we will," Mabel says evenly, and I can tell from the firm set of her jaw, that she won't be swayed. What swirls in her mind, simply backs it up.

"Mabel," I say slowly, siding with the others. "It's not safe for you out there."

"I've survived just fine," she says, her fists clamping as she turns to speak to me. "And now, with the four of you, there's no chance the king can get his claws into me. We'll just go back to Fenn's island and live there."

I want to say so much but hold my tongue. She's right, to a degree, it is safer for her outside of Kiros Somu now. But for how long? I feel the tremble of fate trickling down my spine. To go out there now is to tempt the curse, to tease it, and play along the lines of its parameters. Sure, we can continue to fuck her until she is compliant to us and not Reeve or the king but, at some point in time, I just know that won't be enough. Or there will be some instance we can't foresee that will tear us apart and make her vulnerable again. It is that that I can't bear now that I have found her again.

Although, it also puts us back into Reeve's realm. And, if it gives me the chance to kill him… Well now, that would be just perfect.

Perhaps this is the right thing to do. Maybe the raising of gooseflesh on my neck is because it will give me the means to finally break this curse and to return Mabel and I to what we once were. To what we were supposed to be all along.

"Perhaps, it would be for the best," Siorah says. "Guards, escort them off the grounds."

And, just like that, the decision is already made for us.