front of me blocking the queen’s route. I see a flash of golden hair, but I lean around his body, not taking my eyes off the danger in front of me. She does look away from me though, and I see the rage she’s about to direct at whoever stepped between us, so I do something stupid.
Later, I’ll blame my rage for making my tongue loose, but I’ll dream of that golden mane, the look the queen gave him, and the flash of fear I felt at the prospect of him being harmed because of me.
“I’m part elf,” I announce clearly. There are plenty of witnesses to hear me, so really, I couldn’t have planned it better. Vaeril groans quietly behind me, and I know this isn’t the way he wanted the queen to find out, but I can’t seem to help myself.
“What?” Her attention is back on me now, her body frozen as her eyes widen in shock.
“Vaeril suspected I wasn’t fully human, but he had to wait until he returned here to confirm it,” I explain, not bothering to go into detail or the fact that I only learned of this yesterday. “I’m part elf.” Keeping my chin high, I stand tall under her piercing stare, only realising I’ve been holding my breath when she looks at Vaeril.
“Is this true?” Her voice is icy, her eyes narrowing as Vaeril steps up to my side and nods his head in agreement.
“Yes, Master Ardeth confirmed it.”
The hall fills with quiet gasps and exclamations. I hear mutters of, “Half-breed” echo around us as the weight of a dozen eyes lands on me.
“Who?” she barks—an order, not a question.
“Master Jaonos.” Gasps follow Vaeril’s declaration, and the hall fills with speculation, their whispers bouncing off the walls, but there are too many for me to understand what they’re saying. The queen’s gaze returns to mine, and I can feel her hatred for me in that one look. I know one thing for certain, she is going to do everything in her power to have me killed. She might not do it publicly, that would cause too much damage to her reputation as a ‘fair ruler.’ After all, I’m not just Vaeril’s saviour anymore, but also part elf, so no matter how small, a part of me belongs here.
The elf protecting me from the queen shifts, and I can now fully see his face. Eldrin. Part of me knew it was him, but I can’t help but gape at him. He hates me, he’s made no secret of that, so why would he jump in front of me? Sure, he tried to make it look like he was protecting the queen from me, but I can tell from her venomous glare that she knows the real reason too.
“It’s true, Your Majesty,” he begins, his velvety voice rolling across me as he glances at me over his shoulder. “Just look at her. She might have human ears, but look at her other features—”
A loud slapping noise fills the air as he’s cut off. It happened so fast that I missed it, my human eyes too slow to see the movements, but Eldrin is clutching his cheek, and it becomes clear the queen just backhanded him. A flash of colour behind the queen catches my attention, and I see Naril watching with barely concealed anger. His hands are balled into fists, but we both know that if he steps in to defend his brother, it will only make the punishment worse.
Taking a slow step towards him, she stops just inches away, her face pulled into a snarl. “I didn’t ask you,” she bites out, before remembering we have an audience. Her face smooths into the tranquil expression I’m used to seeing on her face, but she just leans forward to speak into Eldrin’s ear. “And if you ever stand in front of me again, I will kill you.” Her whisper is meant for him, but her eyes flick to me as she speaks.
Stepping back, she finally pulls her gaze from me and looks to Vaeril. “Come,” she demands, giving him no room for argument. Stiffening beside me, Vaeril removes his hand from my shoulder and begins to move forward, throwing a look at Eldrin.
“Stay with Clarissa?” I almost miss the words, they’re said so quietly, but I know the queen hears them because she clicks her tongue.
Thankfully, she doesn’t say anything else, simply turning and leaving the room with her entourage following behind. With one last