Regarding her sister with total disbelief, Willow sighed. “That’s ridiculous. He tried to kill Ruben tonight. And he admitted to everything.”
“No.” Tatiana crossed her arms. “You tricked him. I demand to see him.”
Tiredly, Willow let herself sink down onto her bed. What she’d give to rest her head on the pillow and simply close her eyes. “Why do you care? I know a long time ago you wanted me to switch with you, but since I haven’t seen any evidence of anything going on between the two of you, surely you’re over that by now.”
To her astonishment, Tatiana blushed a deep, fiery red. “Actually, we’ve been with each other. In the physical sense. I want to marry Chad, not Eric.”
Oh for the... Now Willow did close her eyes. She opened them again when the room began swirling around her. “Tati, Chad’s a vicious murderer. Not only that, but he tried to kill Ruben. We’ve taken him before King Drem. When we leave tomorrow, armed guards will be escorting us home. He’ll be standing trial for his crime.”
But Tatiana didn’t want to hear. “I refuse to believe you. I need to rescue him. If you won’t help me, then I’ll find someone who will. I know.” She snapped her fingers. “Eric won’t let this happen to his brother.”
“Go.” Too drained to argue, Willow waved her away. “King Drem has already summoned Eric. I think you might find out that he wasn’t surprised.”
She didn’t even react as Tatiana stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
* * *
The next morning arrived much too quickly. Her entire body aching, Willow hurried through her preparations, aware that her sister would no doubt make this the journey from hell.
Once downstairs, she went to the banquet area. Ruben was already there, finishing his breakfast. She saw no sign of Eric or Tatiana, or anyone else from King Drem’s Court.
Studying Ruben, she saw no sign of the bitter despair that had ravaged him the previous evening. In fact, as she returned his impersonal smile, it seemed like he’d put those momentous events temporarily behind him. At least, she hoped his blankness was only temporary. Sniffing, she searched the air to make sure he hadn’t been placed under a spell. She found none of the lingering residue of magic, so she supposed he was trying to deal with things the best way he could at the moment. Time, like always, would finish healing his wounds.
After filling her own plate, she sat down across from him and filled him in with what her sister had said.
“Really?” Shaking his head, Ruben winced, then drained a large mug of coffee. “Did you see that coming?”
“Honestly, no. Though when the two princes first arrived in SouthWard, Tatiana did come to my room and declared she wanted Chad and would give me Eric. I chalked it up to her normal theatrics and let it go.”
“Ah, well.” He pushed his plate away. “Hopefully she’ll let it go. I haven’t seen Eric, so I don’t know how he’s reacting.”
He’d barely finished speaking when Eric and Tatiana strolled into the room. Neither of them spoke or even glanced at Ruben and Willow. Instead, they filled their plates quickly and took a table in a corner as far away as they could get while remaining in the room.
Willow sighed. “So that’s how it’s going to be.”
Ruben eyed them. “How much magic do the two of them have?”
Shocked, she forgot to chew. Swallowing hastily, she spoke. “Surely you don’t think—”
“That they’ll try to stage a rescue? Actually, that’s exactly what I do think.”
“Then ask King Drem to seal their powers.” She resumed her meal. “Easy enough of a solution.”
“You can do that?”
“Of course.” Satisfied, she pushed her own plate away. “It’s a simple spell for someone who’s as powerful as him. He can even put a time limit on it. The only stipulation is to cast such a spell, the Sidhe must be more powerful than the ones he puts the spell on. And, since you don’t get to be king unless you have a lot of power, I’m sure that’s well within his capabilities.”
“Thank you.” Ruben pushed back his chair. “I’ll find the king and ask him. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
The instant Ruben left, the other two got up and carried their plates over to her table. Without asking, they plunked down in the chairs next to and across from her.
“We need your help,” Tatiana said, her no-nonsense stare