Destined for Greatness ✔️

Chapter 44

Cerise was alive. Her mother was alive.

Ryleigh dug her fingers into the cold dirt, just to make sure she was still grounded in reality. Was this real? Could this be? She hadn't been the one who had altered her memory. Cerise had. Her own mother had tampered with her mind. Her own mother had made her believe she had died, just so she could run like a coward without anyone ever knowing.

This could not be true.

Her mother, alive? All these years?

It was insane. The more she thought about it, the more insane it was. Cerise hadn't just altered Ryleigh's mind. Corbin – and most of the other survivors – would swear up and down that Cerise had died in front of their eyes. That was how Corbin believed it. He hadn't felt their bond tear, or at least Ryleigh had never heard him say as much, but because he had seen her die right in front of him, he believed that she had died. Cerise had manipulated every single one of them.

Why? Cerise had loved her. She had loved the Shadow Walkers. She had loved Corbin. She had loved all of it, and she had never, never, backed away from a fight before. Why had she run? Why had she lied to everyone? Why had she made her own family believe she had died a horrible death?

None of it made sense. And until it did, she wasn't going to tell anyone.

*****

"Your Highness."

It took a second for it to dawn on Jade that someone was addressing her. That 'Your Highness' was her title. That she had a title. She stopped, and turned. Her heart skipped a beat. Maxwell.

He halted in front of her, bowing slightly. "We haven't had one of our talks in ages. I suppose congratulations are in order. You are officially a part of the family. Good to have you."

"Thank you," she said. It was a good thing her guards were with her. She wasn't at ease.

"Perhaps we can have a word in a more private setting?" he inquired. "We could have some tea in my quarters, like old times." He smiled at her. "I recognise I have some apologising to do. About a certain tunnel and a near-death-experience. If you would hear me out?"

She found herself nodding. It was probably a bad idea to be alone with him, but he intrigued her, and Jade had never met a bad idea she didn't like. "Of course. Lead the way."

His smile turned into a grin and he nodded, joining her at her side and gesturing at a corner. "Take a right here. I was really glad to hear you and Aaron have decided to mate. You will make a fine pair, I am sure. And he absolutely adores you, so I'm sure you'll be a very happy woman."

"I am sure as well," Jade said. She fidgeted with the pendant around her neck.

"I have already linked my servants to bring us tea, so that should be arranged shortly," Maxwell said, when they reached his quarters. He opened the door and gestured inside. "Sit, please."

Jade nodded for her guards to stay outside and entered the room, making for the table and taking a seat. He closed the door, and the room suddenly felt smaller. She wasn't afraid, not nearly, but she was cautious.

He sat down opposite her. "How have you been since the attack? You look well."

"I feel well. Paige, the Shadow Walker healer, is a miracle worker. She saved my life."

"And I am glad for it. I cannot imagine what would have happened to Aaron had he lost you. He would be torn apart by grief, of course, and in due time the council would have forced someone of their liking on him, and he would have been miserable for the rest of his life, and he'd grow to be a bitter king who made bad decisions, and the whole kingdom would have fallen into ruin."

Jade chuckled. She was prevented from answering when a few servants came in carrying a tray with some tea and cups.

"You value my influence too highly," Jade said once they had left.

Maxwell smiled and poured her tea. "Perhaps. But any fool can see that Aaron loves you as much as any man could possibly love a woman. Your death would have been a tragedy. Knowing that, I am even more sorry that I showed you that tunnel."

Jade stared at the smoke trickling up from her cup. "What do you have to be sorry for? You did not know that I would get attacked." She swallowed the Did you? that wanted to follow.

He regarded her for a moment, then averted his attention to his cup, putting in some sugar. "I am glad you do not accuse me of having set you up. Goddess knows I have been thoroughly questioned on that topic."

"You have?"

"No one told you?" He swirled a spoon through the liquid. "O, yes. Alder and Corinne questioned me for a length of time. Corinne was ready to execute me, I think. She very easily believed that I had set you up. That is: she very easily believed that the council would have made me set you up. After all, it is no secret that they do not approve of you."

"That's true. But they didn't? Tell you to set me up?"

"If they did, you would know. I dare say they are a bit sour that they didn't. Not that they would have gotten away with it, not with you reading their minds. It would have been a good plan if they somehow managed it, though. On the other hand, and this is what I argued back when Alder and Corinne questioned me, why would the council or I go through the trouble of having you killed outside, when we could far more easily have you killed inside?"

"If that comment is supposed to prove your innocence, you might want to try again," Jade said.

Maxwell breathed a chuckle through his nose. "It is supposed to prove my innocence. Because if I wanted you dead, would I show you a tunnel that most people don't know exist? I might as well have written 'I did it' on my forehead."

"Perhaps," Jade said, nodding slowly. "But then on the other hand, you might have assumed that I would not tell anyone – considering I would use it to sneak out of the castle, so if I had mentioned it to Aaron, he would have stationed guards there to prevent me from going – and you might have assumed that the assassination would be successful, and therefore you might have deemed it safe to show me the tunnel."

Maxwell rubbed his chin. "Alright. Point taken. But, any smart man would have taken into account the possibility that the assassination would not be successful. I do hope you consider me a smart man."

Jade let her eyes wander over him. There was a guardedness to his gaze, a certain vanity to his posture, a certain charm to his smile. Yes, he was clever, she could see that. Untrustworthy, but clever about it.

"So you are saying that you did not try to kill me, because if you had, you would have done it in a smarter way? That is your argument?"

Maxwell nodded. "Yes. If I had been the one to try to kill you, you'd be dead."

Jade brought her cup to her lips and sipped from her tea. It was too hot and scorched down her throat, but it was a good burn.

"Now, the council as a whole is not as clever as I am," Maxwell said, "but they wouldn't have had you killed outside. If they had been the ones to organise this, they would have made sure there had been some irrefutable evidence linking this crime to the Shadow Walkers. They'd spin a nice story out of it – you betrayed the Shadow Walkers, so they killed you. Simple as that. But there is no such evidence, so they did not do it."

"Perhaps you are right," Jade said. "I do not know. Since you are so certain of who did not do it, perhaps you would be so bold as to theorise about who may have done it?"

Maxwell tapped his spoon against the rim of his cup and put it on the table. "O, I don't know, Your Highness. Could've been anybody. Truth is, there is always going to be people who want to kill you. That is something that comes with your background, and your rank. Power has its drawbacks." 

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A/N: I really like writing Maxwell. What do you think of him, now you've seen a little more of him? 

Thank you for reading!