The Elven King's Consort

Chapter 9: Innocence

His glare cut right through me, but I didn't allow it to show, and the fear that wanted to spill over, I hid, pushing it down and trying to stay brave. This was the Alpha scent. Intoxicating. Aggressive. Dangerous. I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to control the monster within me who felt threatened and wanted to attack. King Demetri observed me quietly for a long moment while those all around became noisy.

"Why isn't he saying anything?"

I heard someone whisper afar. But I knew why. He was trying to make me submit and admit to the accusations. How does one deal with fear? They try to escape it, or they give up willingly, hoping the punishment would be less severe than the emotional train wreck afflicted upon them. Well, I won't be in either of those scenarios. I didn't do anything, and there was nothing to prove against that.

King Demetri finally stood to his feet, and slowly, the eyes darkened from the wolf within him, stepped down the stairwell leading towards us, his soul becoming one with the beast. Only a few feet away did he stop, noting how the force being released around made not only myself but those around breathe heavily from the fight we put up against the assertive scent.

"Did you kill him, Nadalia?" He asked, slightly growling.

Lifting my chin up, I stared into those swirling orbs of his.

"No."

Those around objected, but he remained quiet.

"I found it odd you all transported directly into the courtroom," he said, changing the topic. I raised a brow, confused by this and wary of the antics he was playing at.

"Yes, now that you mention it, it is odd," the woman leading the knight said, looking at the drained stone in her hands.

"From what my sources say, you, Nadalia, did not enter through the front gates or any door as a matter of fact. So how did you end up in your room when everyone that has been investigated thus far has claimed you had left with Kaiden and had not returned."

So that's why he brought up the stones. But what did that have to do with Kaiden? Was he suspecting me of killing the Lycan general with magic? Everyone knows I can't use magic, and Cealestis or my mother would have told me if that was wrong.

"I used a transportation stone like everyone else. Yes, I admit I was transferred directly to my room and made no effort to inform those I had arrived. It was late. And I didn't need anything. So why should I bother anyone?"

He rested his lean, broad body against the rail, separating us, folding his arms across his chest and eyeing me unconvinced.

"Kaiden was found unresponsive early this morning by his second in command, Thaddeus, when he didn't show up at sunrise for practice. After examination by the royal doctor, it was confirmed he'd been force-fed an elixir that stops the heart in a painless and slow process. The empty bottle was found discarded recklessly not far from him."

"And what makes you suspect me? It sounds like suicide, not murder."

Demetri narrowed his eyes. They flashed with anger, and I knew he had lost his remaining patience for me at that moment.

"You are the only one who has access to elixirs, Nadalia. From the day you were born, it's known the elves have concocted many types for this unknown disease you carry. What's to say you didn't request poisons and other toxic elixirs for the future?"

"You forget that we haven't been in contact with the Elven Kingdom for eight years, King Demetri. I have no elixirs."

"I doubt it. A disease doesn't simply decide not to react because it has no medicine to contain it. Your supply is there, but where and what you have are the questions I need answers to. If you show me and there really is nothing odd, I will drop the charges and look elsewhere for answers. But until then, you will be under house arrest and forbidden to leave the Vampire Kingdoms castle grounds. I'll ask Maylyn to prepare a guest room. Your room is also under investigation, and if you fail to cooperate, I'll take it as your admitting to the charges, and immediate actions will take place."