Hotbloods 5_Traitors by Bella Forrest

Author:Bella Forrest [Forrest, Bella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nightlight
Published: 2018-04-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Alarmed faces stared down at me as I got to my feet. Gianne was kneeling across the limp form of Lorela, pressing the pillow to her face. In her shock at the sight of me, she released her grip on the pillow. As it fell away, Lorela coughed loudly, wheezing as she recovered her breath. Nobody ran to help her, and nobody seemed to care. Everyone’s attention was firmly on me.

I scanned the rest of the room, startled to find Mort standing in the hallway, in the guise of Doctor Ulani. He looked horrified by what I’d done, but what choice did I have? I’d done what was right, because Jareth wouldn’t. Ronad was still unconscious, his body splayed out on the ground.

The queen stared at me intently, her striking silver eyes narrowing. I could tell she was trying to place me. Sure enough, recognition dawned, Gianne’s eyebrows raising in surprise.

“You’re that little creature Navan had with him, aren’t you?” she whispered.

I nodded politely. “I’m part of the plan, Your Majesty.”

“The plan?” She shuffled off the edge of the bed and stood directly in front of me, more curious than suspicious.

“I’m bait, Your Majesty, to bring Navan back to your side of Vysanthe. This is his home, and this is where he belongs,” I explained, smiling sweetly. “Mr. Idrax only kept me a secret because he wanted to be sure Navan would take the bait. Mr. Idrax is eager to see him back here so you can pardon him, and he can marry his intended, Seraphina. He didn’t want to bother you with his family troubles until Navan had made it back safely.”

A gasp sounded from Aurelius’s turkey neck as his rheumy eyes turned toward Jareth with a look of hostile accusation. Clearly, he’d expected the marriage between Navan and Seraphina to be off, with Jareth allowing him to marry Seraphina instead. What he hadn’t taken into account was Jareth Idrax’s unyielding concern for his own reputation and status, above that of anyone else.

Haven’t you figured that out yet, you sick bastard? I thought.

As soon as Navan came back to the South and received his pardon, everything would go on as it had before. Despite the brief defection, the fact that Navan had been betrothed to Seraphina first still held a lawful sway. There was nothing Aurelius could do about it, though I couldn’t believe he’d been stupid enough to think that Jareth would just let him marry a woman who had been intended for his son.

“You will pardon Navan, won’t you, Your Majesty?” I asked. “I know he’d be grateful to be welcomed back into the fold.”

Gianne burst out laughing, though I didn’t know whether to interpret that as a good thing or a bad thing, considering the unpredictability of her mental state.

With a deranged twinkle in her eerie eyes, she tilted her head in a slight nod. “I will honor my pardon for Navan. I am a woman of my word.”

“You can’t be serious, Your Majesty,” Aurelius interjected, evidently irritated at the prospect of losing his “delicious” fiancée.

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