"Kalamazoo!" Islinda’s screams echoed across the hallway as the Fae walked on, undisturbed with her frantic struggles. Palace workers stepped out of the way, bewildered by the scene, yet made no move to interfere.
Damn it, Islinda cursed under her breath. She could really use a bit of help right now.
"You are making a huge mistake,"She told Kalam, hoping to get through to him," You should know the relationship between and Aldric already and he would never treat the way he’s been doing the past few days! You are close to him, right? Doesn’t he seem strange to you too?"
However, the Fae did not answer, and his silence only made Islinda release a groan of frustration.
Still yet, Islinda was undeterred and went on to say, "I am telling you not to obey Aldric’s order, please help . I would never an Aldric any harm."
This ti, Islinda heard a disgruntlent from Kalamazoo, but that was pretty much it, nothing else. The fae must be conflicted about the idea and Islinda sensed he needed a little push.
Islinda tried to say, her words desperate and urgent, "Believe , Elena is not who she shows herself to be and must have put Aldric under a spell — ouch!"
She could not finish, Kalamazoo’s abrupt movent knocking the breath out of her lungs, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Ouch!" Islinda gasped as his shoulder dug into her stomach, forcing the air from her lungs and cutting her words short.
"You are heartless!" Islinda’s voice strained with pain, her only desire to be released from his relentless grip.
Her wish was granted as they arrived at their destination, and Kalamazoo lowered her to her feet. Islinda’s head spun from the movent, her legs threatening to give way, but Kalam held her steady until she regained her balance.
As soon as she saw the door, Islinda attempted to outmaneuver Kalamazoo and make a run for it, but her efforts were thwarted as he grabbed her by the back of her clothes and yanked her back.
"Don’t be foolish. You’ll only hurt yourself," Kalamazoo warned her sternly.
Frustration welled up within Islinda as she realized she couldn’t outrun the Fae. Desperate, she attempted to reason with him once more.
"Listen to , Kalam. Prince Aldric is not himself—"
"And you think I haven’t noticed?" he growled, cutting her off abruptly.
"What?" Islinda’s eyes widened in surprise.
"Elena’s involvent in court matters has been suspiciously extensive the past two days, especially considering Aldric’s efforts to limit external influence in the winter court."
"So you’re suggesting you know she’s resorting to witchcraft?" Islinda inquired with a glimr of hope.
"By the gods," Kalamazoo groaned, running a hand down his face in exasperation. "Now I see why the prince is actually doing you a favor by confining you. Otherwise, you’d be walking straight into danger."
"What?" Islinda’s confusion deepened
Facing her squarely, Kalamazoo spoke with sternness, "You can’t just go around accusing a high Fae without concrete evidence."
"But I do have evidence! Elena has been targeting —" Islinda protested.
"I an tangible evidence, not just so petty feud between females," Kalamazoo interjected before she could finish.
He continued, "Accusing the High Lord of being manipulated is a serious allegation. If an investigation finds it baseless, you’ll find yourself in grave trouble, and not even Prince Aldric could protect you from the consequences."
Despite Kalamazoo’s intentions to protect her, Islinda couldn’t help but feel frustrated that he regarded her conflict with Elena as trivial. To Islinda, it was far from ordinary—it was life-threatening. Elena had already succeeded in killing her once, and there was an attempted attack at the dining hall. Unbeknownst to Islinda, Elena was responsible for the attack at the Astarian palace as well, which would have added to the tally of two kills and one attempted attack.
Islinda wondered if she had made a mistake by concealing the snake attack. If she had reported it, perhaps the snake would have been investigated to determine if it had any traces of witchery.
However, she had been backed into a corner, forced to cover up the incident knowing that questions would inevitably arise about how she had managed to survive such a deadly venomous assault.
Islinda realized that, at the mont, all she had were gut feelings and her wits, and Kalamazoo was right. No one would believe that the sweet, seemingly loving Elena would want to harm a seemingly insignificant human like her. The Fae community would undoubtedly rally around their own kind over her. What Islinda needed was concrete evidence to expose Elena’s insidious nature once and for all.
"And what if I am right?"
"What?"
Islinda said fiercely, "What if my accusation is correct, and Elena is indeed manipulating Aldric."
Kalamazoo hesitated, "I’ll first investigate thoroughly before presenting anything to the court."
"You don’t believe ." It dawned on Islinda, anger filling her. "Are you kidding ?! You just admitted to seeing the sa signs and yet you’re hesitating! What are you so afraid of? Punishnt? Death?!"
"I fear the consequences if Prince Aldric returns to his senses in the end and realizes I put you in danger during the investigation!" Kalamazoo snapped back.
Silence fell on them, the tension in the air thick and palpable as they stared at each other. Islinda wished she should just co out with the revelation that she was not as weak as she was. However, the Fae would definitely question the source of her ability and if they were to trace that she was sohow related to a demon, Islinda didn’t even dare to imagine what would be her fate.
Kalamazoo finally said, "Stay put, I’ll handle this. Don’t even do a thing." He commanded her.
Islinda emitted a disgruntled sound, but before she could protest further, Kalamazoo was already heading for the door.
"No don’t -!" She exclaid, but he had already shut the door, leaving her to curse under her breath.
Islinda could break down the door, but that would only cause a scene and knowing Aldric, he would probably send her to a reinforced prison she couldn’t escape. Not to ntion, that would admit she was sowhat special and draw more attention to herself.
Frustration consud her as she paced the room, venting her anger by tossing her belongings. It was not that Islinda didn’t trust Kalamazoo, but she knew the level of Elena’s cruelty and how the bitch operated. Not to ntion two heads were better than one. If only Maxi and Issac were here then things would have been....
Damn it! Maxi and Issac. Why didn’t she think of them faster?
Reviews
All reviews (0)