The court exploded with commotion the instant Aldric made that accusation. Aldric giving up in the death duel instead of dying honorably since he was losing was a shaful thing, but Valerie taking Spirit was a much more horrible thing. He cheated. And he was a prince.
Amid the ruckus, Queen Nirvana stood impressed and shocked at the sa ti. Leave it to Aldric to turn the palace upside down when given an opportunity. Of course, Queen Nirvana was the one who had provided Aldric with the glamor potion he had used to disguise himself, as well as sent the invitations to the lords upon Aldric’s request.
After it beca apparent that her son Theodore had no chance for the throne and Valerie and Maeve’s power display, the Autumn queen decided to make it a personal mission to ensure Valerie didn’t occupy that throne. She would rather Aldric take the throne than lose to Queen Maeve and her conceited son. However, Valerie taking Spirit to win the death duel—that was a shocker. Valerie was done for.
Prince Valerie stood frozen as his world ca crashing down. He had suspected Aldric’s intention for coming here, but he thought Aldric was here to demand seeing Oberon. Not this. He hadn’t really thought his brother would know about his use of Spirit. He had been careful.
Derek had gotten rid of every piece of evidence, and he could never betray him. His mother had also been cautious, knowing what was at stake. Not only was he going to be shad, but he could lose his princely position. Spirit was unnatural, just like Aldric’s dark power. Even though it was only a drug, it went against everything Fae.
No one who used Spirit ever ended well. But Valerie had only used it once and wasn’t addicted, even though he was still dealing with the side effects. But no one would believe him. No one would crown a prince addicted to Spirit. There was a reason the king’s heir had to be clean. No one wanted a mad king on the throne.
And it was most unfortunate that he couldn’t lie his way out of this. Fae couldn’t lie, after all.
Queen Maeve’s expression wasn’t much different from her son’s. Her face had crumbled completely. How? She had been careful, and as foolish as her son could be, he also knew the risk and wouldn’t have been careless. So how? How did Aldric know?
Almost imdiately, the blood drained from Queen Maeve’s face as she recalled the blank spots in her mory since Aldric had abducted her. What she saw made her stomach lurch, bile rising in her throat.
Aldric had gotten into her head. He had taken her by surprise and invaded her mind, ripping the mory of her giving Valerie the Spirit. Anger and sorrow drove Maeve to wail, "You—!" She looked at Aldric with heavy hatred.
Aldric, in question, smirked, as if knowing she had figured out how he had gotten the information. Of course, Aldric had his suspicions, and getting into the overconfident Maeve’s head was the only way to confirm them.
Andre finally stepped forward. "Is that true?" he asked coldly. "Did you take Spirit? Was that why you were able to win over Aldric in the death duel?"
"I didn’t win, he gave up!" Valerie tried to excuse himself.
"I gave up because you used Spirit to bolster your abilities, and I couldn’t take it anymore unless I wanted to die unfairly," Aldric interjected. "Also, do you really want to go down that road with ? I gave up my shadows when I knew I could end you with just a flick of a finger in order to fight fairly, but I guess you aren’t Fae enough to fight fairly."
At those words, a few high Faeries in the room responded with murmurs of support, their voices rising in agreent, much to Aldric’s surprise. He hadn’t seen that coming at all. The small but unexpected show of solidarity hinted at an undercurrent of dissatisfaction among the gathered nobles, and that was enough for Aldric.
When Valerie saw Aldric gathering support, he began to panic, and he yelled, "Are you all going to sit back and persecute when I did this for you?! I did it so all of you could have a bright future! I did it for Astaria! Would you really sit there and deny that you didn’t want Aldric gone? Would any of you admit that his dark powers hadn’t bothered you so much you pressured my father Oberon to get rid of him? Would any of you admit you never wanted him dead? And now that I almost finished the job through unconventional ans, you throw to the dust?!"
Valerie had been hoping to gain their support this way. He wanted them to see that his reason for taking Spirit was justifiable. He had done them a favor. Surely, they couldn’t cast him aside when he had sacrificed so much for them.
Silence reigned for what felt like an eternity. And while understanding and pity dawned on so of their faces, it still couldn’t overshadow the disappointnt in their eyes.
At that mont, Aldric clapped his hands to draw their attention, his eyes gleaming with mischief, like a trickster reveling in the chaos he was about to unleash.
He tattled excitedly, "Oh, and did I ntion? I wasn’t finished yet. It turns out that your honorable Prince Valerie, and his beloved accomplice mother, Queen Maeve, coerced the healer to induce your favorite king Oberon, into a deep sleep until her son could deceive the lot of you and sit on the throne. I an, that’s a genius idea, don’t you think? This would make a terrific story for the future generations studying the scheming in the royal family."
However, everyone had stopped listening to Aldric’s prattle the mont he revealed that the mother-and-son duo had plotted against their beloved King Oberon.
At this point, Queen Maeve’s legs gave out entirely, and she crumpled to the ground. It was over. Aldric had finished her. There was no getting out of this.
Her life as queen was about to be over.
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