Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Amira’s face twisted as she watched Alaric swirl the vial between his fingers, his expression unreadable. The entire room was still, waiting for him to pass judgment, but instead of giving her the reaction she wanted, he exhaled through his nose, sounding thoroughly unimpressed.
“This,” he said, tilting the vial in the light, “is syrup. Honey syrup.”
The silence that followed was almost deafening.
I didn’t even have time to process what he said before murmurs erupted around us. The nobles shifted uneasily, and some of the guards exchanged confused glances. Amira, for the first time in her life, looked absolutely blindsided.
“What?” she snapped, her composure cracking.
Alaric raised a brow. “Are you deaf now, too?” He uncorked the bottle, dipped a finger in, and licked it with a look of mild boredom. “Honey syrup. Quite good, actually. Would you like some?” He held it out to her, and she recoiled like he’d offered her poison for real.
“I–I don’t understand,” she stammered, eyes darting between me and the vial as if she could somehow make the evidence shift in her favor. “That’s not–that’s not what I saw-
Alaric sighed. “Then perhaps you should get your eyes checked.”
Everyone suddenly laughed.
Women hid their giggle behind a fan.
Amira’s fists clenched at her sides. “But she-”
“You accused my Luna of poisoning you,” Alaric said flatly, his voice like ice. “Yet, all you’ve shown us is that you have an allergy to something you consumed at the gathering. Unless you’re going to tell me that honey syrup is lethal?”
She went rigid.
She knew she couldn’t win this.
Not when the king himself had called her bluff.
“My Lord, I—”
“You’re dismissed.”
It wasn’t a suggestion.
It wasn’t a request.
It was an order. One even Amira stubbornness cannot dispute.
Amira swallowed hard, her face burning as she bowed stiffly. She didn’t spare me a single glance as she turned and walked out of the room, her back straight and shoulders tense.
I exhaled slowly, my hands unclenching at my sides.
The guards left soon after, the nobles following close behind, whispering amongst themselves as they filtered out the doors,
And then it was just us.
The heavy doors shut, sealing the room in silence.
Alaric still held the vial.
He turned it in his hand once, then flicked his gaze to me.
“Someone betrayed you,” he said simply.
I sniffened.
Before I could ask him what he meant, he moved.
Not towards me–towards the window.
He stepped onto the ledge, cracked the window open with one hand, and without any hesitation, tipped the contents of the vial out.
The liquid disappeared into the night.
Alaric didn’t turn from the window, but his voice was steady. “Someone planted that vial in your room.”
I crossed my arms. “But you said it was syrup?”
His lips twitched like he was amused but too tired to care. “Think about it logically, Liana. If it had actually been poison, would I have put it in my mouth?”
I hesitated.
He glanced at me over his shoulder, his expression unreadable. “Of course not.” He turned the empty vial between his fingers. “It wasn’t syrup either.”
I frowned. “But you just said—”
“I’m the king.” He flicked the vial into the air, caught it without looking. “I say whatever I need to. I have no idea what it was, but something in me tells me it was made to look like poison but wasn’t.”
And then, without hesitation, he threw it.
The vial disappeared out the window, the faint sound of glass shattering against stone reaching my ears.
I stared at him. “You could’ve just set it down and have someone investigate it.”
He shrugged. “Only one person can make that kind of potion.”
“Who?”
He ignored that, closing his eyes.
I narrowed mine.
“What are you doing?”
Silence.
His expression didn’t change.
His breathing didn’t shift.
He just stood there, still as stone.
I stepped closer.
“Alaric.”
Nothing.
I swallowed. My fingers twitched.
“Alaric.”
Still nothing.
1 hesitated before lifting a hand, my fingers hovering just shy of his face.
His jaw was tight
His breathing was even.
his skin.
8:29 PM.
Chapter 42
I took another step.
And just as my fingertips were about to brush his cheek—
His eyes opened.
I froze.
We were too close.
Too close.
His gaze dropped to my lips.
I swallowed.
Slowly, I stepped back.
He watched me, his expression unreadable, and then-
His lips curved into something slow. Amused.
“Want to kiss me?”
“No.” The word left my mouth too fast, too sharp.
I stepped back–almost tripping over my own feet.
Alaric moved faster, catching me before I could fall. His grip was firm, steady. And damn it, he was smirking again.
“For someone who doesn’t want to kiss me, you keep throwing yourself at me,” he mused.
Heat crept up my neck. “It’s not like that.”
“Mm.” He didn’t look convinced.
He finally let me go, leaning lazily against the desk. His arrogance dimmed just slightly as he exhaled. “I was going through my pack’s memories,” he said. “No one entered your room.”
That made me freeze.
He frowned. “So how did she drop poison in there?”
I swallowed. My nails dug into my palms.
Alaric’s gaze sharpened. “Liana.”
I took a breath. “I didn’t want to kill Amira.”
His brow lifted.
I looked away. “I wanted to make her suffer. Killing? No. I want her to feel the amount of pain that I went through. Never poison her to give her rashes. That’s dumb.”
Silence.
I could feel his stare, but the words just kept spilling out.
“She’s always been like this,” I murmured. “She did something similar when we were kids, Lied. Twisted things. And my parents believed her every time. She got everything. I got beaten.” A bitter laugh slipped out. “She’s cunning. A thief. She stole my mate, my home, my life. And now she’s back.”
My voice cracked. I hated that.
Alaric didn’t say anything.
I clenched my fists. “I want revenge.” My breath wavered. “But I don’t know how to start. Everything’s been moving so fast. I lost track of what I wanted. And now-
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8:29 PM.
Chapter 42
I sucked in a sharp breath.
I couldn’t stop the tears.
Alaric exhaled, and before I could pull away-
He pulled me into his
chest.
His arms were warm. Steady.
“Calm down,” he muttered.
I squeezed my eyes shut. My fingers curled into the fabric of his tunic.
The tears began to flow before I could even stop them.
