Elemental Heir | ✔️

Chapter 61

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I stared at the man who lay dead at Dristan's feet. The man who, only moments ago, had been full of life and drink and laughter. He was dead. Poisoned with liquid silver that had been somehow slipped into his drink.

No, not his drink...
Dristan's drink.

My bowels turned to liquid and my scalp prickled with dread. I wanted to scream with rage as I realized that someone, once again, had put Dristan's life in danger. However, I remained silent, staring at the dead male as shock filled my system, rooting me to the spot like a stubborn weed.

It was one thing for Dristan's life to be threatened in the middle of a perilous forest. It was another thing entirely for his life to be threatened in the sanctity of our own home. It brought on a sense of fear and fury that was much different than the one I'd felt when the arrow had flown at his back. This was our home. The aviary was supposed to be safe, protected, a place where we did not have to worry about the threats that loomed beyond it's wards.

And yet...

Someone had tried to poison Dristan. Someone in this very room had tried to murder my mate. My future husband, my future king.

Not just my future king... All of ours.

Rage boiled beneath my skin as I stood frozen to the spot. A familiar presence from deep within my being stirred. A presence that I might have feared once, long ago... A presence that I'd welcomed back in the forest as I'd watched my mate withstand the bite of an iron whip.

My shock and terror were the only things keeping her at bay for the moment. Once this paralysis wore off... I prayed for whomever might stand in her way when she broke through the surface of my mind's dark waters.

Dristan stared down at the man's body. No one spoke. The merriment around us slowly died out as people began to realize that something was very, very wrong. Slowly, so slowly, the dull roar of chatter died out. The music faltered, as if the notes themselves were confused by what was happening, and then it stopped altogether.

Someone nearby cried out in horror. A woman.

"No!"

She pushed through the crowd, her face taught with fear and shock. When she broke through the wall of bodies and her eyes fell upon the fallen male, her face drained of color.

"Rave!" She gasped, falling to her knees beside his limp figure. Her hands shook as she cupped his face, shaking him as if to wake him from a deep slumber. "Rave, wake up! W-what's happened?! What 's wrong with him?!" She choked, glancing up at us.

I covered my mouth with a trembling hand, sorrow and empathy overwhelming me as I beheld the desperation in her eyes. That was supposed to be me... I was the one who was meant to be kneeling beside the body of my fallen beloved.