“I will leave all of the Allairises alone. I don’t hurt my friends,” I say. “Just tell Trey I said I’m stone and I don’t need a babysitter. Then make sure he deletes all of those pictures. There are about six…no seven. Oh, and his men, Jax and Wayra, might have a copy of a few. Make sure you get those, too. If someone leaks them, you can blame it on the mission. He had to pretend to be my consort in order to get me to Rafe from Earth. It was just a mission—you have nothing to worry about. He’ll be on to his next mission soon and he’ll forget all about me.”
“If you’re not blackmailing him and you’re not his lover, then why would he ask me to help you?” Victus asks, still unconvinced.
“Guilt. He thinks that since I was born and raised on Earth and he was sent to bring me back that I won’t be able to survive here on my own…so he feels guilty,” I explain, not looking at him, but raising my chin. “He’s wrong and you can tell him I said that his lack of faith in me is insulting.”
“You’re her,” Victus says softly.
“I’m who?”
“You’re the one. You’re Hollowell! Of course!” he says, like he just put two and two together. Smiling, he looks just like Trey.
“Oh. I’m the urban legend—crazy priestess—run and lock up your sons. Freak on the loose, well, not really loose,” I say sarcastically. “Listen, I’m kind of having a really bad day. Do you think you can just leave me alone before I say something I don’t mean?”
“I apologize, Kricket. I have misread the situation here,” he says in a quiet tone. “My brother was very upset when he spoke to me and he couldn’t tell me details. I rushed to the wrong conclusions.”
“Don’t stress, Victus. It’s not the worst thing that happened to me today.”
“I may be able to help,” Victus offers, now a total gentleman. “I was a wigg before I became an Ateur.”
“What’s an Ateur?”
“A member of the House of Lords,” he says, surprised that I don’t know.
“You better not. It will look suspicious for Trey. He might get in trouble. In fact, you should leave before Ustus gets back. He might think you’re Trey and he’s not happy with him.”
“Why?” Victus asks, confused.
“Oh,” I wave him off, touching my sore neck absently. Victus must’ve seen something because he walks over to me and his hand goes to my collar. Pulling it back gently, Victus frowns at me again.
“Why is your neck bruised?” he demands, just as pushy as Trey.
“That collar thingy was too tight,” I reply, stepping away and feeling embarrassed. “It’s okay. Trey made them take it off me.”
“They used a restraint on you?” he sounds outraged. “You’re a female...and you’re so small.”
Rolling my eyes at his comment, I sigh, “I’m not small!”
“Kricket, you’re small,” he frowns.
“Whatever,” I mumble. “I’m strong and I’m smart and once I figure all of this out, I’ll be fine.”
“I insist that you let me help you,” Victus says, using a superior tone again. “You should have proper representation.”
“Oh, don’t be a knob knocker, Victus,” I reply, rubbing my eyes. “You can’t bully me. This is bad for your family. The Regent is involved. They have a deal already.” I gesture toward the door. “It’s done. I’m theirs. I just have to figure out how to navigate in this world and you can’t help me with that.”
“No one has called me a ‘knob knocker’ in a very long time…in fact, Trey was the last person to call me a knob knocker,” Victus says, fighting a smile.
“Yeah? Well, I learned that word from the Cavars on our way here. I need some more good swears for the Regent.”
Victus sobers instantly, “No you don’t, Kricket.”
“Don’t worry, Victus. They went through a lot of trouble to get me. They’ll want my cooperation so they may play ball,” I say, almost to myself.
“Play ball?” he asks, his brow wrinkling.
“Come to the palace some day and I’ll show you how it’s done.” I smile despite the situation.
“Is that where you’ll be?” he asks, studying everything about me.
“For now.”
“And you’re sure that there is nothing that I can do for you?” he poses the question and when I shake my head, he almost looks disappointed. “Do you want me to tell Trey anything else…other than you’re a stone and you don’t need to sit on babies?”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” seeing his confused look, I murmur, “never mind…just tell Trey…tell him that honey is nectar that bees create and it’s very sweet and that…I miss it…more than pizza.”
“You don’t have to miss it, Kricket. We have that here. We call it homitie.”
“Oh. Just tell Trey what I said, okay?” I can’t help holding my breath a little. He nods and I exhale. “Thank you for coming, Victus.” Victus inclines his head. Picking up his communicator off the table, he walks to the door.
Victus pauses there before he says, “I don’t think it’s guilt.” When I look back at him, he smiles. “No, it’s definitely not guilt.” He closes the door behind him and I ponder his words as I stare out the window.
CHAPTER 13
THE PALACE
I don’t even try to look out the window of the fast moving hover car on the way back to the palace from the corrective court. “So, what’s the verdict, slim?” I ask Ustus, watching him tap on his communicator.
Ustus ignores me, probably because I called him “slim.” I try again, “Ustus?”
“You’re a ward of the Regent until your twentieth birthday,” Ustus states, not looking at me.
“The Regent?” I ask, wanting an explanation. “Is that normal?”
“It is unusual.”
“You want to give me the odds on that one? Is it ‘four-leaf clover’ kind of unusual or ‘man-with-four-heads’ kind of strange?”
“The latter, I think.” He tries to ignore me again.
“Anything else?”
“Your wigg had the penance waved.”
“Wow, what do you know? Maybe you guys have better public defenders than I’m used to,” I mumble.
“No, your other wigg argued for the penance to be rescinded,” Ustus’s glare pins me to my seat.
“My other wigg?”
“Your court appointed wigg was recused by Ateur Victus. He took over for him on what he claimed was your behest. He renegotiated the penance portion of your sentence, having it dismissed. Custody he could not wrangle, however, since he’s not a family member. No, you are now the ward of the Regent.”
This new information shocks me. Victus got involved, even when I specifically told him to step off. “You don’t approve?” I watch Ustus’s face. “You think I need penance?”
“Yes, you do need penance, but not as a punishment to you.”