I nodded. “It has everything to do with it.”
The goddess stone was gone and with it, the magic that prevented me from talking about Aedhna and the ke’tain. So, I told them about meeting Aedhna and the job she had given me. I didn’t mention the other ke’tains or their locations, only that she had charged me with taking the one in the temple to various places to restore its power.
I had an enrapt audience as I described how I’d used the goddess stone to create glamours powerful enough to walk through the temple wards. And how Gus had flown me wherever I needed to go.
“Incredible,” murmured one of the advisors.
“This is why the storms suddenly stopped,” said the other.
I nodded and looked at Korrigan. “The day you caught me in the temple, I’d just returned the ke’tain after the final task. I was still bound by Aedhna’s magic, so I couldn’t tell you why I was there.”
He pressed his lips together thoughtfully. “Is that why you escaped the cells and ran away to the human world? You thought no one would believe you?”
“I didn’t run away. Queen Anwyn’s guards came into my cell and took me to Seelie.”
“Impossible.” Korrigan scowled. “That area is warded, and only authorized people can enter. No one from Seelie could have gotten in without permission.”
“Not unless they had inside help,” I said.
He crossed his arms. “They would have required the help of a guard. None of the guards here would go against my orders.”
“At least one of them did. I’d start with the one who let Rashari in to see me.”
“Rashari?” Maurelle echoed.
“She visited me in the cells before I was taken, and Queen Anwyn said she was the one who gave me up.”
The king shook his head. “I refuse to believe Rashari would betray us to Seelie. Why would she do that?”
I stared at him. Was he serious? Hadn’t Dariyah shown him the lengths some people would go to become the next consort?
My head began to ache, and I wrapped my arms around my middle. Where was Lukas?
Maurelle laid her hand over the king’s. “Korrigan will get to the truth of this. Let Jesse tell us everything first.”
“You are right.” King Oseron tipped his head at me. “Please, continue.”
I held nothing back. I described my imprisonment, torture, and beatings, my conversations with the queen and her reasons for stealing the ke’tain the first time. Korrigan and the king tried to interrupt with questions, but I refused to stop until I got it all out. I told them about Rhys and who he really was, and I made it clear he had no clue what the queen had done.
“Her guards used a fresh drakkan hide to get past the wards at the temple,” I told Korrigan. “It couldn’t make them invisible, so they killed all the temple guards, even the two from Seelie. She told people there that I did it. Her plan was to kill me by making me touch the ke’tain in front of them.”
“But the goddess stone saved you,” Maurelle said.
“Yes.” I inhaled deeply and told them what happened after I touched the ke’tain. “I didn’t want to kill anyone, but I’m not sorry she and Bauchan are dead. They tried to kill me first.”
Korrigan turned to the king. “This explains why Seelie has not responded to our message about what happened at the temple.”
King Oseron nodded grimly and looked at one of the advisors. “Summon the council.”
The advisor stood and hurried from the room. The other one leaned forward eagerly. “May we see the goddess stone?”
“I don’t have it anymore.” I told them how I’d used the goddess stone to create a new ward so no one else could ever steal the ke’tain.
Korrigan was dumbstruck. “I could not understand how the ke’tain suddenly appeared on the altar with a new ward. You are telling me Aedhna was there in the temple with us?”
“Yes.”
“Jesse must speak to the council,” the advisor said to the king.
“Can we continue this tomorrow?” I asked wearily. “It’s been a very long day.”
“Of course,” Maurelle said before anyone else could speak. “You need to rest and recover from your ordeal. Take as long as you need.”
“I would like to speak to Jesse alone,” King Oseron said when I started to stand. He looked at me. “I will not keep you long.”
I nodded and sank back to the chair as the others left the room. Maurelle was the last to go, and she gave the king a look that said be nice before she walked out. I shifted uncomfortably. The last time the king had asked to talk to me, I’d ended up a wreck. I didn’t have the physical or emotional strength to go through that again.
King Oseron was quiet for a moment. “You will hear this many times when your deeds are known to everyone, but I want to be the first to thank you for what you did for Faerie.”
“You don’t have to thank me. You would have done the same.”
He nodded. “I would have. I would do anything for my people. But you were the one Aedhna asked to shoulder the burden of saving our world. You are young and new to Faerie, yet you took on this enormous responsibility alone.”
I smiled weakly. “Aedhna can be very persuasive.”
“The goddess is also wise. She saw the strength in you that I did not, and for that, I apologize. I am sorry I said you were weak because you are not Fae-born or royal. You are one of the strongest people I have ever met, Jesse, and I cannot imagine a better match for my son.”
I swallowed around the rock lodged in my throat. I’d wanted so much to hear those words from him, but they couldn’t be real. It was his gratitude talking, and he’d change his mind when things calmed down.
“The goddess stone made me strong,” I said, my voice cracking. “There is nothing special about me anymore.”
The king stood and came over to me. He shocked me when he went down to one knee and took my cold hands in his. “It is because you are special that Aedhna blessed you, and in doing so, she blessed us all.”
I blinked, and the tears I’d held at bay filled my eyes and ran down my face. I was too tired to care if the sight of them showed him I wasn’t strong after all.
The door burst open. I barely registered the sound before the king stood and Lukas was in his place.
“Jesse,” he said roughly. His hands framed my face, and his dark eyes were stormy with emotion. Then his strong arms were around me, and I felt a shudder go through him. “I thought I’d lost you.”
During this hellish week, I’d thought of all the things I would say to Lukas if I could have one more minute with him. Suddenly, I was drowning in a tsunami of emotions, and all I could do was bury my face against his chest and cling to him as loud, gulping sobs racked my body.
I heard voices, but they sounded far off. The king and Maurelle were there and another female voice I didn’t recognize. They were talking about me, but my mind couldn’t process the words. It wanted to shut down so I couldn’t feel anything at all.
Lukas picked me up and cradled me in his arms. I curled into him as he carried me. I didn’t care where we went as long as he didn’t let me go. He was the only thing keeping me from splintering into a million pieces.