Chapter 111: There Is A Spy Amongst Us

Roiner

King Alaric stood in the center of the cabin’s sitting room, his expression tense as he looked around the room.

"There is a spy amongst us?" King Alaric asked.

Vance nodded, answering immediately. "Yes, we just found out."

Omen stepped forward, her green eyes sharp. "That is what the boy said before he died. Apparently the witch had help before she entered the camp. Someone helped her in, which makes complete sense, because how else would she have known when and where the prince would be?"

Theo spoke, his face grim. "That is not all. Apparently the witch is working with her brother, whom she refers to as the rogue king.

King Alaric narrowed his eyes. "The rogue king? Who is that?"

Queen Posy shook her head, crossing her arms. "I have never heard of such a person or such a name."

King Alaric turned his head towards Headmaster Roiner. "Roiner, have you ever heard of this?"

"No, I have not," Roiner answered smoothly.

I do not see why it is necessary for me to say I have, Roiner thought, keeping his expression completely neutral so that not a single trace of deception leaked through. Let us all learn this information at the same time. I did not tell the king about this whole rogue situation because I thought it was just someone playing around. And I knew if I told him, it would have made me stay in the capital for another three to four months, and I wanted to be next to Aina instead, so yeah. Now I don’t regret it at all. I bonded with my fated mate, whatever, there’s nothing I can do now.

"I need you to investigate this matter immediately," King Alaric said.

Queen Posy stepped forward, shaking her head. "No. First, we need to find the snitch, or this entire investigation will be useless because my son will be dead."

King Alaric sighed, resting his hands on his hips. "How can you possibly find the snitch? This camp has over five hundred students. It could be any one of them."

Roiner stepped forward. "Not quite. The snitch has to be coming from Moonside Academy. Think about it. This person had to have known where and when the royals were coming, the exact day of the competition, and all of that was scheduled by Moonside. Academies travel on different timetables, so the witch had to be operating on Moonside time, which means the snitch comes from our students. And Moonside has only one hundred and fifty students tops."

King Alaric stroked his chin. "Do you have a clue on who it might be?"

"Unfortunately, I do not have the slightest of clues," Roiner replied. "But I will put out an investigation by midnight tonight. I promise you, I will have your snitch."

Theo spoke up. "I’ll help."

Vance nodded. "Me too."

Keali raised his hand slightly, his milky eyes calm. "I just want to put out the possibility that maybe, to narrow down this list because one hundred and fifty students is still a lot, we should start with the only rogue in the academy."

King Alaric blinked. "Oh, I forgot about that."

Keali nodded. "There is a rogue in the academy. I don’t know her name, but it only makes sense for her to be our top suspect at the moment. She’s a rogue after all. She’s the only one who could have known the rogue king." Keali grimaced. "Let’s be honest here. The children of this academy are fiercely elitist when it comes to rogues. I don’t feel like any of the normal students would associate with one."

King Alaric looked to Roiner. "Do you think there is a possibility?"

"I really don’t know," Roiner answered. "Ally is a sweetheart. I don’t think she is capable of this."

Queen Posy scoffed. "I do not think this entire tragedy was capable of happening either, yet here we are. So start with her, interrogate her, and get her to confess using all measures necessary."

Roiner nodded, though his stomach churned. He looked between the king and the other kings standing around the room.

"I am really not so sure about this," Roiner said carefully. "We still have to run the nobles-in-waiting initiative. If we accuse the only rogue in the academy and subject her to torture just to force a confession, it would look terrible for the academy, for the empire, and for any rogues who want to participate in the nobles-in-waiting initiative. I really don’t think we should do it. Perhaps let us conduct a proper investigation first."

Queen Posy’s voice rose sharply. "To hell with your investigation! My son is dying by the minute. The healers are saying he won’t see tomorrow’s sunrise. And thanks to you turning him into a vampire, he’s going to die somewhere lost between a vampire and a wolf shifter. We need to find the snitch so she can lead us to the witch and somehow find a way to break this spell in less than a few hours. So please investigate her. She is our greatest lead."

King Alaric held his hand up to silence his wife. He looked at Roiner. "Bring her here. I will see for myself and determine if she has the heart of a murderer. If she does, I will allow you to interrogate her. But you must understand my circumstances, Roiner. I cannot lose Malric."

Roiner bowed his head. "On it, Your Majesty."

Aina

Back at the stone temple, Aina and Ally stood near the round table surrounding the moon pool. The candles flickered softly, casting warm light across the stone floor.

Ally leaned over the table, stirring the melted wax of a candle with the wooden tip of a small stick.

"You know, I’ve never been in love," Ally said softly.

Aina blinked, surprised. "Really?"

"Yes, not once," Ally murmured. "Though I had a silly crush back when I was living with my parents. I fell in love with a pack boy."

Aina looked at her. "Oh wow, a pack boy and a rogue girl. That’s the kind of love that never works out."

Ally smiled faintly, her eyes fixed on the dripping wax. "I wish someone could have told me that when I was younger, because it ended disastrously. There was a witch hunt, and I was almost burnt at a stake."

Aina stared at her, her eyes wide. "Isn’t that a bit extreme? How did you even survive?"

"Well, I did what I do best," Ally said, turning her head to look at Aina with a small grin. "I crawled away. I’m very good at hiding. If you can’t find me, you can’t burn me. Anyway, enough about my tragic past. How are you doing with the headmaster? How’s your relationship? I mean, I know your relationship with the princes is a complete disaster, but getting involved with the headmaster, it has to be good, because that’s insane."

Aina felt her cheeks warm up instantly. She looked away, her voice dropping. "It’s a fairy tale, you know. The other day, he spoke directly in my mind."

Ally raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so the bond has been placed?"

"You know about the bond?" Aina asked.

"Of course I know about the bond. Who doesn’t know about the bond?" Ally asked.

Aina pointed a finger at herself. "Me."

Ally stared at her. "You haven’t read much of mating bond textbooks, have you?"

Aina looked down at her clothes and then back at Ally. "Look at me. Do you see me and see a reader? Come on. I would never read a boring textbook unless it’s extremely interesting, or it’s not a textbook at all and just a normal romance, historical, or fantasy book." Aina sighed, resting her chin on her hand. "You know, the only thing I hate more than reading is math."

Ally laughed. "Oh, math is just a special kind of torture. But it’s not even the real devil. The real devil is wolf shifter science and biology. It doesn’t make sense. Do you know that the only reason wolf shifters and lycans are able to shift is because they heal so fast? If they don’t heal instantly, they can’t shift, because the transformation breaks bones into little pieces. Interesting, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Aina said softly.

Ally tilted her head, watching her. "You don’t shift, right?"

"Yeah," Aina mumbled. "My healing is abysmal."

"That’s why you don’t shift," Ally realized. "If we get your healing back on track, then maybe you could."

Aina shook her head. "Oh, I don’t think so. My wolf is also weak."

Ally winced slightly. "Oh, then I’m not sure you’d even want to shift. You’d be no different from a stray, a tiny little stray puppy. If you shift, you’d be ridiculously small."

Aina frowned at her. "How do you know all of this?"

"I had a friend who knew a lot about wolves and anatomy," Ally said quickly, her posture shifting for just a fraction of a second. "She knew a lot of stuff."

Aina laughed quietly. "I wish I could have met her so someone could finally teach me and I could stop flunking biology."

Before Ally could reply, a sudden commotion echoed from outside the doors of the temple. Shouting voices and heavy footsteps cut through the quiet night air.

Both girls flicked their ears instantly, listening to the noise outside.

Ally looked toward the entrance, her expression hardening. "We should go check that out."