Chapter 146 Disobey Orders - Adele's POV

Chapter 146 Disobey Orders - Adele's POV
I stopped several feet from the table. "Is this really necessary?" 

A woman sitting near the center of the table leaned forward. She was older than most of the others, with long silver hair pulled away from her face. Her eyes were dark, almost black. She studied me for several seconds.

"Do you know why you are here?"

"No,” I said sharply. “I don’t. It seems your guard has lost all etiquette.”

"Do you know who we are?” She asked, her gaze never leaving my face.

"The council." A few of them shifted. I crossed my arms. "I've been told enough about you to know that much."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "By the prince?"

"By everyone,” I lied.

That seemed to irritate her. Good. At least I was getting somewhere.

"Do you know what you are?"

I frowned. "That's a strange question to ask when we don’t know each other.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s a very simple thing to say.”

“I’m a witch,” I admitted. “A magicless witch. That’s what I am.”

The room went completely silent. I swallowed as the woman stared at me with a straight face.

“Is that what you truly believe?” She asked, almost laughing. “Dear girl, queens aren’t born without magic.”

My stomach tightened. "What is that supposed to mean?"

She leaned back in her chair. "You were brought here because the council has questions about you and would like to see how far along you are.”

“Far along? What are you talking about?” I asked, my brow raising.

Her gaze sharpened. “Queens are born with the appearance they have no magic, but that’s not true. They…are delayed because the power they have is outmatched.”

I stared at her. I didn't understand a single word she had just said. "Outmatched by what?"

"By what you are. No witch is as powerful as you, nor are many immortals.”

I almost laughed. "That makes little sense. There are so many out there with more power than me.”

"It will soon enough.”

I hated that answer. Everyone seemed to think they could say things like that to me and expect me to simply accept them. Corwin did it constantly. Now the council was doing the same thing.

"You're saying I have magic?"

The woman nodded.

"That's impossible,” I scoffed.

"Is it?"

"Yes." I held up my hands. "I've spent my entire life without it. I have never been able to cast a spell. I've never been able to do anything the other witches could do. That was why they sent me to the Isle.”

"Because your magic was waiting. That mark on your hip doesn’t lie.”

I frowned. "Waiting for what? Do you have some kind of key that will make it come?”

The woman looked at me for a moment before answering. "No, it’s waiting for you to be ready.”

I had no idea what that was supposed to mean, so all I did was look at her. “Well, that’s great, but I still don’t understand.”

"No, I imagine you don't."

There was something in her expression that made my stomach twist. She knew something about me, something no one else had ever told me. Of course, I wasn’t sure how many knew about the queens.”

"Then explain it to me."

The woman leaned forward. "Your magic is not like that of a normal witch."

I crossed my arms tighter. "I've never heard of a magicless witch becoming something else."

"Queens are rare. That is why you haven’t. Those who know about them are either dead or immortal like us,” she murmured.

My heart skipped. “How many queens have there been?”

The woman’s expression changed. “Very few.”

I waited, but she never elaborated. I wasn’t sure why I ever expected her to. A frustrated breath escaped me. “That isn’t a number.”

“Because there isn't one.”

“How can there not be a number?” I asked, my voice hesitant.

“Because queens are not born often. There may be centuries between them and some not,” she said firmly.

My eyes widened slightly. “Centuries?”

She nodded. “Yes. Why are you having a hard time grasping this?”

I looked around the room at the others.

None of them seemed surprised by this. “How old are you?”

The question slipped out before I could stop it. A few of the council members looked offended.

The woman, however, only smiled. “Old enough to remember the last one and the one who came centuries before her. They come when the mainland is in turmoil, but some are killed before they can even find their magic.”

“So, is that what you plan to do with me?” I asked, my voice dipping low. “Is that why I’m here without Corwin?”

She shook her head. “Not yet. I think you will be of use. Sadly, our last queen was only decades ago, and she could never fulfill what we needed her to.”

I scoffed. “And who was this last queen?”

“Her name was Mira. Sadly, she died due to an uprising, along with her mates. All except one.”

I paused. I knew that name. Mira was on the Isle. But that couldn’t be possible. Mira was just a witch on the Isle. She had been exiled like the rest of us.

“Odd,” I said, sucking in a breath.

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “What is?”

I looked around the room again, suddenly feeling as if the walls were closing in on me. “Mira.”

Every single person at the table went still. My stomach dropped. I had expected them to react, but not like that.

The woman leaned forward. “What about her?”

I swallowed. “I know a woman on the Isle by that name. It’s just a funny coincidence.”

There was only silence.

“Mira is on the Isle?” The woman asked, her gaze narrowing. “It’s not possible. We watched her die.”

You watched her die?”

The woman nodded slowly, but she didn't look convinced.

“Then I don't know what to tell you.”

“You said she was on the Isle,” she continued.

“She’s on the Isle,” I repeated. “But it’s probably not the same Mira.”

“When did you last see her?”

I frowned. “Before I was taken.”

The woman exchanged another look with the council members.

“What?” I demanded.

“You are certain it was her?”

“How would I know?” I asked, almost laughing. “I don’t know what the last queen looks like, so I can’t confirm anything.”

The woman stared at me for several seconds. “Describe her.”

I frowned, uncertain of where this was going. “I just did.”

“Describe her properly,” she demanded.

I let out a frustrated breath. “What do you want me to say?”

“What does she look like?”

I grimaced. “You already know what she looks like.”

“We want to hear it from you.”

I didn't like the sound of that. Still, I thought about it. So, I began telling them what I saw.

“She had silver-streaked hair and dark eyes.”

“That’s her,” the woman said sharply. “She always had silver streaks in her hair.”

I shook my head as a groan escaped. “That doesn’t prove anything. Plenty of people have silver streaks.”

“No, but I bet she knew all about your mark and claimed she gave her one herself to keep her identity hidden.”

My eyes widened. There was no way she should have known that.

“How do you know that?”

She didn't answer. I realized my mistake. I had given too much away.

I looked around the room at the others, but none of them would meet my eyes. That was when I knew something was wrong.

“You knew,” I whispered.

The woman’s gaze returned to mine. “We suspected.”

“Suspected what?”

“That she was still alive.”

My stomach dropped.

I took a step back. “It’s probably not even her.”

I opened my mouth to demand more when the doors behind me suddenly flew open. Everyone in the room turned, and I froze.

Corwin stood in the doorway, his eyes immediately finding mine. For the first time since I had been brought here, I saw something on his face that I couldn't understand.

Fear. Not for himself. This time it was for me.

“What is she doing here?” He demanded.

The woman at the table straightened. “Prince Corwin—”

“I asked what she is doing here.” His voice echoed through the room.

I had never heard him sound like that before. The guards who had brought me here stepped forward, but Corwin's gaze snapped toward them. “Who gave you permission to remove her from my chambers?”

Neither of them answered. I almost laughed.

Apparently, even the guards were afraid of him.

The woman stood slowly. “The council summoned her.”

“You summoned her without my knowledge?”

“She is a queen.”

The entire room went silent.

Corwin's expression changed. I watched him carefully. He had known. I could see it in his eyes.

“You knew?” I whispered.

His gaze immediately shifted to me. “No. I didn’t want this. I told them not to summon you and thought they would obey.”

“You told them not to?”

“Yes.” The answer came too quickly.

I glanced toward the woman at the table. She didn't look surprised. “You knew they were going to summon me?”

“I knew they wanted to, and I told them no,” he said, then turned to glare at them. “Why did you disobey me?”

“And you didn't think to warn me?”

Corwin's jaw tightened. “I didn't think it was necessary. They normally do not go against the crown’s orders.”

I looked at him, trying to understand what was happening. Corwin had never been shy about telling me what I could and couldn’t do, but this was different.

He had come here for me.

Not because he wanted to drag me back to his room. Not because he wanted to force me into another conversation about marrying him.

He was angry because they had taken me without him knowing. 

The woman stared at Corwin for several seconds, then sighed. “Then I guess you don’t want to know that Mira is alive.”

“She’s what?”