Chapter 21: facing the council

Chapter 21: facing the council
The days that followed were thick with silence. The kind that pressed on my chest and made every corner of the castle feel like a trap.
Onyx hadn’t come to me since that night, though I felt his presence lurking in the shadows, always close, always watching. Skye had avoided me too, but not out of respect, his absence was deliberate, cold, like he wanted me to feel the void he left behind.
The maids whispered louder than ever. They passed me in the corridors with mocking smiles, brushing close enough for their words to cut.
“Did you hear? The prince’s plaything.”
“She thought she could reach for the stars, and now she’s choking on them.”
“Wait until the council hears about this. She’ll wish she stayed in the kitchens.”
Their laughter stung worse than their words.
By the third day, the whispers weren’t just gossip anymore. They had seeped into the walls, into the servants’ wing, into the guards’ barracks. Everywhere I went, heads turned. Stares lingered. I wasn’t invisible anymore—I was notorious.
That was when the summons came.
Two guards stood at my door, their armor gleaming, their eyes blank. “Blair. You are summoned by the royal council.”
My blood ran cold.
The council.
I followed them through winding halls until we reached the chamber. The double doors opened, and the sound of murmurs hit me like a wave.
The council chamber was filled. Long rows of robed figures sat in curved seats, their faces pale with judgment. At the center, upon a raised platform, sat King Draco himself. Morgana perched beside him like a viper ready to strike, her smile sharp and thin.
Skye stood on the lower dais, arms crossed, jaw tight. Onyx leaned against the far wall, his blue eyes burning into me the moment I entered.
Every muscle in my body screamed to run, but the guards guided me forward until I stood at the center of the room, surrounded by eyes.
“Blair,” one of the elder councilors began, his voice dripping with disdain. “You have been called here because troubling rumors have reached our ears.”
My mouth was dry. “Rumors?”
“That you,” another councilor cut in, “a servant, have been engaging in… private relations with the crown prince.”
Gasps rippled through the chamber. I froze, heat rushing to my face.
“It is not fitting,” the first continued, “for a maid of such low birth to be entangled with His Highness. It insults the dignity of this court, and raises questions about his judgment.”
I looked at Skye, but he said nothing. His face was stone, his eyes unreadable.
“It raises questions,” another added slyly, “of whether this… woman was placed in his path for a purpose. A spy, perhaps. Or an opportunist, seeking to crawl her way into nobility through… less than honorable means.”
Murmurs spread. The words hung heavy in the air.
“I—” I tried to speak, but my voice broke. “That’s not true.”
Morgana leaned forward, her voice sharp and clear. “Isn’t it, though? Everyone has seen you sneaking about. Everyone knows my son has been distracted of late. Tell us, Blair—what exactly have you been offering him that he cannot refuse?”
Her cruelty drew soft laughter from some of the councilors. My stomach twisted.
“I have done nothing dishonorable,” I whispered.
“Then why,” another councilor pressed, “did he shield you in public after you quarreled with the queen? Why does the bastard son glare at anyone who so much as touches you? Do you deny their interest?”
I couldn’t breathe. Their eyes pierced me from all directions. The humiliation was unbearable.
Finally, Skye spoke. His voice cut through the noise, cold and measured. “Enough. This matter has been exaggerated.”
Morgana’s eyes snapped to him. “Exaggerated?”
“Yes,” he said evenly. “Blair is… convenient. Nothing more. I have entertained her company only to keep wagging tongues at bay. A temporary arrangement until a more suitable match is found.”
His words struck harder than any slap. My heart lurched. Convenient. Temporary. He hadn’t even looked at me when he said it.
The councilors murmured again, some nodding.
“So she is nothing?” one asked.
“Nothing,” Skye confirmed.
The chamber erupted in whispers, some relieved, some doubtful. I stood frozen, my cheeks burning, my chest aching like someone had carved it open.
Onyx shifted against the wall, his expression dark. His fists clenched at his sides, his jaw twitching. I knew that look—rage simmering, waiting to explode.
Draco finally spoke, his voice deep and commanding. “This is a waste of the council’s time. If my son says she is nothing, then she is nothing. Let the matter drop.”
Morgana smiled triumphantly, though her eyes glittered with malice.
The guards moved as if to escort me out, but Onyx’s voice thundered across the room before they could touch me.
“She is not nothing.”
The chamber fell silent.
Every head turned toward him.
Onyx pushed off the wall, stepping forward. His eyes locked on Draco, then Skye, then finally Morgana. His voice was sharp, dangerous. “She is my mate. Mine. And I will not sit here while you spit on her name.”
Gasps erupted again. The chamber was alive with chaos. Councilors leaned toward each other, whispering furiously.
Morgana’s smile faltered.
Draco’s eyes narrowed.
Skye’s face went pale with fury.
And me? My knees nearly gave out beneath me. The air seemed to collapse in on itself.
My mate.
Onyx had said it before, but now he had declared it openly, in front of everyone. There was no undoing it. No taking it back.
“Enough!” Draco roared, silencing the room. “This council is dismissed. Now.”
The councilors rose, robes rustling, their whispers chasing them out the door.
Within minutes, only the royal family remained. Draco. Morgana. Skye. Onyx. And me, trembling in the center of the storm.
Morgana’s eyes burned into me. “You filthy little parasite.”
Draco raised a hand, silencing her. His gaze was fixed on Onyx. “You dare speak such words before the council?”
“I dare speak the truth,” Onyx shot back.
Skye stepped forward, fury trembling in his voice. “You’re a fool. Do you even realize what you’ve done? You’ve given them a weapon to use against us.”
Onyx sneered. “Better a weapon of truth than a mask of lies.”
Their voices clashed, sharp as swords. I couldn’t take it. My chest ached, my mind spun. I wanted to scream, to disappear, to run until the castle was nothing but smoke on the horizon.
But I couldn’t. I was trapped.
Because now it wasn’t just Onyx and Skye circling me like wolves.
It was the entire kingdom.