The Day Human King (24 page)

“And I told him not to. What more could she do to us?” Mara answered. She agreed completely with Nessa. “But Colin didn’t see it that way. Maureen threatened us again with my family, and Colin being thrown out. Colin didn’t want to poison anyone, but he did for our families.”

Suddenly, Colin coughed behind Devin, and everyone turned to watch him gasp for air as he woke. Slowly, he sat up, shaking his head. Mara hurried over to sit beside him, placing her arm around his back and supporting him. He was weak, but awake and alive. She couldn’t have hoped for anything more. Tears of happiness trickled down her cheeks.

“I didn’t do it for my family,” Colin said in a raspy voice. “I did it for Mara. Maureen told me that if I didn’t act as the assassin, she would tell everyone Mara had grown an outlawed plant. The only punishment we have left as castoffs are our lives. If I didn’t kill the elite, then Maureen would make sure that they killed Mara. I couldn’t let her die. I can’t live without her.” Colin coughed a few more times, and finally caught his breath.

“Did Maureen tell you who to kill?” Devin asked.

“Yes. This was all planned. She never told me why, but I arrived early a few times to overhear her telling someone what she was doing,” Colin replied.

“Do you know who?” Nessa asked. There could be hundreds of sidhe that Maureen would want to know. They had caught the assassin, but that still meant a traitor was out there.

“I never saw them. In fact, I don’t know if the person was even around. It was like she was talking into the air, and when I entered, she would just turn to me and pretend she hadn’t been talking to someone. I swear there was no one there. She was alone and just holding something in her hands. But I know there’s no spell like that. I kind of thought she was just crazy.” Colin described his odd encounters with Maureen. “She was like that a lot.”

“What did you overhear?” Devin added to keep the conversation on track.

“That the plan was to kill off all of the younger sidhe,” Colin replied. Surprised, Ness turned to Devin. It was just as he had suspected. How could he be so smart to pick up on that? “If there were no heirs left, each family would send a new ruling family to our village. Maureen seemed to be planning to take over, and she had the support of at least one village. The person she’d talked to was supposed to get more people or something along those lines. Unfortunately, I really didn’t hear more than that. Right then, I knew who would be my targets before she even told me. There aren’t many young left to each ruling family. I was relieved when you figured it out and took those last two children into your protection.” Colin nodded to Devin. “Then there was no one left that she could order me to kill. I thought we were done, and that she had lost. But she didn’t see it that way. She told me that I had to kill Fiona. I thought I’d heard her wrong ... hoped I’d heard her wrong. But I didn’t. She really wanted Fiona dead. I’m happy she is not. Thank you, Day Human Prince, for saving her and the others, too. I may not like the elite, or agree with their rules, but that isn’t a reason to murder. I didn’t want to kill anyone. I didn’t want any of them dead. Especially not you, Princess. However, I just couldn’t let Maureen kill Mara.”

Mara wrapped her arms tighter around Colin. Devin had all of his answers, and stood to walk out of the house. Nessa followed behind him, wondering what he was thinking now. She was tempted to peek into his mind, but knew it was easier to just ask.

‘What’s the plan?’
she asked, sure that Devin had no intention of letting the two castoff sidhe die for what they’d done. Everything had been orchestrated by Maureen, all of the deaths were on her hands, yet Nessa didn’t know what other choices there were.

‘Is death really the only option?’
Devin asked. He was planning something.

‘For a castoff? Yes,’
Nessa replied.
‘We can’t let them stay here, and the other villages wouldn’t take them either. No matter if it’s Maureen’s fault or not, Mara grew an illegal plant and Colin killed people with its poison.’

‘And exile?’
Devin asked.
‘Is that an option?’

‘Exile is worse than death to the sidhe. This is our life, and there’s nowhere that we fit in the day human world. The sidhe aren’t made for your concrete cities. This is our home, and without a village to support them, it is death,’
Nessa replied. Exile wasn’t an option in Nessa’s book.

Nodding, Devin turned back to the house, and saw that Mara was still on the floor with Colin.

“For now, you are both under house arrest,” Devin told them, and they nodded their heads in reply. Instantly, Devin placed a barrier around the house. “You may receive food and drink through the spell, but you can’t leave your house. Anyone can bring you food or water, but no one can enter. Understand?”

“Yes,” Colin replied, his voice less raspy.

“I’ll have you brought before the council as soon as I can get them all together. We will get this done soon,” Devin told them.

‘What are you going to do?’
Nessa asked.

‘Be the king everyone expects me to be,’
Devin replied.

Nessa sat beside
Devin in one of the two ornate seats on the stage of the amphitheater. It was slowly filling, and Devin was impatiently tapping his fingers beside her. Nessa took his hand to stop his fidgeting. She loved how rough it was; she could feel the years of hard work and training he had done. He had been trained for every type of situation, and was always perfect in how he handled it. How could he be nervous? He was much more of a man than anyone that entered, yet right now his confidence was not there, as she’d expected it to be. He smiled at her hand in his own, and her heart melted. Nessa loved Devin, even if she hadn’t yet told him.

As Ronan entered with his father helping him, Devin stood and went to assist. Nessa remained seated, watching as Devin and Rolf settled Ronan in the front row. Her cousin was looking good considering that he had recently been on death’s door … even if he had a few less toes.

Nessa turned back to the people sitting around waiting. It was getting late for them. The sun was just beginning to rise. Most of them wanted to go back to bed, but none could deny Devin’s request. Technically they could, but they feared him. Word had already gotten around that Maureen was dead, and that was enough to keep everyone there waiting for Devin to speak. Some had even started the rumor that he was responsible, but no one would directly say that to either Nessa or Devin. It wasn’t a rumor, but she found it strange that most doubted Devin had to the power to do that, yet they all still feared him.

Devin quickly returned to Nessa’s side, but he didn’t sit. Instead, he looked around at the room of people, and nodded when Turner entered the back of the room with Colin and Mara. Nessa was surprised. Devin had said he would take care of them as soon as he could, but she’d expected him to address Maureen and the poisonings, not the punishment of the two castoffs. Devin briefly turned to Nessa, smiling to reassure her. His confidence was completely back.

“I’m thankful everyone could make it this late to meet. I called you all here to tell you that we no longer need to fear the assassin. The assassin, and those that hired him, have been caught and punished. The poison itself has been thrown out, and the plant that it was made from has been burnt to the ground,” Devin began.

The sidhe faces stared at him. It was obvious none had been expecting things to be handled so quickly. Efficiency and effectiveness were not two traits of the sidhe. They were used to things drawing out for weeks or months, and many people dying in response. There needed to be retribution and payback before anyone would admit to any wrong doing, if anyone ever did. And to catch someone was even rarer. Doubt laced a few of the faces. It just wasn’t their way.

“I have spoken with the assassin and gained insight as to how this was planned and how it all happened,” Devin told the people. He motioned for Turner to bring the castoffs forward. Unafraid, Mara and Colin stood in front of the crowd. Nessa had no clue what the plan was, but it was obvious that Devin had shared it with them.

“Castoff Mara had been requested by her former family leader, Maureen Ferguson, to grow an illegal plant. Mara’s ability is to take seeds and grow them into plants. Maureen had hidden the seeds of the prohibited plant for years, and chose now to use them.” Murmurs rose around the room. The sidhe never really liked direct facts, and since Maureen wasn’t there to dispute it, none knew what to do. Devin ignored them and continued to talk. “Her husband, Colin, was recruited, at the threat of his wife being killed, to do the assassinations for the Ferguson family.”

More talking erupted around them. Devin had just directly accused the Ferguson family of treason. Nessa tried to listen to the various conversations, and learned that they were all outraged that castoffs would accuse the dead Ferguson family leader of such a thing. To them it was blasphemy that the castoffs would even speak the dead lady’s name. How could they attack the reputation of such a great lady that had recently passed on? Others were openly demanding that Colin and Mara be killed on the spot. They wanted justice for their dead. Devin didn’t flinch at the talk, and waited patiently for the room to calm down. When he raised a hand, the room became silent again.

“I know exactly what you are all asking for, and sorry to disappoint you, but I have decided on a better punishment than death,” Devin replied to those that had lost family in the scheme of Maureen’s.

“How can anything be better than death for someone like them to say such lies?” Owen O’Ryan demanded. His voice and constant interruptions at any function was beginning to grate on Nessa’s nerves. Owen was one of the only ones that still openly hated Devin. Nessa secretly wished he had been the one poisoned, or somehow implicated in the assassinations, and they could be rid of him.

“First off,” Devin replied calmly; Owen didn’t seem to upset Devin as much as he upset Nessa, “they are not lies. While it was strenuous for her to get here, Fiona Ferguson is willing to testify that her mother planned everything.” Fiona stood at the back of the room. Nessa hadn’t even noticed her.

“My mother planned to kill off all of the remaining heirs to each family in order to allow outside families to start over here in the palace,” Fiona said quietly. The room gasped in horror together. Not a single sidhe had come to that realization yet. “Including me.” More people gasped. None could imagine killing off their own child.

“But …” Owen sputtered. He didn’t have a quick comeback. That would have included him.

“You were the target, Owen,” Fiona added. “You should be the one dead right now.” That was enough to make the young O’Ryan sidhe sit back down. Suddenly, the cocky sidhe understood that it was his fault for his grandfather’s death. The poisoned food had been meant for him.

“Back to the assassin and his wife,” Devin continued, as if Owen had not interrupted him, “I have decided to exile them. They will be leaving immediately. I’ll personally see that they are escorted far away from the sidhe so that we can continue our lives safely here.”

Not a word was spoken around the room. It was quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop. The faces of the crowd stared at Devin in shock. Nessa even felt shaken. She had told Devin exile was worse than death. None had ever thought that a ruler would exile someone. The situation was more dire than they had expected. Soon the remaining Ferguson family members began to look around. They all remembered the promise that Devin had made to exile them for their leader’s misdoings. Devin watched the Fergusons, and allowed them to worry for a few more minutes. Even Nessa was unsure if he would actually exile the entire family. Devin had asked her to trust him, and let him decide what needed to be done, but even she worried now. Fiona was carrying her dead brother’s child, and part of Nessa didn’t want Fiona thrown away to die alone. Nessa had never been really close with Fiona, but she was still family.

“As to the Ferguson family, Fiona has offered to go into exile to save the rest of you. She’s willing to pay for her mother’s crimes,” Devin replied. Instantly, chaos broke out. It was too much for any of them to understand. He was going to throw out a pregnant woman.

Cries around them were of both fear and exuberance. The ones that thought they were exiled were now happy, but the others only saw that Devin was willing to toss out a pregnant woman on her own. That was a threat to everyone. If he was that hard and without feelings, then he truly meant everything he’d told them. He was a ruler to be feared.

‘You can’t do that to her,’
Nessa complained silently from behind Devin.

‘She asked to leave,’
Devin responded waiting for the crowd to quiet.

‘But you can’t let her go off to die alone,’
Nessa added. She really felt for Fiona.

‘She isn’t going to die. She’s just getting a new life away from this. She’ll be fine. I’ve made sure of it. All three of them will be safe, and will be allowed to start over. They will never be able to come back here, but they will be free and can live as they choose. Trust me,’
Devin added, returning to Nessa’s side and grabbing her hand.

Devin wasn’t the heartless man everyone thought, but he wasn’t about to correct the room. Nessa could already see that Devin was playing the role and using this as an opportunity to get the sidhe to understand and fear him even more.

“But what happens to the rest of us?” one of the Fergusons asked from the front row. They didn’t even seem to care what happened to Fiona, but only to themselves. That was the sidhe for you.

Nessa looked back up to Fiona in the last row. Was that why she wanted out? Did she understand what it was taking Nessa forever to grasp? The sidhe world was screwed up and needed to change. Fiona smiled at Nessa. She was happy with what Devin had said. Nessa felt that Devin was right. Fiona wanted out.
I’ll be fine,
Fiona mouthed to Nessa.

Nessa had to smile. She would. How could there be anywhere in the world Fiona would not be fine? She was cunning and smart, and the day human world would just have to look out for her.