Page 66 of The Princess of Portals

“It wasn’t you, Fenris.”

“It was the General.”

“It was Gaia.”

“They had us all fooled.”

Fenris bowed his head, basking in his comrades’ support and sympathy. What a farce. It made me sick to my stomach.

“Sit down, Prince Fenris. We’re not through.” Vela pointed at the empty chair, and Fenris sat back down.

“Of course, First Inquisitor. My deepest apologies. I was so overcome with grief at what the Iron Wolf has done that I forgot myself.”

Vela’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t look like she bought his story any more than I did. Hope flickered in my chest.

“So you’re saying this girl’s testimony is fake?” Vela asked him.

“I’m saying the testimony isn’t even hers. It’s the General’s words in her mouth.”

Murmurs of unrest rose from the Court.

Fenris gave them a sad smile that was one-hundred percent fake. “Don’t judge her too harshly, my friends. Young minds are so easily corrupted. But she can still be saved. We can save her. In fact, it’s our duty to save her and all the other Apprentices and Knights too. They are magical. They are our kin. We owe it to them to unshackle them, to free them from their human masters who see them, at best, as tools.” He met the General’s hard, unreadable face. “And, at worst, as slaves.”

Even from across the room, I could hear the General’s jaw crack.

“What are you suggesting, Prince Fenris?” Vela asked.

“What I suggest is this: we rescue the Knights from this world and the cruel Government that would seek to exploit them for their magic. I feel for these poor children.”

“Even though they have wronged you?”

“I forgive them. They didn’t know what they were doing. They were pawns in their Government’s scheme. They are victims in this, just as I am. And my poor mother was.”

Fenris dabbed his wet eyes. Wow, he was sure putting on a good show.

“That’s why we shouldn’t punish them,” he said. “We should protect them. They are like us.”

Many in the Court were nodding along to his words.

“We have a duty to these young people. I have a duty to them, for I have failed them most of all. I was here, interacting with the Gaians, watching them, all the while believing the General’s lies. If I hadn’t, they would not have been forced to do such terrible things. That’s why I vow—with the Court’s approval, of course—to henceforth be the protector that the Knights deserve. I vow to take them under my care, to save them from their slavery, to help them heal from this trauma. I offer them my kingdom’s protection and a place in my castle. Let these poor children be free of this tyranny. Don’t make them spend another torturous moment in this realm.”

CHAPTER 4

ENTRAPPED

So this was Fenris’s plan. He wanted to bring all of the Knights and all of the Apprentices under his control. He wanted the Court to willingly give us to him. On the surface, as far as Fenris was selling it, he was protecting the Knights. But in reality, he was using us to build up his army, bigger and stronger than ever before.

No. Just no. I hadn’t escaped Fenris’s prison, I hadn’t rescued all the Apprentices, I hadn’t fought Fenris and won, I hadn’t sworn an oath to his dying mother that I would stop the Order of Kings—I hadn’t gone through all of that to become one of his brainwashed Templars.

Anger was swelling inside of me, like one tidal wave after the other crashing against the shore. I couldn’t allow Fenris to win. I couldn’t allow him to hurt the people I loved.

“Prince Fenris is right.”

“The Gaians have gone too far.”

“His plan is the only way.”

The many voices of the Court bled into a stream of support for Fenris and his plan.