anything. “You expect me to believe you spend hours and days at a time locked in the library, alone or with Elijah, studying history?” She’d already confronted the prophet several times, but his answers were just as cryptic as Mia’s.
Mia released her nose and pressed the handkerchief to it, mopping up the last of the nosebleed. “Look, Ryleigh. I told you what I’m doing. If you don’t believe me, that’s not my problem.” She frowned. “I didn’t realize you needed a play by play of my every move.”
Ryleigh lifted Mia’s chin, forcing her to make eye contact. “Look at you. You’re a mess.”
Mia squirmed out of her hold, but her gaze remained locked on Ryleigh’s.
“You have black circles around your eyes, your cheeks are all sunken in, and how long have you been having nosebleeds?” Even the mass of brown curls that usually tumbled into her face whenever she tucked it behind her ears now hung limply.
She took a step back. “I’m fine.”
Liar. There had to be a way to get through to her.
“I don’t have time to stand here arguing with you right now. You’re not the only one with things to do, you know.” Mia strode toward the door.
Oh, no. “You stop right there, Mia.”
Mia’s footsteps echoed off the stone walls.
“Mia.” Ryleigh refused to run after the stubborn brat. She rested her hand on the sword that hung in the sheath at her side, the one Jackson insisted she wear at all times. The one that got in the way every time she went to put her hand on her hip. “I am not done talking to you, Mia.”
Mia grabbed the iron handle and pulled one of the heavy wooden doors open.
“Freeze, Mia.” She couldn’t let her leave with things between them so strained. “That’s an order.”
Mia stopped, glanced over her shoulder at Ryleigh, and lifted one brow. “Really, Your Majesty? Or what? You’ll throw me into the dungeon?”
The door clanged shut with a frightening sense of finality.
Ryleigh undid her belt and laid the sheath and sword aside, then plopped down onto one of the platform steps.
Max snorted and flopped at her feet in commiseration. At least he understood.
She must have done something to earn Mia's disrespect. While she’d been busy adjusting to her new responsibilities, she’d allowed Mia to pull further away. She should have paid more attention. Nothing, including her role as queen, was more important than her little sister. She missed the closeness they’d shared growing up, missed their life in the human realm, when it had just been the two of them.
How on earth had she gone from being a normal teenager, well a normal teenager with an abnormal amount of responsibility, to queen of a realm she knew so little about?
The door screeched open, and she jerked upright. No point letting Mia catch her in a moment of weakness if she’d finally come to her senses.
Jackson strode through the door. Oh, right. That’s how she’d become queen. She’d met Jackson Maynard. It was still hard to think of him as a king and even harder to think of him as her mate, though she supposed technically he was since he’d claimed her.
“Bad day?”
“You have no idea.”
He sauntered toward her, his dark hair skimming the black T-shirt stretched taut across his broad shoulders, his even darker eyes intently focused on her. “What’s wrong?”
“I have to do something about Mia. She was just here, and she had another headache, and this time her nose was bleeding. I’m scared for her.”
He patted Max’s head, then eased behind her on the platform, propped his feet on the bottom step on either side of her, and lifted her hair. He dropped it in front of her shoulder and massaged the bunched muscles in her neck. “Have you spoken to Kiara?”
Jackson’s healing touch always soothed her. “No, but I’m going to.” She lowered her voice, half afraid to voice her concerns out loud. “Ever since we rescued her from Chayce, she’s grown progressively quieter, seeking solitude more often than not.”
That was just so unlike Mia. She wasn’t particularly outgoing, but she liked people. At least, she always had.
“Maybe she just needs some time to adjust to her new home.” Jackson kept up the steady pressure. He slid his hands lower, sending sparks of heat throughout her back. “Do you think she needs time in the human realm? The Jacobs’ would be happy to have her stay with them again.”
“I have no idea. I do know I saw her blow Sadie off not long ago.” Lucas and Kiara’s little girl was like Mia’s shadow, following her everywhere, mimicking her.
Mia adored every minute of it. She never ignored Sadie.
“Hmmm… She loves spending time with Sadie.”
“I know.” Ryleigh tried to clear her mind. If anyone understood the mindset of someone who’d been held captive, it’d be Jackson. Yet she’d avoided the conversation every time she thought of asking.
Maybe she was too afraid of knowing what had been done to Jackson. Afraid Mia had suffered a similar fate. At least Mia hadn’t come back in the same condition Jackson had. The memory of his battered body sent a shiver through her, and she cut the thought off immediately. “I can’t help but wonder if more went on while Mia was in captivity than she was willing to admit.” There. She said it. She held her breath and waited.
The silence was deafening, and she shrugged out of his grasp and faced him. “Do you think he did something to her? Hurt her in some way, and she was afraid to tell me?” Ryleigh had always tried to make sure Mia understood she could come to her with anything. Her secrecy cut deep.
“I think something is going on with her.” Jackson took her hand in his, sending sparks flying, and smoothed his thumb over hers. He shrugged and shook his head, his pained stare lingering on their joined hands. “But I just don’t know what. I spoke to Elijah about it, but I got the usual, ‘I can’t tell you anything about decisions that affect the future,’ speech.” He finally lifted his gaze to hers. “Have you tried asking Payton? If anyone knows how Chayce treats a prisoner, it would be her.”
Though Jackson seemed to have complete faith in the woman he’d rescued from the underground prison in Argonas, Ryleigh had her doubts. She couldn’t figure out exactly what the problem was, but she didn’t trust her. The fragile woman had supposedly been taken from the human realm and enslaved in the realm of Argonas. Yet something about her story seemed rehearsed. “You were his prisoner too.”
“Yeah, but Chayce treated me differently.” He left out the fact Chayce had tortured him almost to death.
Ryleigh didn’t need the reminder. Things had been going fairly well. She’d finally had some time to spend getting to know Jackson without the direct threat of death. All right, she and Mia were having some issues, but even in an alternate realm, teenagers sometimes rebelled. Right?
The door screeched open, saving Ryleigh from further discussion of Payton.
Max sprang up and stood at attention.
“Your Majesties.” A guard jogged into the chamber, dropped to one knee, folded his hands over his other knee, and lowered his head in the traditional greeting for the King and Queen of Cymmera. Eyes wide, he jumped to his feet.
She retrieved her sword from the step, suddenly needing the illusion of safety its presence brought.
Jackson stood and helped Ryleigh to her feet. “Yes?”
“Sir.” The guard extended a rolled parchment toward Jackson. “We’ve just received word.”
Jackson stilled, Ryleigh’s hand clutched in his. If not for the increased pressure on her fingers, she