Page 108 of This Prince Is Not Charming

“Did not see that coming,” Marsten murmured.

Tears streamed down Leena’s cheeks, and Ronan’s face had gone ashen.

I walked forward and crouched, putting a hand on Lor’s shoulder and squeezing tight. “Welcome home.”

Pain filled his eyes, so much sadness in his gaze that I didn’t understand. I gestured for the axe, and Liadan hesitated before handing it to me. I grabbed Lor and hauled him to his feet, then in one quick swipe, I cut the binding around his hands.

“It’s you,” I said, staring at the familiar crown. The one I’d seen in the mirror hundreds of times. “Castle truly wants you to be its high prince.” It felt so right, seeing it hovering over him. I was filled with an overwhelming feeling, an instinct, that it belonged there. That it had never belonged to me. Castle didn’t hate me, but I had never been its first choice.

I thought back to when I’d been chosen, shortly after Lor disappeared, how I’d felt so wrong wearing that crown, holding that title, and the truth hit me like a thousand bolts. “Castle has always wanted you. I was just a placeholder until you returned.” I whirled to point a finger at the statue. “And that is your queen.”

Leena shook her head fiercely as Lor turned to face her. “It’s going to be okay,” he said quietly. “You can do this. You can take over for me. I’ve trained you well.”

I wondered what that meant, doubt flickering through me as Lor took slow, steady steps toward the statue. He arrived in front of it. “I’ve felt it, too,” he said over his shoulder as he gazed down at the statue, running a finger over its cheek. “I’ve felt this inexplicable pull to Fairwitch Isle that I’ve ignored. But once I set foot inside the castle, it was like it was begging me to come home, to claim my title. Not a voice in my head, exactly, but a feeling, a feeling that this was what I had to do.”

I wanted to ask why he hadn’t come sooner, but now wasn’t the time.

“Are we really going to let him do this?” Liadan asked.

“I don’t think we have a choice if we want out of here,” Siobhan said. “And I don’t know about you, but I have no desire to die here with you all.”

“No one is dying,” I said.

Lor stood there, staring down at the statue, and he took a shuddering breath.

“Is he going to do it or . . .” Marsten muttered and Meera shushed him.

No one spoke—it seemed like no one was even breathing. We all stared at Lor’s back, waiting for him to take action, to see if this far-fetched, impossible theory was true. Ceri once again clutched my hand with a vise-like grip.

Lor bent, and someone sucked in a sharp breath. Then my older brother hunched over, his lips close to the statue’s, but paused. I wondered what was going through his mind. I could barely handle all the thoughts whirling in my own brain.

His back rose and fell with a deep exhale, and then he bent all the way over, pressing his lips to the statue’s mouth. We all froze, waiting with bated breath.

Nothing happened.

Lor straightened, one crown still hovering over his head, the other crown still hanging over the statue.

“Is it too soon to ask if we have any other theories?” Marsten asked.

So we’d been wrong. My stomach dropped like a stone, and I looked over to Ceri, who wore a look of concern.

“What now?” she asked, looking behind her at the door. It was still shut, with no handle or any way out of this room.

“We try something else.” I gestured to Lor. “Clearly Castle has chosen its new high prince. We just need to brainstorm.”

Lor didn’t move, just stood there in front of the statue, staring down at it while Ceri tugged me toward the back of the room, away from the others.

“How are you feeling?” she whispered. “This is a lot to take in.”

“Honestly? I have no fucking clue,” I said. “I can’t believe he’s been a spy this whole time, but I also don’t really understand who he was spying for. It’s not like he was relaying information to us. Helping us.”

“Maybe he was and we just didn’t know it?” Ceri asked.

I shook my head. “I have no idea.”

She bit her lip. “I believe him, Cillian. He was so worried about you when I ran into him while trying to escape. You were his single focus. He wanted to know that you were okay. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you told me you saw him, but I do now. He’s been visiting you somehow.”

I nodded. “I know. He said things, knew things he couldn’t have known unless he was there.” Lor’s pinched, concerned face flashed in my mind, and I remembered the way he hovered over me in my bed chamber when I was out of my mind with sickness. That had really been him. But how? I looked up at him. I supposed we had time to discuss it all, though I had no idea how the rest of Fairwitch Isle would react to his return. By now everyone knew he was part of the brotherhood, and though I might have believed him, I wasn’t sure others would.