We both stood silent for a moment, neither knowing what to say next. My blood burned with rage as I scanned the documents. There were so many. So many criminals Lord Oberon had smuggled out of the kingdom. A lawful judge of the Isallan kingdom had likely been making crooked deals with convicted offenders just to make some extra income. It made me sick.
“He’s despicable.” Elias sunk down into an arm chair, a look of disgust shadowed across his face. “While you were away, I scanned through them to find the oldest. I think I was hoping to find out that he had only started this business recently... but that wasn’t the case.” He pulled a crinkled document out of his pocket, and handed it to me.
I took the paper from him, never once looking away from his eyes. They had saddened so much, but no sorrow filled them—instead, a fresh hurt deepened his broken gaze. My heart ached seeing him look so defeated. I timidly unfolded the paper he handed me, afraid of what I would find that had cause him so much pain.
“Oh...” I breathed. The paper was dated over ten years ago.
“That’s the same year I became an Oberon,” he whispered, but there was a growl behind his breath. “My father adopted me to strengthen his reputation. I always assumed that was part of his reasoning for taking in a thieving orphan, but I never imagined I was being used as an alibi.”
I took in a sharp breath. “Do you really think that was the case?” My chest tightened as he looked up at me with his pained hazel eyes.
“I do,” he said flatly. “Once the Oberon family had a child, people stopped questioning what they did in their free time. Children can be a handful on their own, but an urchin from the streets is an entirely different struggle. I recall now how often my father spent locked up in his office or out on business trips. It seemed odd for a court judge to be away from court for so long, but I’m sure his wild new son made an excellent excuse for such absences. Even now that I’m older, he uses me to sit in on his meetings, under the pretenses that he’s training me in the family business.” His voice inflated with anger as he spoke. “Perhaps he was planning to train me in this so-called business after all. He has been waiting for me to turn eighteen for quite awhile now, always claiming he’ll let me in on his secrets then.”
Something uneasy turned my stomach at Elias’s words and a dark chill ran down my spine.Lord Oberon couldn’t be that evil, could he?
“Elias,” I sat next to him, cautiously placing my hand on his, “do you think your father is waiting for you to turn eighteen, because that’s the age a citizen can be convicted of severe crimes?” He gripped my hand as I continued, “If you ever threatened to unveil his activities, he might turn the tables and place the blame on you. His record is squeaky clean from the court’s perspective, but you, on the other hand have been on trial before.”
I maintained my grip on his hand as Elias processed my theory. His silence finally broke when he began laughing almost uncontrollably. My grip tightened nervously, and he squeezed it in reassurance.
“I’m a fool.” He laughed brokenly. “For the past decade, I have been under the impression that this family gave me the greatest mercy I could ever imagine. Yet, all along I have been nothing more than a pawn in their schemes, a fall back plan to keep them out of prison.” His laughing ceased and he turned to me, a much more serious look staining his eyes.
“Bring this to the queen, Aurelia.” His tone chilled me. “Tell her everything you’ve found and witnessed. Use his crimes to earn your ticket to freedom. My so-called father must pay for what he’s done, and I see no better way of doing it than letting it earn you a royal pardon out of the kingdom.”
I looked across the papers for a moment, the heaviness of it all sinking upon me. This was more than just a scandal; this was years of corruption amongst one of the kingdom’s most trusted nobles. This would be the destruction of Elias’s home. What would happen to him if I turned this in? Would he be suspected, too? Would the estate even remain after his father was convicted? Would Elias be forced onto the streets again?”
No, I wouldn’t let that happen. I wasn’t about to trade my life for his. There was another way to do this, and it was one I had been aching to ask for a long time.
“Come with me,” I requested fiercely. “If you turn in your father, then they will be less likely to suspect you of being an accomplice. It’s not like the Oberon name will be worth anything after he’s convicted, so you could come with me to Drancos. We could start over together.” The words flew out of my mouth before I could even process what I was saying. Wait, what was I saying? Why did I feel so strongly about Elias coming with me? The question dug into my brain. I squeezed his hand nervously as I awaited his reply. Would he even want to go with me? My worries ceased as his eyes lit up with excitement, causing my grip to loosen.
“I would love that,” he chirped. “Nothing would make me happier than to start over with you.” He placed his second hand on top of mine, letting his touch cradle my hand ever so gently.
Was that… a confession?
My hearted raced so quickly I thought it would burst. A rush of feelings pulsated through me, each one too entangled with the other to make sense of them. I gazed up into Elias’s eyes, looking for any clues to his true meaning, but there were none. There were no subtle hints, no teasing expression, and no hidden intentions. There was just a fog of longing that I wanted to search through until I could find the true source of his intentions. But no matter how much I convinced myself it was clouded untruth, his eyes were being brutally honest with me. As I stared in his captivating hazel gaze, I could only see one thing—love. Elias loved me, he truly did. And seeing that love made me recognize, that maybe... I might love him too.
The entanglement of emotions instantly freed as I accepted what I felt. New infatuation poured through me as we remained in that one moment.
Wordlessly, Elias lifted his hand from mind and cupped my cheek. I felt my breath sync with my racing heart as he slowly moved in closer. Every part of me felt lost in the moment as his face leaned only inches from mine. I closed my eyes, awaiting the foreign sensation of his lips pressed against mine.
But it never came.
A resounding knock startled us both upright. A hot flush of red invaded both of our cheeks as we jolted to separate corners of the couch. We looked between each other, the door, and the pile of illicit papers spread across the table. Without exchanging a single word, I rushed to quietly gather the papers as Elias composed himself to answer.
“Yes?” he replied a little more shakily than I had hoped, but given the circumstances his composure was rather impressive. He cleared his throat. “Who is it?”
“It’s Lawrence, sir,” the butler replied smoothly. “You parents request your presence in the parlor. Mr. Colburn, the bounty hunter, has returned and wishes to speak with you.”
My face went ashen. Elias turned to me with desperation in his eyes as he opened and shut his mouth, debating on the proper reply.
“Very well then,” he replied more calmly. “I’ll be only a few minutes. I became rather wrapped up in a particular study and need to reassemble my notes.” He shrugged at me, and I gave him a thumbs-up in support.
“If you require assistance, I would be more than happy to aid you in organizing your notes.” Lawrence’s chipper offer caused Elias to stiffen. I motioned for him to take a deep breath.
“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary,” he explained coolly. “I’m rather fickle about how I organize my notes. Tell Father I’ll be down shortly.”
“As you wish, sir,” Lawrence respectfully replied before clicking his heels back down the hall. Elias and I both let out a loud exhale as we scrambled to reassemble the papers.
“You need to hide,” Elias whispered urgently. “There’s enough room under my bed. I have a feeling our bounty hunter friend will want to inspect the house this time around.”