Elemental Heir | ✔️

Chapter 64

(WARNING: This chapter contains strong sexual content!)

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Four days had passed since Ronan's disappearance.

None of it made sense. Somehow, he had escaped the heavily locked and guarded dungeons without anyone noticing. I couldn't understand how he'd achieved something like this, especially so soon after being dealt a hefty amount of iron lashes. Not to mention that his legs had not had time to fully heal yet, and would have still been broken.

He hadn't even left a rutting blood trail...

My first inclination was to believe that someone in the Aviary had to have helped him. There was absolutely no way in hell that Ronan could've escaped in his condition without help.

But... After the high council and I interviewed every single resident in the Aviary, and gave them a healthy dose of candor potion, we had come up empty handed. Even Ferrin was found to be innocent. He had no knowledge of the attempt on Dristan's life or how Ronan had disappeared. Ferrin was only guilty of his own crimes, which he had spent the following three days being pilloried for.

It had been painful to watch, although necessary. He had been bound to a post in one of the main hallways of the Aviary, where everyone would see him. I'd watched as he had to endure being spit on and called horrible names by passerbys. He'd been punched and slapped and beaten by anyone who felt that he deserved it. And by law, no one could intervene. He had to endure this for three straight days.

I had to keep reminding myself that this was a merciful punishment for what he had done, no matter the reason behind his crime. It was either pillory... or execution. That reminder was the only thing that had gotten me though it.

After his three days of punishment were over, he had been banished from the grounds. I'd once wanted to allow him to stay at the Aviary, to allow him to live among our people... But after the second attempt on my mate's life, and by someone I trusted... I could not risk allowing known traitors to remain within the walls of our home. That sort of mercy would have been seen as weak.

I only prayed that Ferrin had found somewhere to go, and that he might find peace one day... When I'd watched him leave the Aviary, I'd allowed myself a small amount of time to mourn his friendship, to feel pity for what had happened to him and his family...

And then, I dried my tears and I moved on.

After the interviews and interrogations of our people, we had all taken the candor potion as a last resort. Me, Dristan, Warrick, Torryn, Andromeda, Marrok, Sylvie and Aella. When it turned out that all of my comrades were innocent, I'd felt both relieved and frustrated.

Relieved that there were no more traitors here claiming to be my friend. Relieved because it further solidified my resolve that Ronan was guilty... And frustrated because it left us with still no answer to the same, impossible question.