Ella had a speech all prepared, but the facts tumbled out from her faster than she’d planned. She was worried that her wolves would be taken before she could get the whole story out. “They’re being abducted by Davin Industrial! They were taken out of their home in the woods and injected with something against their wills that muted their Pulses for a few days. Then they had trackers placed under their skin that I’m not skilled enough to remove without hurting them. We don’t know why this happened, but we know you didn’t authorize experimentation on the Lupine.”
The king moved off the throne, and it was only then that Ella realized Henry wasn’t there. “Slow down. You’re accusing Davin Industrial of experimenting on the Lupine? Do you have proof?”
“I mean, they’re right here. You can check them for trackers.”
The king looked too much like his son when he cocked his head to the side, studying her with a narrowed eye. He wore a beige suit with his gold crown, the blond hair giving way to wisps of white around his temples. He was just as tall as Henry, making Ella feel small when he approached, holding his hands up to the guards. “How do I know you didn’t put them in there? Accusing Davin Industrial of animal experimentation is serious.”
Ella placed her hand on Connor’s head, who stood straighter at her touch. “I have their word. They told me everything. They’re scared of what’s swimming around in their veins now. They have no idea what they were injected with. They need your help before other members of the Lupine are abducted.”
He shot Remus a withering look. “Very funny. You can’t hear them speak.”
Ella straightened, her temper flaring. “Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to even get here tonight? I don’t care if you think this is all some big joke. I can hear them.”
The king entertained her sass. “Okay, how?”
“By listening! Something you should’ve been doing long before my magic showed up on the scene.” The wolves gathered around her, resting their noses on her shoes and Remus’ to show whose side they were on.
Remus chuckled, but then covered his mouth with a cough. “She’s not wrong, your majesty. I’ve been tutoring her. She has amazing abilities that I’d be happy to talk to you about when your guards aren’t here.”
The king crossed his arms over his chest, sizing up the woman before him. “My guards aren’t the ones running the gossip magazines. Show me what you’re so certain of.”
Remus shook his head, and Ella raised her chin defiantly. “I won’t be the one who’s experimented on next. I’m taking a big risk, telling you all of this. I was told you were powerful, that you’re a good man who can help people who need it. Well, here they are, survivors who deserve to be heard.”
“Surely you know the Lupines aren’t citizens who are privy to my help.”
Ella lowered her chin, grief flooding her at his edict. “I know that you’ve been entrusted to look after all the living beings in Avondale. I don’t see why that wouldn’t extend to those who can’t speak for themselves. I would think they’d need a compassionate king more than anyone else.” She shook her head slowly, hoping she hadn’t read the king all wrong. “Don’t break my heart and tell me you’re the kind of ruler who only cares about people if they can vote for him.”
The king ran his hand over his face. “You have no proof.”
Ella banded her arms around her stomach and leaned in, lowering her voice in hopes it wouldn’t carry to the guards. Too many men in uniform lined the walls, waiting for the king’s signal to fight the Lupines. “Do you trust Remus?”
“Of course. He understands magic better than anyone I’ve ever known.”
Remus placed his hand on her back, lending support and giving her the green light to confess the secret she’d kept so tight to the vest.
Ella’s muscles tightened. “I can See things that others can’t, and I can Hear things no one understands. But this isn’t about me. This is about them. They want the trackers out, and they deserve to know what they were injected with. I can only give them a voice. You can actually help them. Please, your majesty. They were your subjects before they were cursed. They didn’t ask for this.” She swallowed hard. “All they’re asking is for you to see them again, instead of forgetting that your people still need you, even when they’re too broken to speak.”
The king stepped back, touching his chin while he studied the wolves. “Alright. You have my ear. Guards, you’re dismissed. See that my son is kept out of the courtroom. He doesn’t need to be involved in whatever this is.”
Ella swallowed hard at mention of Henry but said nothing about her unquenchable longing to see him. There were more important things at stake than securing herself a boyfriend.
The king waited until it was just Ella, Remus, the Chancellor and the wolves before he got down on one knee and waved Guadalupe forward. “Remus, do you take responsibility for them if they attack in my castle?”
Remus nodded, but Ella held out her hand in front of him as if to offer herself up as a shield for her tutor. “No, he doesn’t. I do. This was my idea, not his.”
Remus softened. “Only because I wasn’t brave enough to stand up for my convictions. Your majesty, I’ve been studying the Lupine for quite some time now. I’ve seen Ella’s gifts, and I trusted her judgment enough to help her get the Lupine into the palace to see you. If she says Davin Industrial is experimenting on them, it’s an allegation I’d take seriously.”
The Chancellor touched his forehead, his worry palpable. “Do you know how many people on the council have a vested interested in Davin Industrial? It’s the Baron’s company, for crying out loud.”
Remus rolled his eyes. “I’ve got no qualms being the one to point the finger. Every councilmember who’s on the board of that company is vocal about their vote to register and force the pill upon Lethals. The Lupine were their first patients. If they’ll do something like this to them, it’s only a matter of time before Lethals are next. And after them, people like Ella, who would never harm a soul, but who have mutations to their magic that might scare the public.”
The king kept his eyes on Guadalupe, who sat obediently in front of the king without twitching as King Hubert stroked her fur. “What are you getting at?”
Ella knelt down behind Guadalupe and ran her fingers through the thick fur on her back. “We’re saying they’re moving on without you. They’re experimenting on the Lupine because they were confident you’d vote their way to make the pill available to be manufactured outside the government.”
“Child, I haven’t talked to anyone about my vote. I only just cast it an hour ago. The Chancellor read us the verdict tonight that the right to manufacture the pill wouldn’t be granted to anyone but the government until we can draw up terms on the bill we can agree are fair.”
She wanted to hug Henry for helping shoot down a bill that could be dangerous in the wrong hands. The need to comfort Cordray welled up in her, but she tried to focus on the matter at-hand.
Ella met the king’s eyes with a warning. “The people who put trackers in the Lupine and experimented on them are dangerous. Either they were certain you’d vote their way, or they didn’t care if you did.”
The king’s hand stilled on Guadalupe, his gaze hardening as he considered the many implications of her statement. “You seem to have big opinions. I don’t run my country on opinions, though.”
“Good. Run them on facts. These three will submit to being tested so we can find out what they were injected with. They want your people to take their trackers out.”
The king shook his head, his jaw tight. “You realize you’re asking me to get involved in something the government has no grounds to stick its nose into? Putting trackers in the Lupine was voted down, but there’s no punishment set in place for those who do.”
“Then make one. You know this is wrong!” Ella noted the ruby signet ring on his finger and shook her head. “Look, I don’t care if the government gets involved. I’m not asking the council. I’m asking you. I know you have a veterinary degree.”
The king drew a long breath, held it in his lungs while he considered her petition, and then released it. “Alright. As a private citizen only, yes, I can help you.”
Ella’s eyes swept shut as gratitude welled up in her. How she wanted someone fair and measured as him to be her father-in-law. Relief washed through her, making her feel lighter. “Thank you. You have no idea how scared they are.”
The king held up his hand. “In exchange for my help, you’ll tell me more about how you came to hear them speak. I’m not willing to let my questions go unanswered.”
Dread filled Ella’s throat but she consented, nodding to the king. “If you can be discreet, then sure.”
The king stood after scratching under Guadalupe’s chin, noting with a small smile that she moved to stand next to him, positioning herself as his loyal pet. “Very well. Tonight is not the night for this, though. I trust you can keep them somewhere safe until… Let’s say Wednesday? Remus, I can come to your house to examine them, if you wish.”
Remus stuck his hand out to the king, beaming that their plan hadn’t ended in an arrest. “That would be splendid. Now, if you don’t mind, Ella’s going to see to tightening up your security. She can see through handbags and pockets, and found quite a few concealed weapons out in the ballroom.”
The king’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”
Remus’ hand on Ella’s shoulder stabilized them both. “Happy to help,” Ella said, her chin lowering. “And I know you’ve made your decision about me, but I’d still like to see him, if that’s alright.”
“Who?”
She started wringing her fingers, her nerves building, now that she had something she truly desired for herself at stake. “I didn’t know about the photo. I’m not trying to swindle him, I swear. We were happy together. I only wanted to be good for him.”
The king looked curiously to Remus, and then light dawned in his eyes. “Ah, you’re the girl from the photos. I’m not sure why you think I should have a say in who Remus dates. It’s none of my business.” He smirked down at Guadalupe, who was standing at his side as if she was his loyal guard dog.
Ella went pale and began stammering, so Remus jumped in. “If I may, Royal Watch got it wrong.”
The king waved his hand. “Remus, honestly. She’s a little young for you, but why you would ever think I would stand in your way is beyond me. Go enjoy the ball.”
Ella’s nerves got the better of her, and her Hearing went out without her telling it to. Just beyond the courtroom doors, she Heard the one voice she’d been aching for.
Henry’s tone was growing on desperate with a touch of irritability to it. “It’s midnight, yeah? Then there aren’t anymore women coming? That’s all of them?”
“Yes, your majesty.”
Ella Saw him turn away, and a desperate cry started in the balls of her feet and rose up in her throat, breaking the laws of physics as it ripped out of her. “Henry, wait!”
She ignored the others in the courtroom, Seeing his flinch at her Voice that seem to come from nowhere. She knew she couldn’t be heard through the walls when the music from the ballroom was wafting into the corridor. It was her magic, sending her Voice out to surpass human limitations.
Henry’s head whipped around. “Ella?”
“In the courtroom!”
Remus shook her back to the present. “What was that? Your eyes went completely white!”
“What? They did? Are they normal now?”
The king stepped back. “Remus, who is this woman?”
When Henry muscled his way past his guards and burst into the courtroom, he let out a cry of relief. “You came for me!”
Ella shook herself free from Remus and ran to Henry, throwing her arms around his neck. She held on tight while he lifted her toes off the floor and turned in a circle. “Of course I came. I’m sorry I’m so late. Lady Tremaine knocked me out with a crowbar and locked me in the closet.”
“She’ll be hanged for harming you. Tell me you’re real. Tell me I didn’t suffer through that parade of women who weren’t you all for nothing. Tell me you’re truly here, and that you’re truly mine.”
Ella waited until he set her feet back down on the polished marble floor. She cupped his face, taking in his handsome features coupled with the modest gold grown. “I was yours from the start, but you know it’s not up to me. And really, it’s not up to you.” She turned to the king, who she realized was gaping at them. She buried her face in the home she’d made of Henry’s chest. “I love you, Henry. Always and only you.”
“I love you, and this night isn’t ending until we’re together.” He gripped her hand, and the two trotted over to the king, standing before him like two teenagers asking for permission to borrow the fancy car.
The king stared at his son in confusion. “Henry?”
“The whole point of this night was for me to find someone to spend my life with. Well, I found her. Dad, this is Ella. This is the one I want to be with.”
The king took two steps back and held up his finger. “No. No, no.”
Ella’s hope crumbled in her chest but she didn’t release Henry’s hand. Part of her couldn’t let him go this time. They’d been apart for too long after having been through just plain too much. “Please, your majesty. Get to know me. I can be good for Henry.” She scrambled for reasons to be accepted as an option for the king’s son. “I have my own home, my own job, so I wouldn’t be living off of Henry. I have a spotless record. Aside from bringing wolves into your palace, I’ve never done a thing to upset your rule.”
Remus stood tall at her side. “See reason, your majesty. Ella would be a fantastic asset. Your son would never be safer. Ella can spot concealed weapons, which would keep Henry away from anything dangerous. She can hear whispered plots against the throne. She’s already used her gifts to keep several councilmembers from harm.”
Henry’s hand tightened around Ella’s. “I love her, Dad. It’s Ella or no one.”
The king’s brows puckered in confusion as he stepped back, pointing at Ella with a look of concern. “You’re not her.” Then he pulled his phone from his pocket. “This woman. This is the one whose picture I had taken off of Royal Watch.” He thumbed through his phone and pulled up a picture of Drizella licking Henry’s ear through his angry expression, which could quite easily be misconstrued as a smolder. “You told me you were in love with a woman named Ella, and this came across my press secretary’s feed. I assumed Ella was short for Drizella.” He pointed at Ella again. “This? This is who you were talking about?”
Henry looked up at the ceiling and let out a cry of relief. “I didn’t understand how you could possibly loathe her that much without even meeting her.”
The king shook his head, wiping his hand over his face. “Oh, Son. I didn’t have to meet Drizella to know she wasn’t for you. I stand by my choice that the girl in the picture is not welcome in our family. There are so many nude photos of her on the internet, and most of them are her posing with a picture of you. It’s enough to turn any father’s stomach.”
Henry’s smile couldn’t be contained as he bobbed on the balls of his feet like a boy on Christmas morning. “Drizella is Ella’s stepsister. She’s horrid. This is Ella, Dad. This is the woman I’ve been seeing in secret.”
The king’s hand flew over his chest, his eyes flicking between the two who were still joined at the hand. “Well done on the secret part. I had no idea. I didn’t think secrets were possible in our position, so I guess she can be trusted not to blather our private life to the press.”
“Of course, your majesty,” Ella offered with a slight bow.
The king’s eyes flicked to Remus, who held up his hands before the king could get his entire question out. “And you two aren’t…”
Remus shook his head, grinning at the misunderstanding. “Ella’s my student. The picture was taken entirely out of context.”
Henry thumbed Ella’s knuckles, his eyes pleading like a desperate man. “Please, Dad. You have to see how happy I am with Ella, and how miserable life has been without her for the past couple weeks.”
“You two split up?”
Henry shook his head in two jerky movements. “Only because she wouldn’t be with me if you were determined not to give your blessing, which you told me you would never do when you thought she was Drizella.”
The king let out a slow chuckle, covering his mouth. “I’m sorry, it’s just… I honestly thought you were lovesick for this Drizella woman. I always hoped for you to be swept off your feet someday, but I never imagined it would be her. She’s vile, and her mother is even worse.” He waved his hand to excuse himself, and then inclined his head to Ella. “Forgive me. I shouldn’t speak ill of your stepmother.”
Ella was too stunned to do anything but gape at the king. “You don’t disapprove, then?”
The king shook his head, a smile still toying with his lips. “Any woman who can come in and command me in my own throne room for such an unselfish cause has what it takes to stand next to you, Henry.”
Elation welled up in Ella, and before she knew what she was doing, she flung her arms around the king’s shoulders, hugging him as she choked back a sob of relief. “Thank you!”
The king fumbled, but finally encircled the woman in his arms. “Will you be good to my son? Will you uphold all that is pure and true in Avondale?”
“Yes, your majesty. I promise.”
He gave her a squeeze and then released her, gazing down on her with unconcealed affection. “Then you have my blessing.” His eyes shifted to his son, posturing with importance. “You’ll find a way to make it work with someone who’s Pulse is so very controversial?”
“It’ll work,” Henry assured them both. “We’ll make it work.” Then he turned to the woman who always kept him waiting. “Please, Ella. Promise me we can make this work.”
Ella looked up into the blue eyes that had charmed her from the start, knowing that no matter what, she wouldn’t find love like his anywhere else. “Yes, Henry. If it won’t push you and your father apart, then yes. We can be together.”
Henry didn’t wait for decorum or privacy. He gathered Ella in his arms and kissed her without permitting another moment to pass them by.
Her stomach fluttered and the unsettled bits of her heart finally slid into place, making her feel as if she belonged with the man of her many hopeful dreams. Her hands curved around the nape of his neck, playing with the strands of hair as if they had all the time in the world to toy with each other.
“Always and only you,” Henry whispered, holding her too tight to ever let her go. He’d lost her too many times to take chances.
Ella kissed his smile once more, melting them both with softness only they could bring out in each other. “Always and only you.”