Joshua Deveiux stared at them with wide eyes. Cage knew he had to be patient, but it became increasingly difficult. They'd moved into his private chambers, him, Trix and Kat's father, and after the story was told, time seemed to tick by at a glacial pace.

"Well?" Cage finally snapped.

"I..." Joshua shook his head. "I cannot believe it." His eyes widened and he began stuttering. "I mean, I don't... I'm not implying that your Majesty is a liar, or--"

"Can it, old man." It was very hard to keep the growl out of his voice. "You used to call me Beast, remember?"

Joshua shook his head, but not as if he couldn't remember, but as if he couldn't believe he'd had the gull to address the king in such a manner.

"Nothing's changed."

The old man's gaze drifted to the crown on his head.

"Forget the crown! I'm still the same person." Except he wasn't. A piece of him was missing and it concerned Joshua's daughter. "And this is not about me. It's about Kat." Cage narrowed his eyes. "You didn't seem surprised that she's the heir of Endir."

The man's eyes widened in shock and he opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Cage had entertained the possibility that he didn't know, that his wife had never confided in him or mentioned who she really was. He hoped it wasn't the case and he was getting his wish. Once he did, he realized he would've rather Joshua was innocent and hadn't lied to Kat her entire life.

"She didn't know," he pressed on.

"Of course she didn't know!" Joshua's voice came out strangled. "I couldn't tell her something like that. Couldn't tell her how magic consumed her mother and left her orphaned."

"How did that even happen?" Trix pushed himself off the wall he'd been leaning against and stepped forward.

Joshua turned to him. "I beg your pardon?"

"How did a commoner like you end up with the lost Princess of Endir?"

"I'll have you know I was not a commoner! I was made sergeant in the King's Army during the war with Endir. I led skirmishes over the border to weaken their positions!"

Trix waved his hand in a circular motion, clearly indicating that Joshua's words didn't explain anything.

"This isn't a secret you should've kept from me," Cage said.

Joshua pumped his chest out. "I was protecting my daughter."

"And were you planning to start doing that before or after she starved to death?"

The old man faltered. "Look, I know I made mistakes--"

"This is your chance to tell your story, so make it good."

Even if he hadn't planned to throw Joshua in prison, he was unpleasantly reminded why he'd never liked the simpleton in the first place. He'd made Kat's life hell for years, almost pushed her into marrying a boastful moron and brought her to a point where she would sacrifice her own life to protect her moronic father. Sure, Cage had mostly forgiven him because he'd pulled his life together and made Kat happy.

But now, he couldn't help but realize that things would have been much more different had this stupid man come out with the truth. He would have been aware of the magic lurking inside her, of the danger it posed and he could've done something about it. Something that didn't include Kat almost killing them all and having her mind corrupted by the most dangerous fae. Something that didn't have to lead to a piece of his very soul being torn out for his own good.

"Endir knew they would lose the war once the Witch King died," Joshua said, his voice low. "It was chaos during those times as the battles continued, but the loss of magic was obvious to everyone on the front lines. It was only a matter of time before Endir crumbled. Cassandra only wanted to escape it all. Together with her mother, she planned to flee to Annora."

Cage frowned. "With her mother?"

"That's what she told me," the old man said with a nod.

"Did you ever see her mother?" Trix asked.

"No. She was only joined by two guards when my patrol stumbled across them. We killed the guards, of course, but saw no reason to kill her as well. She was only a young girl seeking refuge."

"To Annora." Something nagged Cage at the back of his mind, but he couldn't put his finger on it yet.

"Yes. Anyway, we let her go and wanted to continue our way, but she followed. You see, she no longer had anyone and her mother had disappeared. For the longest time, she was convinced that we had killed her. Once she saw that we didn't harm innocents, she realized we were not bad people. We fell into companionship, and then love.

"We were still in Endir at that point. We had no instructions from Valona and we were unaware what was fairing in our own kingdom. One day, however, we ran into a royal messenger who ordered us to return home.

"Cassandra wanted to come with us. With me. I was smitten with her, so of course I agreed, even if she was Endirian. She knew our language well. I could hide her. I smuggled her across the border." Joshua sniffed hard, his eyes filled with tears.

"We were married within the month, living our happy life outside Valona. I'd been an innovator before the war, and I could continue working for the people, improving contraptions meant to make life easier. She took care of our little farm and the garden. She was so good at it. And soon enough, our family was poised to grow.

"Once the ban on magic came into force, Cassandra changed. She became scared, wary, tense. It took her a long time to finally confess who she truly was, that she had magic flowing through her veins. That she had run away from her mother when she'd found out what was happening, what her father had done.

"We left at once, and headed for Darkwood, which seemed much safer. There would be no safety anywhere near Valona. We could raise our little Kathy away from all the madness. Even if we would be less comfortable since I had to leave my job, we would handle it. All would be well as long as we were together. But then..." His voice cracked.

Cage watched him shedding tears over his long-dead wife, his mind whirling with the information, with what it meant for all of them. His story was sad, but the level of crazy lack of responsibility was unforgivable.

"Magic started eating her from the inside out," Joshua whispered. "She passed away when Kathy turned seven. We lost her, just like that. And I succumbed to grief. Everything reminded me of Cassandra, Kathy included. I could not handle it. I sunk deeper into myself, trying not to think of what had happened. Of who my daughter was and what could happen if anyone found out.

"Of how she might die if she gave birth to a magical child as well. She showed no sign of magic, but who could know? The thing was devious, after all."

"You old fool," Cage whispered. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

He shook his head, more tears dripping down his cheeks. "I couldn't tell anyone. They would've killed Kathy."

"I wouldn't have killed her and you knew that! You knew I would go to the ends of the world to protect her."

"You are who you are," Joshua said.

"Yeah. I am who I am. Cursed and everything. Someone who could understand what it was like to live with magic and be under constant threat of death." Cage squinted at him. "Someone who could handle this entire heir of Endir mess."

Kat's father had no answer to that. Cage groaned and ran his hand through his hair, trying not to linger on how different things would've been if he'd known the truth. It wouldn't have affected his love for Kat. It would have changed everything else, though.

"This makes things very difficult," Trix said. "Do you think she still remembers this old fool?"

"I don't know. Depends on whether Lucille decided her feelings for him might be a liability." He stood and began pacing, his hands clasped behind his back.

The story was surreal. It was hard to compute that a soldier had managed to sweep the princess of Endir off her feet and that their shared love made her give up her heritage. He suspected Lucille's behavior had something to do with it as well, that maybe Cassandra saw who she was behind her human mask and wanted to escape her influence. But how did she escape the former high fairy? Did Cassandra end up using magic of her own?

Something else about the story didn't quite sit right with him.

"Annora..." he whispered. Lucille wanted to take Cassandra to Annora. Why?

There was one possible explanation. To parade her as an Annorian princess and then infiltrate her into Iride. Have her be the next queen of Iride. Cassandra might have known of this plan and decided she wanted no part of it. Then maybe love truly played a part.

"I never meant for all of this to happen," Joshua sobbed. "I just wanted to protect my little girl."

"Great job there, old man," Cage growled. "First leaving her with me inside that castle while I was cursed, then hiding the truth when you knew I could protect her."

"I guessed who you were," Kat's father said. "I remember what the kings of Iride were supposed to look like. I merely assumed..." His words trailed off as he seemed to realize what he wanted to say was offensive.

"Assumed what?" Cage demanded.

"That you would love your kingdom more than her."

The words hit him like a cannonball. It was a question he kept asking himself as well, but he had his feelings muted and no choice in the matter anymore. Now it really was between Kat and his kingdom. It wouldn't have been like that if he'd known, but he saw no point in explaining that to Joshua any further.

"I just want to barf." Trix let himself fall on one of the sofas, spreading his legs out in front of him.

Cage did too, but for very different reasons. Anger, sadness and disgust battled inside him and he suddenly felt exhausted.

"What are you going to do with me?" Joshua whispered.

From his tone, Cage was sure the old man was expecting to be thrown into a dungeon. He was half-tempted to do it just to punish his stupidity, but then he'd have to throw his mother into one, too.

"You will be given quarters in the Grand Palace and kept under observation. I'm assuming you are more than intelligent enough to realize that you hold political value now."

Joshua stiffened, his droopy face catching an edge of steel. "Are you planning to use me against Kat?"

"I'm planning to not go to war with Kat, and if I'll have to use you to achieve that, be sure I will do it. Humphrey!"

As usual, the Palace Master answered the call right away, received his orders, and took Joshua out to lead him to his new lodgings.

"I still can't believe all that," Trix said once they were alone.

"Yeah, hard to believe a princess would fall in love with the fat simpleton, but there you have it." Though Cage knew Joshua might have been a looker in his youth. He just wanted to be mean for five seconds before returning to being the fair king.

"Knowing that Kat is the heir of Endir would have helped."

"Tell me about it," Cage mumbled. "It's so frustrating to think how all this mess could have been avoided if only some people would have been honest. And speaking of honesty and deceit..." He dropped on one of the armchairs, feeling more than ready to end this day. "I want you to sniff around the castle and the city for potentially trustworthy people."

Trix frowned and leaned forward in his seat. "What are you planning?"

"The response of the Border Barons, while not unexpected, is troublesome. If I go to war, I want to know if I'm about to be stabbed in the back. I want you to organize a web of spies throughout Iride."

Trix lightened up at once, a broad grin on his face. "You don't say."

"I do say. But this will be between you and me. No one else will know." Cage pointed at his friend. "And I mean no one."

"Not even Jazz and Jinx?"

"They might join you in this web. But don't tell Allie."

Trix frowned. "Why not? She's the least likely to spread the information."

Cage seriously doubted that. Allie might love Trix, but she wasn't human, and if there was something he'd learned during his interactions with Cecille was that magical beings tended to have a different outlook regarding rules.

"She might not intend to, but I think she might have a different notion of what should be a secret and what should not."

"I don't--"

"It's an order, Trix," Cage said with a sigh. "And if you don't like following orders, you're not fit for this job."

Trix huffed, but leaned back in his seat. "Fine! But it's only because I'm so damn bored."

Cage smirked, because he smelled the lie. Trix might be easily bored, but deep down inside, he was filled to the brim with loyalty.

END OF PART I

Here we have more story and you get to see how Kat turned out to be the heir of Endir. Imagine the backstory of Joshua and Cassandra. So lovely! But it would have been much easier if Joshua told someone.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!