- Then what happened? - Dexter was listening intently, but that was it he still remained neutral, despite the coincidence of some facts.

- When your king attacked us in Lourdes, Thea was the one who covered for me.

Dexter narrowed his eyes at the obvious blatant lie and his teeth gritted as he grinned threateningly at her, as if warning her not to even try to lie in the future.

- You may not believe me, but Thea had to disguise herself, since she was forced to join a coven where her stepmother is the supreme witch, who wants her dead. Did you really think that she would be walking around there in broad daylight, waving her snow-white hair right in front of Lillian’s nose?

Dexter was silent. There was some truth in her words that he couldn’t disagree with.

- At that time, I didn’t know that she and Raphael... well... that there was something between them.

- And how did you meet my king? – he asked her more calmly.

- While we were in Lourdes, many people had already heard that Raphael attacked Adaman, so our mentor sent us away to where it was safer. But as it turned out, this was not the main reason either... We went to the werewolves.

- What did the witches want in the northern lands?

- There is a prophecy that says about the upcoming race war and the key link of all this prophecy is Thea. We had to enlist the support of the werewolves to become our allies, but on the way to Norland, we were attacked by a bliar.

- Bliar? Who is it? - Dexter was alarmed, he had never heard of such creatures or people, whoever it was.

- These are werewolves, but it’s not exactly true... the Supreme Witch was creating a living combat weapon that would be deadly for both vampires and other creatures.

- So you call Klaus Bliar? – it got to him.

- Yes. I do not know who gave them this name, but they are really cruel and intimidating.

She took a deep breath before continuing.

- We tried to fight him ourselves, but even the strength of the three of us was too little and one of us was wounded.

- How many of you were in the group? - the duke asked.

- Three. Me, Thea and our friend Adeline. Adeline was wounded and we would hardly have been able to get out of there alive if it hadn’t been for Marcus.

Dexter didn’t even flinch when he heard the name of the alpha of the werewolf pack. Nicole’s whole story already looked too realistic for him to still not believe it.

- He and his group dealt with the bliar and invited us to Norland, but on the way there, several more bliar attacked our camp in the middle of the night and Thea was severely injured at that moment. – she was sad, remembering that moment.

Dexter remembered Raphael’s letter, which he had delivered with Skars, and therefore could know that the princess was all right and they were heading to Eriad.

- Her wounds did not heal and we had to go to Norland at a fast pace without stopping. And that’s where we met Raphael. He cured Thea...

- Well, let’s say everything is as you say, then how to explain that you were part of a group of witches who attacked our borders and harmed the royal person of Abion?

Nicole had no choice but to lower her gaze. She remembered the bloody dress of the girl with the severed foot. She could not even imagine that she was related to the royal family.

- This girl. Who is she?

- Why do you ask? Are you worried that your friendship with our king will melt like snow in the sun after you hear the answer?

- No. I’m just curious and I’m really not happy that she got injured.

- Injury? - Dexter slammed hard on the prison bars and Nicole screamed, pressing her back against the cold stone wall. – Her life was on the line because of people like you. How many people have you killed, do you have any idea? How are you with your conscience, have you woken up?

Nicole tried to take a breath, but halfway through, the air in her lungs shuddered, making it impossible to fill her full chest.

- I tried to tell your man that we are not enemies, but he was too involved with my friend to somehow hear me. From the first moment we set foot on your land, he and I had no intention of harming anyone. But Ashley and Trish, the girls we were in the group with, they were too committed to following Lillian’s orders.

- Your people, your witches... have harmed our princess, His Majesty’s sister, and therefore you will be responsible for this to him personally.

Nicole’s heart forgot how to beat for a moment and a slight dizziness hit her head. How could this even happen? How could she get into such trouble?

- And how did you end up so far away from Princess Thea? I’m waiting for your interesting answer. – he said sarcastically.

- Raphael took Thea to Rilia. There were other werewolves and Adeline with them.

- And how do you explain that I have different information from yours?

- What does that mean? How should I know? I’m telling the truth.

- Really?

- They were going to use the invitation to the land of the elves that Thea had... - Dexter froze, it was the moment when their knowledge echoed at one point. – But at the last moment they decided to go to Rilia.

- Then why aren’t you with them? - Dexter led her to the main question.

- I had a serious cold and my condition was too severe. Urum... - she squinted at the next camera. – Urum stayed with me and we were supposed to catch up with them later, but we came across a group of witches. The same group that caused the disaster that occurred in the forest.

So they came to the moment that Dexter was already familiar with. And all of Nicole’s words were logically connected and it was hard not to believe them, but he wasn’t going to let them out of prison, even if it was all true. They were still guilty of the fact that vampires had died, that Amanda and Milos had been injured.

- I’ll decide what to do with you later. - he waved it away. - And until then, don’t even try to do anything that would make me angry. A little later, I will order food and clothes for this werewolf of yours to be brought to you.

Nicole was able to breathe a sigh of relief for the first time during the conversation when Dexter finally decided to leave the prison, leaving her in pleasant silence. Even this cold cell was more comfortable for her now than his withering gaze penetrating her skin.