The Tiger Prince's Witch
Chapter 49 - Talk with Jarek

The following morning Anna and Kamryn were walking down to the dungeons to speak with Jarek. He had been there for two days, and Anna was hoping to get some answers. She still believed she was right about him being under a spell by the trio. It should have worn off by now if that was the case.

When they arrived, they passed the others that were in cells. Anton tried to apologize to Kamryn, but he ignored him. As far as he was concerned, his former friend no longer existed. It was bad enough that he poisoned and beat him, but he left him for dead. That's what hurt the most.

When they got to the silver-lined cell where Jarek was, they saw him sitting on the floor with his knees pulled up and his head resting on his hands. He didn't look well even though it had only been two days. When he saw Anna and Kamryn, he slowly stood up. They both gasped when they saw his dirty tear-stained face.

"Before you tell me what my punishment is, I want to apologize. The trio came to my palace, and I don't know what they did, but somehow they convinced me that I should be the king of everyone. My wolf tells me they must have put a spell on me or something because since being away from them, I have none of those same feelings. I will accept whatever you have planned for me. I know that I deserve it."

Kamryn and Anna looked at each other in surprise. She had thought that if the trio had put a spell on him, he might have some regrets, but she never expected him to appear so beat up. Anna focused on his energy to look for any of the darkness she'd felt before. There wasn't any. All she felt was despair and regret.

"We didn't come here to discuss your punishment. We came here because I suspected the trio had done something to you. Randal said that you had never acted this way in the past. I believe what you say." Anna looked at Kamryn, who was staring at Jarek with his eyes in slits. She knew he still didn't trust him.

"You believe me? It explains why I felt the way I did. It was as though my thoughts weren't my thoughts and my actions weren't my own. I felt powerful and lost at the same time. My wolf threatened to leave me if I didn't change my ways. What are you going to do with me?" He asked anxiously. Jarek would accept whatever they did, but he had hope now that they believed he wasn't behind what he'd done. He was entirely at their mercy, and he was okay with that.

"We have a few questions for you first. Do you know what made the trio appear when they did?" Anna asked. After asking her question, she quickly mindlinked Kamryn.

"*I think we should let him out of the dungeons but make him stay at the palace for now. I don't want whoever sent the trio to him to try something else."* Kamryn looked at her in disbelief. He wanted to kill Jarek for trying to kill them all. How could she expect him to allow him in the palace as though everything was okay?

"I don't know who sent them, but they referred to him as master. All they would tell me is that master wanted to do this or master said this. They never said an actual name. Sometimes they would disappear for hours, and when they returned, they would tell me to do something else. They terrified me." Jarek wasn't ashamed to tell them how he felt about the witches. Even under their spell, they gave him the creeps.

"Why did they want Elsie?" Anna asked.

"They said that even though you stripped her of her magic, she may still have some Spirit Energy in her. They wanted to see if they could pull it out of her to figure out a way to defeat you. Anna, you were the only one that truly scared the trio. Now I see why. They knew you were the only one who would know how to defeat them." He spoke with admiration. Kamryn narrowed his eyes again. He didn't like the lycan looking at his mate.

"I didn't do it alone." She said softly, wanting to make it clear that the four of them had defeated the trio.

"That may be true, but everyone could see that you were the one that made it happen. I now understand why they call you the most powerful witch. You're unbelievable." Jarek was speaking from the heart, but when he heard a low growl, he looked toward Kamryn and saw the rage in his eyes. He knew the tiger got the wrong idea. Anna touched her mate's arm, and he instantly calmed down.

*"It was just a compliment. He didn't mean anything by it and has no interest in me, so calm down. Do you agree with what I said? Can we release him but make him stay within the palace walls?"* She looked up into Kamryn's eyes and saw his fury dissipating. He glanced between her and Jarek.

*"Alright, but I'm assigning a guard to him. Anywhere he goes, a guard goes with him. Until this is over, we're not taking any chances."* Kamryn had to admit even he was able to see the difference in Jarek.

Jarek could tell the couple was mind linking, and he assumed it was about him. He felt Anna wanted to let him go, but he could tell Kamryn wasn't so willing. He had already planned on being killed, so anything less than that would be welcome to him.

"We are going to let you out of the dungeons, but you have to stay within the palace walls until the battle with Santi is over. A guard will be with you at all times. Are you willing to fight with us and agreeable to these terms?" Anna asked with authority. Kamryn hid his grin; she was definitely going to be a queen of the people. She had a big heart, but at the same time didn't allow others to walk all over her. His mate could hold her own against even the scariest of opponents. "I agree to the terms and to fight with you. Thank you for giving me a second chance. I promise you won't be disappointed." Jarek bowed to the couple as Anna unlocked the cell door. He followed them outside and covered his eyes. After being in the dark for two days, the sudden sunlight almost blinded him.

Kamryn wasn't happy about this, but he trusted Anna. He mindlinked his parents to let them know what they had decided. His dad agreed to send a guard to meet them at the door to show Jarek to a room. The guards were told someone was to be with him at all times.

Jarek watched Kamryn walking with his arm around Anna, and he couldn't help feeling slightly jealous. He had yet to meet his mate despite being almost forty. It wasn't unheard of for shifters to have large age gaps between mates, but he was lonely. Would he ever find his mate? Two guards were waiting for them when they got to the palace doors.

After the guards took Jarek away, Anna and Kamryn went to the royal office. The king and queen were waiting there for them.

"Are you okay with our decision?" Anna asked nervously. She didn't want to step on anyone's toes. Randal and Lynn both smiled at her.

"We trust your instincts. You both will be ruling soon, so we are going to let you take over some of the decision-making. Did you find out anything from Jarek?" Randal asked them.

"He said that the trio was working for someone they referred to as the master. He didn't know who this person was, but they would disappear at times and come back with new instructions for him." Kamryn looked at Anna to see if he'd forgotten anything.

"I have a feeling that whoever is behind Santi sent the trio. He or it most likely wanted alternatives in the event Santi wasn't successful. That's another thing to keep in mind. There may be others out there that are planning to attack us. We know about Santi and whoever is behind him, but others may be convinced to attack as well. This battle may be even bigger than we thought."