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I rolled my shoulder, checking for weakness. Blood soiled my dress, and a crooked scar marred my skin, but it healed without lingering physical pain.
“I had not expected a trick to come from you,” King Vern said. Now that he was no longer at risk of bearing the burden of the queen’s death, his hardened expression returned. He fixated the entirety of his wrath upon me.
I stood. “If it helps, Bash and I did not plan that together.”
“It does not,” he grumbled. His stormy eyes held lightning, and I had no doubt he would strike me down in an instant if others were not watching.
Bash reached for my hand to pull me back. “We should go.” Troi tossed the dagger back to me, and I caught it.
All the fae stood now, the show at an end, and I dashed up the stairs after Bash and Troi before they could overwhelm us. For the first time since I’d arrived, clouds gathered overhead.
“Whatever he’s offered you, you’ll regret it!” King Vern’s deep voice called after me, sending a chill rippling over my skin. The clouds let loose their first drops. “He is more trouble than he’s worth.”
Almost every person I’d met had delivered a warning about Bash, and yet I still followed him across the courtyard and onto the chariot where we took off through the night sky.
Troi wrapped her arms around her brother, and they held each other during the ride back to his home. The tall cliffs greeted us with their dull colors, cracked stone, and narrow streams diving deep into the ground.
“Is Father here?” she asked as we descended.
“I banished him,” Bash said, making both Troi and me pause. Troi recovered first.
“Good. I might have killed him otherwise.”
We landed with a soft tap, and Troi practically flew from the chariot. She breathed in the air of her home and grinned. “So, my brother is a king now.”
Oil lanterns clung to the side of the mountain, lighting up the palace. The entire first floor was built with windows surrounding it, so we could see straight into the empty throne room.
“I’m a king,” Bash replied. “One who almost lost his sister.”
“You two executed that brilliantly.” She looked my way for the first time. “I’m grateful to you. That could have gone very poorly though, with both the queen and me dead.” She was the first person I’d met who didn’t bow before me. Instead she marched for the palace.
Bash followed her, while I hesitated on the chariot, curling the dagger in my hand. Now that Troi was safe and we’d left the feast, I wasn’t certain why I was still here. But at the door’s threshold, Bash glanced over his shoulder. “Will you join us?”
Unless I planned to abduct his chariot, I had no choice. I stepped onto the stone. The air ran colder here than at King Vern’s home, but a sheet of heat engulfed me with my the first steps into the mountain home, where a river of fire ran in the walls, offering both light and protection from the cold.
Troi walked to the front of the throne and stopped. It was easier to take in her great beauty in this hall, but her eyes held nothing but sadness. “He would have let me die,” she whispered.
Bash laid a hand on her shoulder. “He didn’t know.”
She shot him a look. “Did he think I was bathing in stardust and dining on clams?” She sat at the foot of the throne and leaned back on her hands. “So. Why are you with a Mortal Queen?”
I kept by the door awkwardly, while Bash peered over me. “She’s helping me. A bit more than I thought she would, honestly.”
Troi shifted forward. “Tell me you planned that tonight. Tell me you knew you’d rescue me.”
Bash looked to his feet, and Troi barked a laugh. “Well, that’s a small relief, because it was a stupid plan.”
“Hey,” I said. I didn’t need praise, but I’d just taken an arrow to save this girl I didn’t know, and some thanks were due. “It worked.”
“You almost died,” she shot back.
“It was one arrow to her shoulder,” Bash said, gaze shifting between us. “You are both too dramatic for your own good.”
“I could have died,” I agreed. “I’ll admit it wasn’t perfectly executed. I’d hoped once I cut you free, you could get away on your own, and I thought I’d hold up with an arrow through me better than I did.” I twisted the blade under my finger as I went to stand by Bash. The long fireplace coated the grey walls in orange flickers that danced in shadows over his gold-painted face. “But being in an alliance means working for both of us.” I quoted him.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “I owe you my life.”
I ignored the way my heart sped up when he looked at me as if for the first time. I wanted to believe my intentions tonight were to save a girl from being wrongly killed, but it was only after hearing the anguish in Bash’s voice that I’d made my move. Seeing his pain had kept me from thinking clearly. If it was for anyone else, I might not have put myself in such danger.
