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“Checkmate.”
He sat back in his seat and spread out his hands. “The Mortal Queen has won.”
The fae exploded into cheers again, reminding me of their presence. I stood and took a bow as something beyond pride struck me. Though I was surrounded by powerful creatures and magnificent kings, they bowed to me as an equal, and for the first time I felt it. I no longer felt faded against their glory or out of place here. The high of winning lifted my spirits and whispered promises of many more times like this if I stayed. You were made for this realm, it whispered. Your father was wrong. You are ready. You are a queen.
Brock, to his character, didn’t pout upon losing, but wore a grin as if it were all in good fun. As if we were simply two friends playing together. Behind him, Thorn stood and applauded vigorously.
“My Queen, you’ve earned yourself a favor. Would you like to use it now?”
Three kings down, three to go.
Yet something else tugged at my heart, and I swallowed.
Two deep breaths was how long it took to make up my mind. Talen had come through for me, and now I’d come through for him. I prayed fervently Dhalia would reveal her secret soon.
“My King, I ask that you give me Talen’s heart in the condition in which he gave it to you.”
His brow furrowed and he came around the table to examine me with a peculiar look, as if still analyzing a chess game, and I held my head steady until he’d finished. His voice was low, meant just for me. “You are the first queen to ask for something that wasn’t for herself.” He tilted his head. “And here we thought black meant mischief. Perhaps it means kindness after all. You’ll find the heart when you return home.”
There was no regret over the decision I’d made but purely joy that I’d get to hand Talen his heart back and the anticipation of seeing his surprise.
Thorn left his throne for my side. “You got your favor,” he said.
“No.” I shook my head. “I got something much better. I’ll get the favor another way.”
I scoured the east side of the palace like a hungry tiger, desperate for traces of Gaia, but the halls were empty, and the walls wouldn’t give up the secrets of their queen. Soon, the sound of laughter drew me back to the west side, and I pocketed my worries for Gaia for the moment.
Talen’s voice caught me, and my pace quickened. He sat inside my bedchambers with both his top hat and grin lopsided and his feet on a velvet footstool, while Odette stood across the room behind an easel. One of my paintbrushes was in her hand.
She held it up to me like a toast when I came through the door. “Alas, our great teacher is here. Tell us, wise one, how to make trees appear less like gumdrops.”
I peered at the painting as I undid my sandals. She’d tried, quite dreadfully, to paint a forest. What she got was a half canvas of dull green and lines of brown.
“What is that meant to be?” I came closer and squinted at the bottom. “A tree stump?”
She swatted me away. “It’s a bunny.”
“No,” I said. “It’s definitely not. Where are the whiskers?”
Odette blinked. “Bunnies have whiskers?” That sent Talen into a fit of laughter as Odette begrudgingly handed over the brush. “I give up. I don’t know how you paint for hours upon end. It’s quite frustrating.”
I swirled the brush through a pan of water, taking care not to drip anything on the sleeves of my dress. “If you ever have the urge to try again, I’ll gladly teach you.”
She put her hands over her chest as if I’d just offered to make her the godmother of my child. “You’d do that for me?”
I glanced to Talen. He just grinned. “How was your evening? Odette says you left her.”
“Abandoned,” Odette corrected. She pointed a sharp finger my direction. “Rudely abandoned.”
I set the brushes away and checked through the glass balcony doors to where I suspected Brock would leave the heart. Sure enough, a golden box sat on the banister, dangerously close to the edge. One violent wind and it would topple over the other side.
“I’m sorry to have left you, and sorry you ruined a canvas. But I think this will make up for it.” I opened the doors and collected the box. A twisty design deep in the gold marked the smooth edges before meeting in the center at a lock. I opened it. There, a glass heart sat inside a bundle of scarlet velvet.
I couldn’t help myself. I noted the three cracks.
The box shut with a snap. I wouldn’t pry.
I turned with a smile growing on my face. Odette was collecting her mountain of curls on top of her head, complaining she had nothing to pin them with, while Talen stood by the heat of the fire, looking over her painting with an expression that told me he found it far less horrendous than I did.
