Murmuring under his breath in the old language, “The Briarfrost are allies and guests of Yregar. Cerson Crane is a member of Rooke’s family. To question any of them is to question me. We’ve traveled for days under the threat of Kharl’s armies and the regent’s guards, I’m not in a forgiving mood.”
Tauron and the soldiers all bow their heads straight away but Roan's face shutters, his head a little slower to drop in respect than the rest. Before anyone can question or confront him, he turns his horse to lead the way through the gates of the outer wall.
As we move past the burned remains of the fae door Cerson eyes it with great interest before turning back to look over the village, her shoulders rolled back in her head held high as we walk through the cobblestone streets. The repairs have continued in our time away but there’s still signs of damage everywhere, the black stains of witch-ash giving the houses a grimy feel.
The villagers stare at the soldiers with undisguised fear as we pass, many ducking back into their houses and away from such a display of power. Gideon and Gage both ignore it, moving to allow Prince Soren and I to ride at the front, but Cerson sighs at the haggard state of them all.
The inner gates open slowly, the soldiers of sentry duty along the inner wall staring down at the goblin soldiers with confusion that’s far more obvious than they usually show in front of their prince. Soren frowns at them, turning to Roan with a glare but the Snowsong heir jerks his head at the castle’s courtyard in answer.
Hundreds of high fae wait there, nobles and royals alike, as chaos ensues at our arrival.
Soren stares at them all in disbelief, his arm pressing me into his chest as though sure I’m in danger, and Cerson chuckles at him, pleased with his overbearing ways.
“A wedding gift for your impending nuptials, Your Highness; those high fae still loyal to the true Celestial King rescued from Yris and brought to the safety of Yregar.”
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Soren
Every one of my uncle’s prisoners are standing before me in the same haggard state they were when I last saw them in the dungeons of Yris. I swing out of my saddle, clearing a healthy amount of space around Nightspark with a single severe glare before I help Rooke and hand the reins off to Ingor. Gideon helps Cerson down from Northern Star before I can reach her but with this many fae jammed into Yregar’s courtyard, I’m willing to let him so I can keep Rooke closely tucked into my side.
Firna has already begun calling out orders to see the high fae into the castle, dozens of my soldiers already helping her to direct the crowd, but the arrival of the goblin soldiers has thrown the crowd into a state of panic. Tauron curses viciously under his breath as his horse shies away from one of the weeping high fae ladies, her ear-piercing shriek cut off as she faints at the sight of the goblin soldiers streaming in through the inner gate behind us.
Gideon calls out commands to redirect his battalion and his face is set in the cold, aloof mask once more as the attention of Yregar focuses almost entirely on him. It’s not just that he’s a fresh face and they’ve seen Gage here before, it’s his unmistakably high fae appearance that has them rattled so surely.
As he dismounts, Roan glares at both of the Briarfrost princes as though he's finding an open section of skin to bury a knife and I snap at him in the old language, “This is the path the Fates have set out before me and I’ve found it far better than the one I hoped to walk. The Briarfrost bloodline are backing us where dozens of others have turned us away, even after generations of contempt shown to them. I know where my loyalties lie, you must decide if yours are as steadfast as you’ve always claimed them to be but do it quickly, because I won’t hesitate to protect my kingdom.”
He turns to meet my gaze, both of us ignoring the shock slackening Tauron’s face at my words. His family lost a lot in the conflict with goblins, but holding onto his anger and contempt for the sake of his grandfather’s memory will only get us all killed now. If I can accept my own kin’s fault in the bloodshed, so can he.
When Roan finally bows his head to me, I switch to the common language. "When did Kharl’s war bands attack? Was this the first one or have there been others?"
He pointedly doesn’t look at anyone but me, handing his reins to the stable hand when the male makes it over to us. "It's the first time they've tried to attack the castle but they’ve been unusually active in the kingdom for days. Something’s happened out there, we assumed they found out you and Rooke were traveling without an escort."
Rooke hums under her breath, sharing a look with Cerson where she stands wedged protectively between Gideon andGage. “It was our sacrifice to the Brindlewyrd Forest. The bodies we found on our way out were all attempts to enter, they seem desperate to find a way in."
Cerson huffs, her eyes sharp on the high fae still causing a fuss around us and clearly unimpressed with their behavior. "It's they don’t listen to the forests anymore; they’re not upset about losing access tothem."
Rooke stares at her, shocked, before blowing out a breath and nodding slowly. Cerson giggles at her and when I shoot her a look, she shrugs. "They can’t get to the fae door without entering the forest."
Cerson taps a finger against her chin theatrically, ignoring the affectionate eye roll Rooke gives her. "I wonder how much angrier the Betrayer will be when he realizes he’s lost access to all of them?"
I freeze, all eyes turning to look at the witch, but she just shrugs back. “That disgusting male cast his own magic on them to send his raving army here— the very least I can do is cut him off… when we face him on the battlefield, I’ll see he faces true retribution for defiling sacred relics of this kingdom.”
Gideon and Gage both cackle gleefully but Roan just stares at her, scowling but far less contentious than the one he wore.
Tauron asks carefully, “How is that possible? How you know the old magic of the First Fae?"
Rooke cringes but Cerson answers without anger at whatever ignorance in my cousin’s words. "It's Elmswyrd magic, actually. My coven taught the high fae how to create fae doors in the first place."
With the last of the high fae seen into the Grand Hall, I take Rooke’s elbow to direct her into the castle and Kytan waits inside the entrance with Reed, Firna, Airlie and, surprisingly, Aura.
Yregar’s commander bows deeply to us both. “When we heard you were taken to Yris, we assumed the worst, YourHighness. We were much relieved when the trees informed Tyton of your return journey.”
Airlie steps forward to embrace Rooke, a smug smile at the corner of her lips that spells trouble but she spares me from her gloating for now. “I was unaware you were on a rescue mission, cousin, or that you were opening our doors to all.”
Gage scoffs under his breath, muttering in the Unseelie common language, “I'm not sure he particularly wanted to house them all here but the regent’s insanity hasn’t given him much choice.”
Blank looks of shock stare back at him, a smirk tugging over my own lips.
