“If you will refrain from interrupting me, I will gladly continue to explain,” Rian replied coldly, drawing many murmurs from the crowd. Imogen looked like she wanted to respond, but Rian continued seamlessly.
“The Fuath are a tool that is being used to distract me from my goals of finding the Autumn Queen. That is why all their tactics and magic have been so uncharacteristic. It is why we have underestimated them,” Rian explained significantly as he met Imogen’s angry eyes. He braced his palms on the war table and held her gaze in a silent challenge until she looked away in frustration.
“How do you know this?” Asha asked, brushing my shoulder on her way to stand before Rian.
“Nuala,” he said simply, and I rolled my eyes when the whispers were renewed through the room. “She is a Seer. She was able to sense the corruption in the stone at yourteinewhen she was close to it. After an opportunity to examine it, Nuala confirmed that the fifthceangalstone is in the possession of Her Majesty, Queen Aoibheal.”
The room went silent for a beat before it burst into even more noise as everyone turned to their companions to begin discussing this revelation. I saw Rian heave an exasperated sigh as he stood upright and crossed his arms over his chest to wait while their shock dissipated.
“Ourqueenis the one using the Fuath to attack us?” Ashaverified, quieting the room as everyone waited for him to confirm again. Even she seemed skeptical.
“This is a very hefty accusation, Rian!” warned Eive, the Shadow Banshee and Sua of the Aes Mirr.
“Surely you are not placing all your trust in awitch?” scoffed Imogen. “Shay told us that you brought her into the ravine, but I scarcely believed her! You have always been vocal about your feelings toward witch kind!”
“Yes, we all have some concerns about this witch upon whom you suddenly seem to rely so heavily,” Eive agreed with a firm nod.
“How do you know she is trustworthy?” asked Sassha, the Wolf Maiden and Sua of Aes Lyrra. She still gazed at Rian with that strange mixture of awe and reverence that made me uncomfortable for him.
“I perfectly understand your concerns,” Rian raised his voice to silence the females. “Nuala is a stranger to you, and our people have a long-standing and rightful mistrust for her ancestors. It is not my place to tell you about her experiences, but rest assured, her allegiance is tome.”
“You will excuse me if I maintain a healthy dose of skepticism concerningwitches,” Imogen retorted.
“You are welcome to believe as you wish. It matters not to me. But Queen Aoibheal will attack the tribes soon. Darragh brought word just this morning that they have begun mobilizing at Aes Suri,” Rian informed them.
“You did?” I whisper-hissed at Darragh, who stood on the other side of Ciaran, and he confirmed with a nod.
“You do not have proof that it is Aoibheal aside from the word of a witch!” insisted Imogen.
“Be that as it may, the Fuath will strike the tribes again within a week. If Nuala is right, and Aoibheal is directing their attacks against us, then it is likely they know you are in the ravine. She is connected to the stones in your fires through the one she possesses,” Rian insisted.
This got the aes sídhe worked up all over again.
“Just because they are moving, does not mean they are headed toward the ravine!” Imogen argued.
“And is that a gamble that you are willing to make?” demanded Rian impatiently, silencing her and the rest of the room again. He released a breath and leaned harder over the table as if his next words were already heavy on his shoulders. “I am needed here now to govern Feura and ensure Nabeene adheres to the peace terms we negotiated. With the Wild Hunt… down a rider, and Ornella unable to be fully initiated because of it, I cannot spare someone to stay with the tribes. We are stretched too thin with this army to manage, two countries to oversee, and wars to make ready for with the Vale. All while we are still trying to locate the monarchs and find a way to reverse the Rot. For this reason, the aes sídhe must come here where I can centralize my position and better protect our people.”
There was a long silence before Imogen suddenly gave a scoffing laugh and looked to her fellow Sua as if she needed to confirm they had heard him too.
“You expect us to comehere?” Eive demanded.
“Yes,” said Rian simply without flinching while they all blinked at him.
“You cannot truly expect us to uproot eight thousand peopleagainand bring children here to an army camp?” Imogen sneered. “You have command of the Wild Hunt, you wield the power of death, and you have an army at your disposal, Rian! Surely, if you cannot manage to fend off this threat with such weapons in your arsenal then we are better off fighting this war on our own!”
A hot prickle of rage raised the hairs at the back of my neck in response to her scathing words, and I had to take a deep breath through my nose.
“This is not all just about the Fuath,” I found myself speaking up, drawing every eye in the tent toward me. “The Spring Court collapsed because its monarch caused a mass exodus. We sawmillions of fey die in seconds, and if Aoibheal were to do the same, you would be too far away for us to do anything. You wouldn’t even know it was happening before it was too late.”
My point seemed to have made an impact because the Sua were looking at each other in consideration now.
“Ornella is right. Youwillcome here so that the Hunt can better protect the tribes,” Rian insisted.
There was silence, the room properly cowed from the threat of his temper that was very clearly rising. Not even Imogen dared to speak up again.
“You are not yourself, dear Prince,” Sassha noted with concern and pouted. Rian scoffed at her observation.
“I amtired. I have lost much of what is most dear to me and now refuse to compromise on anything more,” Rian assured them. “So I am not asking you to move the tribes here. I amtellingyou that the aes sídhe are under my protection now,” he clarified.
