Page 11 of Be the Serpent

“She gave me a choice, Mother. She asked what I wanted to be, and I chose Daoine Sidhe, and I’m not sorry. I can feel my magic starting to wake up, now that it’s not spending all of its time fighting just to keep me alive. It’s amazing. I think . . . ” She kept looking at her mother, the muscle in her jaw jumping even harder. “I think I can be happy.”

“So be happy with us,” said Luna, desperately. “Be happy at home.”

“I’m not sure I can.” Raysel finally dropped her gaze to the floor. “You expect so much of me, and you don’t see me the way I am now that I’m not your perfect little girl. You don’t know who I am. I barely know who I am. I need to be somewhere else for a while, and right now, the best somewhere else is with October. So I asked her to claim offense when Father sent her into my dreams a second time, so that I could go someplace where I’d know I was safe, and might be able to sleep at night. You know. Without someone having to elf-shoot me first.”

Silence filled the room after Raysel finished speaking. I already knew everything she’d just said, and even I hated the weight of it. I looked to Simon, who looked like he was going to be sick. Everything that had been said about why he’d done the things he’d done was true, but at the end of the day, even without Evening forcing his hand, he would have chosen to hurt Raysel if it meant getting August back. He’d been trying to save his daughter, and he’d seen another man’s child as a reasonable exchange.

Maybe that’s the way it always works. Someone else’s child is always an acceptable form of currency. It’s only when we start to see the consequences of those choices that we understand how much harm we’ve done.

“This Court is still active,” said Arden, voice carrying like a shout through the silence. She barely needed the magical amplification. “Duchess Lorden’s claim of offense has been heard and accepted, and will not be altered. Rayseline Torquill, you may, if you desire, have one hour’s time to speak privately with your parents, but the choice of whether or not to return to Shadowed Hills is no longer your own. You will return there unaccompanied only when Sir Daye declares your debt repaid, and even then, only once a full year has passed. Do you understand?”

“I do,” said Rayseline.

“Is there any further business for this Court?”

Surprising no one, there wasn’t. With an expression of deep relief, Arden nodded.

“Then go peacefully and in the understanding that the rose and the tree will stand watch over us all until we meet again. This Court is closed. Our business is discharged. You may now away.”

She clapped her hands and turned to face me, smiling. “Open roads and kind fires,” she said, voice no longer magically amplified. “I’m pretty sure you’re going to need them.”

FOUR

It was no surprise to anyone when Luna and Sylvester—the first glaring daggers, the second refusing to meet my eyes—bundled Raysel up and swept her away as soon as Court was finished. It was a bit more of a surprise when Etienne went with them but Jin stayed behind, falling into a muttered conversation with the Queen, Arden still seated on her throne, Jin’s wings beating almost constantly.

I had better things to worry about, like moving to the side of the room with my own small group. “You did beautifully, Di,” I said. “I was hoping things wouldn’t have to go that far, but I still really appreciate it.”

“And here I was hoping they’d go a little farther, and I’d have an excuse to kick that woman’s teeth in.”

“Aren’t you normally all about the punching?”

Dianda shrugged. “I’m supposed to have legs for ‘etiquette’ reasons when I attend one of your land events, unless I’m trying to make a point. I may as well use them for something.”

“Fair enough.”

The Luidaeg, who had been watching our conversation with a predator’s rapt interest, interrupted to say, “Wait, you planned this?”

“We did,” I said. “Raysel really did ask me to claim offense against her, and I said I would, but a promise made in a dream isn’t necessarily binding. I had to ask my family if they were okay with it.”

“I’m not thrilled,” said Quentin. “She hurt Dean. But that was before we were dating, and I don’t think—Shadowed Hills isn’t a great place to need someone to take care of you. It’s better for Chelsea, because Bridget understands how to be a mom, and Etienne doesn’t think he already knows everything, but it was pretty bad for me, and I was just a foster. I can’t imagine sending Rayseline back into that when she wants out. And Dean said he’d be okay with it, as long as I didn’t expect him to sit next to her during movie nights.”

Meaning Raysel would be invited to movie nights. Interesting.

“I have no ground on which to stand when it comes to chiding my lady for the adoption of strays,” said Tybalt. “Not only is it a habit in which I myself have been known to indulge, but without such inclinations, I might not be married to her.”

“You were never a stray,” I said. “A pain in my ass, sure, but not a stray.”

“I’ll always vote for mercy when I can,” said May.

“That’s . . . You know, coming from you merry band of fools, that’s impressive as hell,” said the Luidaeg. “I half-expected you to let her parents whisk her away and lock her in a tower like a fairy tale princess, ignoring the part where she needed a lot more help than she was ever going to get there, and turn her into your next great enemy. You’re learning.”

“She’s going to get whatever help she needs,” I said firmly. “Arden knows a couple of therapists who are aware of Faerie and equipped to deal with some of the weirder shit we have to live with. Raysel’s going to have a door she can close and someone who won’t judge her to talk to and she’s not going anywhere near her parents unless she wants to.”

“Which means I won’t be dropping by uninvited until she can look at me without flinching and I can look at her without wanting to vomit,” said Simon.

I turned to blink at him. I’d known he wouldn’t be able to hang around Raysel without upsetting her, and we’d already discussed some of the ways to help with that. I hadn’t been expecting himself to voluntarily exile himself from the house.

“We can meet somewhere in the City,” he said. “It’ll just take a bit more planning on our part. I know you’re allergic to the concept, but I also know you’re capable of it. It’s best for everyone involved. Everyone deserves to feel safe.”