Page 88

“I accept your oaths and offer my assurance that I will perform the duties of this role to the best of my ability.” I motioned for them to rise. “Let us move. We have a great deal to accomplish, and the court awaits our appearance.”

“Are you coming with us?” I asked the Seelie representative at my side.

Portent grinned. “Of course. Even if I were not honor-bound to witness, I wouldn’t miss this.” He fell into step with me and we moved as a unit along the narrow trail toward the gathering ahead.

I narrowed my gaze at Portent as we walked. “What exactly are you expecting?”

“Justice.” Then, when he realized I didn’t know what he was referring to, he explained. “The Unseelie kings have been meddling in the affairs of the Seelie throne and the passage of their power from one ruler to the next for generations. Curses, bindings, spies, assassination attempts, subterfuge. Your father—”

I flinched.

“Sire?”

“The current—former king,” I said, indicating I understood who he spoke of and that he should continue explaining.

“He had a direct part in cursing both King Azulin and his father. Even more recently, he attempted to take the throne from my master by force.”

I nodded. “I heard murmurings that King Azulin cursed him in return.” The human world beyond the Wild Wood wasn’t so far removed that such monumental news would not bleed over the borders.

“King Azulin bound him to his own borders and forced him to choose an heir. You.”

“He hasn’t chosen me.”

“Yet—”

“He won’t have a choice.” The leader of my new honor guard inserted his comment with a glance at the top of my head.

Just then, we reached the edge of the clearing prepared as the challenge area. Stepping past the edge of the tree line, we halted as a group.

A great expanse of cleared land spread out before us. A softly sloping grassy hillside dropped away from my feet, gradually approaching a flat circle of stone-edged lawn clear of any imperfections. Arrayed across the slopes, clumps of fae whispered to each other, warily watching me and my small group of armed warriors and the waiting fae standing in the center of the circle below us.

Lord Greyson lifted his face to us the moment we appeared.

At his side, even from this distance, the king’s features appeared pale and wan. His previously tall frame hunched, and he didn’t lift his head as a stir passed through the crowd.

On Greyson’s other side, though, Lord Stanton defiantly raised his chin as my gaze fell on him. Bitter determination tightened every line of his body as he glared his anger at me. Thanks to the bonding with Rue, I could see a hint of his power flaring around him with his emotions.

Ignoring him, I scanned the crowd, looking for my mate, but she was nowhere in sight. Yet, I could sense Rue was near. I paused as the land magic opened my senses even further. It threaded through the bond magic joining us. Flowing swiftly along the connection, it pulled my attention to the far side of the clearing beyond the central focus where Stanton and Greyson stood. The trees along the edge were thick and close, with foliage crowding the cleared land and overflowing the edge in wild overgrowths of branches.

For the briefest of moments, the land magic brushed the binding magic that held her. It assured me that she was unharmed.

“What is your plan?” Portent asked from beside me, drawing my attention back to my own circumstances. I blinked the sun-drenched clearing back into focus.

“How can we assist?” my honor guard leader asked as he gripped his sword hilt.

Assessing Greyson’s concerned glower and Stanton’s confident grin as they met my gaze over the crowd, I knew my next move needed to be a confident stride down to join them.

“Kent!” Nerio jogged up the slope toward us, dodging fae as they turned to gape up at me and my escort. I nodded to him as he approached, gasping. “Greyson said you might need my help.”

“Have you seen Sicilia?” I asked.

His expression soured. “No, nor do I wish to. We have parted ways.”

“Do you see her parents in the crowd?” I glanced around without apparent purpose while Nerio scanned the opposite direction.

“I see them. There.”

“Don’t point,” Portent snapped before Nerio’s arm fully lifted.