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The king turned toward the voice and then with visible effort, he said, “I did it for the realms. The Seelie and Unseelie united under one king would make us an unstoppable force.”

The gathered court and crowd broke into shouted opinions and murmured conversations. Greyson addressed the old king in lowered tones, by all appearances advising him to not stir up trouble.

Portent scoffed behind me. “His plan was ill-advised at best and potentially disastrous at worst. The courts are not meant to be joined. The land magics are not compatible.”

Murmuring passed through the surrounding crowd. I still stood outside the ring of stones. Around my feet, wildflowers bloomed and ferns waved in a magical breeze, while a carpet of clover continued to expand as the land magic used me as a conduit of power. I could sense its impatience with the discussion, and I wondered if I would spend the rest of my life dealing with its opinions.

I also wondered how my sire had ever ignored it enough to do all the things he had done.

“He probably wasn’t aware of it to the same level you are,” Portent said from behind me.

I frowned over my shoulder at Portent as I belatedly realized I must have voiced my wondering. “Is the Seelie king bothered by his land magic?”

Portent shrugged. “Not that I know of, but I am not exactly his close confidant.”

Before I could ask my next question, a piercing feminine scream ripped through the air. The plants behind the circle in the middle of the arena thrashed about and then abruptly disgorged a mess of fae, honor guards, Sicilia, Nerio, and in the center of it all Rue with Mela’s clinging form in her arms.

Pale-faced and wild-haired, Rue’s whole body appeared to vibrate with power. Her moss-green eyes glowed, and I caught a wave of barely contained fury as it erupted from her and washed over the surrounding fae. Most of those it touched flinched at the intensity.

Then, the trees parted behind her, their trunks leaning away from a massive vine wrapped around two fae males. Muzzled by masses of leaves jammed into their mouths, they writhed and thrashed in bug-eyed horror.

“Be still,” Rue ordered, glaring at the struggling guards. The vine wrapped around their middles shook them sharply before dropping them at one of my guard’s feet.

Chapter Nineteen

Rue

Pure, raw power flowed through me. My skin buzzed with a prickly sensation, and it felt like every inch of me, inside and out, hummed with magic. It was only when my vision dimmed that I realized I had forgotten to breathe.

“She is glowing,” someone whispered nearby.

“See the crown,” another commented. Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

“The land magic has chosen her.” Lord Piro emerged from the trees towering behind the gathered fae in the stone circle. “We have not had a chosen queen in centuries.”

“And the last time the land magic selected a true mated pair to take the throne was two regimes before that,” Lord Greyson added. “Their reign brought a prolonged season of peace and prosperity to the entire realm of the Wild Wood and the surrounding lands.”

“A promising indication for the future,” Lord Piro pronounced.

“Vote!” a high fae yelled from the back of the crowd.

“Law requires a vote! Vote! Court has a say!”

More voices joined the first, growing in intensity until Lord Greyson thrust his open hand into the air above his head and then abruptly fisted it. All sound cut off.

Into the silence, the Dullahan spoke, his deep voice resonating with a binding spell. “Truth compels the members of the court to speak their minds. All those in favor of accepting the realm’s choice for the Unseelie throne, speak now.” At the command, he opened his fist.

My ears popped and then I flinched at the roar of assent that rumbled through the crowd, shaking the ground beneath my feet with its volume.

Mela whimpered and buried her face in my rumpled, dirty skirts, her hands pressed to her ears. I covered her head with my hand, holding her close as I whispered a dampening spell to protect her hearing.

Around me, the wild magic seemed to sing, and I could see it dancing in green and gold threads as it whipped around. I blinked, and my awareness of the magic faded slightly, but the hum of its approval continued to thrum in my bones.

Lord Greyson’s hand above his head fisted once more, and the sound cut off again. “All those who object, speak now.” He opened his fist and a scattered chorus of shouts split the air.

“I demand the right of challenge!” Lord Stanton stepped forward.

Lord Greyson lifted his dark brows as he regarded the fae noble. “On what grounds? Your connection to the previous king was dubious at best. The land magic has visibly chosen not one but two alternatives to you, and you don’t have the support of the court.”