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I swallowed. “Yes.”
“And you are High Fae. I can see that too.”
I knew what she was getting at, so I said, “I’m her son. Yes.”
Another hissing laugh. “So you’re here to snatch the power from your mother’s hands.”
“No,” I said immediately. “I don’t want her power. I wouldn’t get it anyway. I’m—I was half mortal.”
“No longer, though. So if not for her power, why do you want to kill her?”
My jaw clenched. “Because she murders Folk for no reason. Just because it amuses her. And she wants to kill my brother. I won’t let that happen.”
“Mm.” Gadleg’s huge body twisted lower down the tower before tightening again. “Entirely selfless reasons then?”
I flushed. “Not entirely, no. I don’t know what she’ll do to me either. But I know it would be bad.”
“So you came here for my venom.” Her mouth split into a wide smile, showing off impossibly long, gleaming fangs that shone gold. “To answer your question, yes. My venom can kill the seelie ruler. How were you planning to get it? Were you expecting a garden snake, boy?”
“I don’t know what I was expecting,” I admitted. “I just… knew I had to try.”
“I have no personal vendetta against the seelie ruler. They are all largely the same to me. But…” Her head loomed even closer, making me swallow with fear. “What will you give me for my venom, boy?”
“I…” I looked around in a panic, as if I’d be able to find something to offer her. “What—what do you want?”
“That is a good question, isn’t it?” Her eyes watched me carefully. “If I give it to you and you succeed, your brother will become Seelie King?”
“I…” My brows pinched. “I mean, surely he will. He’s full fae.”
“Mm.”
She was silent for a long moment, still watching me. I forced myself to wait, even as I shifted anxiously on my feet again. If she did decide to kill me, there’d be absolutely nothing I could do. She could swallow me whole.
“Here is my offer,” she eventually said, shifting on her tower again. “I give you my venom, and you come back in seven years.”
I stilled at that. “What—that’s it?”
“Not entirely.” She sounded amused. “Come back in seven years, and I will judge you.”
My brows pulled into a frown. “Judge me on what?”
“Everything.”
Panic gripped me. “What—I don’t—What does that mean?”
“It means I will judge you. Your actions. I will decide whether you are worthy of still living.”
That sounded terrifying. I broke out in a cold sweat. “Why?”
“Because I find myself taking an interest.”
“In… in what?”
“Everything,” she repeated. “Change is coming. I would enjoy playing a part.”
I was struggling to follow her, but my brain latched on to the fact that she had agreed to give me her venom—if I agreed to this ominous, vague deal.
“But… but what if our morals don’t align?” I asked desperately. “What if what you deem as… worthy isn’t the same as what I do?”
