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Chapter 3
Taveon
Bree could thinkwhatever she wanted to about Taveon, but his first priority was to keep his own realm safe, even if that meant making her life miserable at times. He could tell that she hated him. And, if he were being honest, he wasn’t particularly fond of her right now either. She had tried to kill him, and then she had left him for dead. Not even that strange magical pull he felt toward her could erasethat.
Showing her kindness after her actions was not an option. He had to keep up certain appearances or else the Court would question his position as the future King of Underworld. He could not show her too much mercy. The Dark Fae would expect him to be harsh to Bree. If he wasn’t, there was no telling how they might respond to her presence in theCourt.
Of course, he would rathernothave her look at him as if he were the most vile creature she’d ever laid eyes on, but that wasn’t because he particularly cared about her opinion of him. He just liked to think of himself as a better male than his father had ever been, and he would be a much better ruler. No more terror andfear.
King Midas had ruled Underworld with an iron fist. If anyone got in his way, he smashed them aside. If anyone disobeyed him, he put their head on a stake for all the realm to see. He’d been a terrifying ruler, which meant that no fae alive dared betray him. But that kind of fear did not inspire true loyalty, which was why Taveon himself faced an impossibletask.
He needed to seize the crown for himself, but it wouldn’t be quite so simple. King Midas’s many enemies would now stand in Taveon’s way, some of which were on the very council he was on his way to meet. He had to convince them that he was worthy and hope they chose not to step forward with their own champions at the Battle for theCrown.
He needed as few fae in his way aspossible.
Otherwise, he would lose his chance at power, and the Dark Fae could end up ruled by an even worse monarch than his father hadbeen.
Seath, for example. Prince Taveon shuddered at thethought.
Prince Taveon strode into father’s meeting hall, an expansive room set inside the Shard Keep. As King Midas’s only heir, Taveon had been invited to join the council the day he’d come of age, and he’d sat on every council meeting since, along with Seath, Dagen, Conlan, Branok, andEthne.
They were all waiting for him now, all sitting in their high-backed chairs and staring up at him with curiosity and concern etched onto theirfaces.
“I know you are all wondering why I called this meeting. King Midas is dead.” Prince Taveon let the words sink in before he braced his hands on the thick wooden table beforehim.
He had thought long and hard about how to explain this to the council. In truth, he had lied to Princess Norah. If the Lords and Lady discovered what had truly transpired in the realm of the Light Fae, they would do whatever they could to destroy Otherworld. Regardless of what Taveon said. Regardless of the supposed “sacrifice” Norah had made by sending Breehere.
The only way to keep the Dark Fae from invading Otherworld was for Prince Taveon to keep the truth to himself. And, despite what he’d told Bree, he never planned to tell a single member of the Court the truth. She could try to kill him all she wanted, and he wouldn’t do a damn thing. But she didn’t need to knowthat.
Her fear would keep her from telling a single soul what had happened between them. Because there was truth in one thing he’d said. If the Court discovered that she’d tried to kill the Prince, they would put her head on astake.
Seath slammed his fist against the table, and the entire thing shook from the force of his blow. “I knew it. I knew something was wrong when he didn’t return from chasing down that damnchangeling.”
“Princess Norah. Queen Marin’s only surviving daughter,” Prince Taveon said, correcting him. “She will become the Queen of Otherworldnow.”
Lord Dagen was staring at Taveon with those intelligent black eyes of his. Those eyes that always unnerved him. “How did he die, myPrince?”
Taveon knew those words were a dig, even if no one else could truly see it. Taveon had never beenDagen’sPrince, at least not in the golden-haired fae’s eyes. Dagen had been one of his father’s closest allies, and Taveon had overheard him say that his father would be better off choosing a different official heir—one of his bastards,perhaps.
“A Breking monster,” Prince Taveon said as matter-of-factly as he could as he referenced the dangerous creature that roamed Otherworld’s wintry mountains. “I saw it happen with my own eyes, but I was not fast enough to stopit.”
It was the truth in a twisted sort of way. A Brekinghadkilled his father, but it had done so because Princess Norah had the power to control every animal of her realm. She had turned the beast’s hunger toward the King. And he’d died withinseconds.
“A Breking?” Seath frowned. “Are you certain that Norah girl was notinvolved?”
“As much as I would like to blame it on her, Icannot.”
Taveon swore that Dagen hadn’t blinked his eyes once since hearing the news. “How did she escape anyway? I was under the impression that her powers did not work here, so it seems impossible that she managed to get out of that cell where she was beingkept.”
Prince Taveon merely lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “I cannotsay.”
“It is a very strange fate for our dear King,” Dagen said, pursing his lips. “Someone will need to claim the crown now, you see, though it should be the male who truly understands what it is toreign.”
“I am his heir,” Taveon said, his grip on the tabletightening.
“He had many bastards,” Dagen said dismissively. “Some older thanyou.”
“A bastard is not anheir.”
