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Lord Mote, a ginger-haired fae, nodded. “Of course we do. She vanished months ago, and you’ve been going on about it ever since. I assumed her being back was a good thing, but judging by the looks on both your faces…”
“Let the Queen speak, Lord Mote,” Liam, her Summer Court mate, drawled from where he slouched lazily in his chair, his brilliant red hair a flash of light in the otherwise grey, misty court. Norah had filled her mates in on everything, of course, before she’d called the meeting. None of them seemed particularly happy about the situation, but they also hadn’t argued against taking the troops through the Faerie Ring.
“The Queen can speak for herself, my love,” Norah said gently. “Now, yes. Obviously, I’m glad she’s back, but it seems she’s been in the dark fae realm all this time. And nothing stopped her from coming back through the Faerie Ring, which meant I didn’t permanently shut it after all. Luckily, there have been some positive developments with the dark fae. It seems the commitment to the Tithe died along with that monstrous king of theirs. The only problem is, we need to come up with an acceptable alternative for the new king to halt it. Otherwise, they die.”
“I say they just die,” Lord Mote grunted.
Norah narrowed her eyes. “We’re not going to kill off an entire race. Especially when they are our only allies against a force far more terrible.”
That smacked the smug smile right off Lord Mote’s face. Bree’s lips flickered. Norah really had grown more confident.
And that was when Bree noticed that everyone had turned to look at her. Norah’s brows arched. “I think it’s best if you explain what’s happened, since you’ve seen and heard it all.”
Bree braced herself, trying to ignore the weight of all those eyes on her. She sat up a little straighter and tried to find the right words. “There’s another realm. One beyond Underworld. I think, maybe, all those stories about the monstrous dark fae really came from that place instead of Underworld. The dark fae, well, they’re not always good, but they’re a lot like all of you. Some are good, some are bad. A mixed bag. Humans are, too.”
“Where are you going with this?”
“It’s the Realm of the Dead. They want to invade Underworld, and then they want to come here. I wouldn’t be surprised if they planned to go after the human realm after that. Basically, we’re all in a shitload of trouble if we don’t do something to stop them.”
“There’s awhat?” One of Norah’s female warriors shoved up from her chair, her hair a wild tangle of red around her shoulders. She was fiery and full of a passionate rage that flickered in a set of bonfire eyes. A summer fae then.
Kael ran a hand along his sharply cut jaw and leaned back in his chair. “It’s true. There are ancient books in our library here that speak about this, although I have long believed they were nothing more than stories.”
The warrior’s eyes cut her way. “You winter fae knew about this?”
“As I said, I assumed they were nothing more than stories. Regardless, it was ancient history. We’re talking centuries and centuries in the past. If there is a Realm of the Dead, they have not been a threat for a very long time.”
Lord Mote fisted his hands and leaned forward. “What is it you propose to do about this, my queen?”
Norah stood, palmed her hands against the table, and scanned the gathered fae. “We go fight by their side.”
