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“We couldn’t spare you here, or I would have sent you to her sooner,” Calen confessed. He touched the raised map made of carved wood. His eyes flicked over each kingdom one at a time. “We’re safer now…it wasn’t always that way. I know you understand that.”
I hated everything Calen said, but he was right in many ways. My emotions warred with what was true. There was no changing the past, though. I backed away from the table and promised myself I would keep a better eye on my brother.
Though, the man seemed to have it all under control already.
An idea occurred to me. “How long have you been preparing to take my throne?”
Calen’s lips quirked into a wry smile.
12
DELPHINE
Ipicked up the biggest rock I could get my hands on and chucked it into the lake. The water splashed and waves rippled out from there. Any moment now, I would find Cerridwen beside me, asking why I was chucking rocks at her underground court. She had to have noticed by now.
Lakesedge was a beautiful place. There was a kind of dirtiness to it that made it feel raw, and yet green growth still grew out of every corner it could find. Nature seemed unstoppable here, no matter how humanity tried to cover it with their industrial endeavors.
Cerridwen never appeared. I realized what I wanted was a fight—not a physical one. I just wanted someone to yell at, and Cerri had that kind of patient mother energy about her. I knew she’d let me yell and scream until my throat was raw.
Instead, Taliesin appeared. He folded his arms over his chest and gave me an annoyed sneer. I flipped him off and grabbed another rock to throw at the lake. Of course, he brought the rock back to his hand with a snap of his fingers. It couldn’t even connect with the lake water.
“You’re not yourself,” Taliesin said.
“No shit.”
How could I be? Everything I thought I knew he been turned inside out. I’d always assumed Arven was the root of my pain. The warmonger had destroyed my home, right? Finding out that it had been a farce meant to separate us only left me confused and off kilter.
Locke Balefire had feared Arven so much that he’d taken it out on my court just in case I could make Arven a stronger man.
“I don’t exist to make men better,” I grumbled under my breath.
“Interesting exclamation.” Taliesin stepped up beside me and placed the rock back in my hand.
“You snatched it just to remind me you’re stronger than I am.” I fought the urge to punch him.
Taliesin was the oldest fae I’d ever met. The only one older than him was his ex-boyfriend, and I’d heard enough stories about that man to know I should steer clear of him. I extended an offer to kill Foxglove once and for all, but Taliesin declined.
Shrugging, I threw the rock at the lake.
Taliesin cleared his throat. “I felt just as confused as you do now when Foxglove changed me from a mortal to a fae. Everything I thought I knew had been changed.”
I spun on him. “You’re not my dad. Do not give me fatherly lectures. Your court wasn’t dest—”
I stopped.
Tal raised a brow in silent challenge. I shut my mouth.
Queen Beryl had come into the Lakesedge Court and killed almost everyone he loved. He’d managed to save Cerri, who in turn came back to save him. Tal knew exactly what I’d been through. He’d watched people he loved die and had been forced to stay and witness the aftermath.
I sat on the lake bank and wrapped my arms around my knees. “This sucks.”
“Does it?” he challenged.
I scowled. “No. I’m just being stubborn.”
Learning that Arven had nothing to do with the fall of my court was a good thing. I could close my eyes and see his face without flinching. The man I had come to know made so much more sense now. Watching him comfort a tiny wolpertinger, seeing his rage on my behalf, it all warmed my heart in an unexpected way.
Fate had bound us together. No matter what happened, those threads would tighten and pull us back together, it seemed. I saw his silhouette walking along the edge of the lake. Every so often, I glimpsed flashes of his monstrous form as he walked towards us. His long horns reached towards the sky and his broad shoulders could have slammed through blockade gates.
