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“Liath, wait—why can’t you make some kind of truce or peace?” I begged.
He shook his head.
“That might have been possible if Quill had lived. We used to speak of making peace between the two Courts—he was willing to give up stolen magic and to make the rest of the Seelie Court pay for their power as well. Your father would never agree to it, though,” he added. “And I’m sure Asfaloth won’t either.”
I knew he was right, but I kept flashing on my last memory of my older brother—asking me for a kiss on the cheek for luck—before he went to battle. And then he never came home…at least, not alive.
“Please, don’t go,” I begged again.
“I have to. But I will be back as soon as I can.” Liath leaned down to kiss me gently. When he pulled back, his bronze eyes were unreadable. “Don’t worry, little bird—I’ve gone to battle many times and always returned,” he told me. “Besides, maybe this is finally my chance to avenge my friend and your brother.”
Then, before I could say anything else, he swept out of the room, his black cloak swishing behind him.
26
“Your Majesty, there is news of the battle—none of it good, I’m afraid.” The clip-clop of Master Stableforth’s hooves was muted on the carpet of my chamber.
“Yes?” I looked up at him and as I did, I saw my own haggard reflection in one of the mirrors. I had been pacing in the living area of the rooms I shared with Liath, worrying about him obsessively. My husband had been gone for a week now—a week in which I’d had no news of him and not a single message.
Now I looked up at the centaur and felt my stomach drop at the look on his face. It was grim news then—very grim.
“Tell me quickly,” I said to Stableforth. “Is he…is he dead?”
I could scarcely get the words out. Only now that I had lost him was clear to me how very much Liath meant to me. He wasn’t just my lord and husband—he was my best friend, the one I turned to now, when I was upset or worried or blue. Slowly and quietly, I had been falling in love with him and I hadn’t even realized it until now. Now that he was gone.
“He is not dead,” Stableforth said.
I sank down to a couch, trembling as relief washed through me. But it was relief tempered with caution.
“If he’s not dead, then where is he?” I demanded.
“Captured,” Stableforth told me. “A prisoner of war—a prisoner of your cousin, King Asfaloth. Though to say the truth, I have heard that he rules jointly with his sister, the Lady Calista,” he added.
“She’s no lady,” I said rudely. “Anymore than Asfaloth is really a king. He might wear the Sun Crown and sit the Shining Throne, but he’s nothing but an imposter!”
“Be that as it may, he holds Prince Liath prisoner,” Stableforth said grimly. “And it does not appear that he intends to set him free.”
“He might not intend it, but he will set Liath free!” I felt my hands squeeze into fists. “I’ll make sure of that!”
The centaur looked alarmed.
“My Princess, pitting yourself against the ruler who sits the Shining Throne is not wise. The only way you could defeat him is if you also had the power of the throne behind you.”
“The Shadow Throne,” I whispered.
“Exactly.” Stableforth nodded. “But you are not ready to sit the Shadow Throne yet and so you cannot stand against your cousin.”
“Who says I’m not ready?” I demanded, lifting my chin. “If trying for the Shadow Throne is the only way to get my husband back, then I’ll do it.”
“My Lady, please—pause…reflect!” Stableforth said earnestly. “You have seen what the Shadow Throne does to one who is not ready or able to claim it. Your magic is not yet ripe —you are not powerful enough.”
“And when will I be powerful enough, then?” I demanded. “Am I to wait, year after year, pacing these halls alone without my husband, until I finally feel ready?”
“If that is what it takes.” The centaur nodded.
“No!” I rose from the couch on shaky legs, but I refused to sit back down. “No—for I would rather be dead in an instant trying to get the power to save my Liath than live all the long, lonely years without him!”
“Please, my Princess!” Stableforth exclaimed. “Prince Liath would kill me if he knew I allowed you to try such a rash and foolish action just to save him.”
“It’s not your decision to make, Stableforth,” I told him. “It’s mine—and I’m making it now.”
I strode out of my rooms, so empty now without Liath. I knew what I was doing was risky—maybe even rash—but I refused to back down. I couldn’t stay here in the Winter Palace year after year while Liath rotted in an iron cell in the dungeons of the Summer Court.
