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“This doesn’t seem right.” Ari’s voice was soft, eyes still closed, but a groove formed over his nose. “Prince Bracken wouldn’t take his mother’s alliance with the East silently. I know it. He certainly wouldn’t stay quiet if she joined with the underground courts and the likes of these blood fae.”
“Perhaps you did not know the prince like you thought,” I said.
Ari cracked one eye, smirking. “Forgive me, Queen Malin, but as I told you once before, I am an excellent judge of character.”
“You defend killers and thieves,” I said, turning away so he wouldn’t see my smile. “I would not think too highly of your judgment.”
“Ah, but I never said I favored the folk of decent character.” Ari closed his eyes again as if that was the last of the conversation before adding, “This answers my question. The Southern Prince is in duress.”
“But when we see my cousin again, Ambassador, it will be the perfect timing,” Eryka said in a soft, breathy whisper.
“What?” I gripped her wrist. “Eryka, when will we see the prince?”
She tilted her head. “What prince?”
I studied her for half a breath, then sighed. “Never mind.”
“What else can you tell us about these fae?” Elise whispered to Ari.
“We should be on our guard. Especially against the blood fae. They can bind your fate to theirs, making you a slave to their whims until the Otherworld calls you home. But I do not know many details of every ability, my dear Elise.” He shook his head. “They are so horrid, even my charm might not have been enough to win them over. I did not spend a great deal of time with the Underground Folk.”
“You should,” Eryka said. “You will soon be important to them, Ambassador.”
“Eryka,” I snapped in a sharp whisper. “Do you even realize the things you’re saying?”
She tilted her head, a bemused smile on her face. “What things?”
Once Eryka looked back into the smoke hole, Elise rested a hand on my arm, eyeing the fae woman with a furrowed brow. “I don’t think she realizes she’s spouting off prophecies.”
“Eryka’s fury only does this if there is an imbalance of glamour magic,” Ari said. “There are many Underground folk from the South, the dark fae, here. Perhaps they are throwing off her stability. Something is not right.”
“I hate when Ari worries,” Elise grumbled so only I heard. “Ari never worries.”
“So, when he does . . .”
“It means there is something to fret about.”
Inside the longhouse, Raum slammed the knife into the table again. The force of it knocked a clay bowl off the side and shattered it to pieces. Oskar whimpered, closed his eyes, and trembled on his knees.
Kase dug his thumb into the soft spot of Oskar’s neck, crushing the tender muscles until the skydguard winced. “You will take us to the grove, and you will get us into the stronghold.”
Silence filled the room for a few breaths. My heart hammered against my breastbone until the quiet shattered.
Edvard laughed. “Why would we betray the Lord Magnate for you?”
Kase snapped his fingers at Raum. “Because I know how to encourage compliance. Bring him in.”
“Time to make our move, King,” Luca said, clapping a hand on Valen’s shoulder. “Ready?”
“More than ready.” Valen grinned a little villainously.
Elise looked like she might devour him.
The Northern king was gracious to us, kind even. Now, he looked like he might slit a few throats and laugh while he did it.
Luca closed his eyes and freed a long breath. Valen followed, dropping his chin as the door to the longhouse swung open beneath us.
Hagen and Bard, disguised as common folk, appeared with a beaten, bloody man slumped between them.
