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My heart dropped. Sofia was the huldra fae who’d stood with Prince Bracken.
Dry laughter filled the space between us. “Ari. Fate has smiled upon me.”
Ari lifted the hilt of his sword, preparing to crash it down on the lock, but Elise grabbed his wrist.
“Wait. What if this is another fae trick, like the sluagh?”
“Ari constantly taunts his king about taking vows with his queen,” Sofia’s raspy voice came. “He can sleep anywhere, sitting up, standing up, I’m surprised he does not sleep with his eyes open. His favorite meal is roast herring with berries, and he tells no one about his family. I’m still puzzling through the, no doubt, tragic past of the Northern Ambassador.”
Ari flinched for only a moment before grinning. “She’s proving intimate knowledge. A mimicker fae would not be able to do so as quickly. It’s Sofia.” He faced the door again. “And I do sleep with my eyes open. I’m remarkably skilled at it.”
A laugh like a ragged cough followed. “If you are so skilled, get me the hells out of here.”
Ari tried to break the lock with his sword, it ended with the side of his hand splitting open after cutting it along a sharp sliver of iron. Elise tried to pick the lock with her knives with no luck. I longed for my whalebone pick for the door wouldn’t budge.
I’d opened a door like this before. A strong lock, but rusted, brittle hinges. A curl tugged at the corner of my mouth with a new plan. Turns as a thief, working odd jobs with Hob, had taught me a few tricks on breaking a lock.
“The hinges.” I pointed to the weak spikes keeping the door in place. It was a haphazard door, one hastily made, with all the attention placed on the thick iron lock. “Knock them loose and open it the opposite way.”
“Brilliant and amoral as always, Queen Malin,” Ari said, laughing. “Learn that trick while thieving, did you?”
“It’s possible.”
“You rival the dishonor of your husband.”
I snorted and helped brace the door while Ari struck at the small spikes from the bottom up until they were knocked out of place. The door slumped to one side, and together we pulled it away from the wall in the opposite direction it was designed to open.
Inside was a dank, rounded out room. It reeked of piss and waste and vomit. Elise covered her mouth and nose with the crook of her elbow as Ari grabbed the torch and stepped inside.
I gaped like a fool for half a breath. I’d only met the huldra guard once, but at that meet she’d been mystically beautiful. Her ears were slender and pointed, her dark hair like satin, her features delicate.
The woman before me was a husk of that guard.
Her hair was matted, stained in dried blood and dirt. A gash carved through her full lips, and the greenish, pulpy bruise hinted at an infection.
Huldra folk were a type of forest nymph. I’d studied a bit after facing Sofia last time. They were fae folk with tails. Sofia boasted a foxlike tail, but it too was matted and missing patches of fur. Her body had lost its strength in the arms and face. Those bright eyes were dull and sunken.
“Sofia.” Ari went to the guard and clasped her forearm. “What happened?”
“I’m afraid the High Queen made her move, my friend. I will say she took the upper hand in this game quickly. Took Prince Bracken and his inner circle in the dead of night, had us all on a damn trade ship, and tossed into the dungeons of that awful Eastern palace before Brack could even gather his team.”
Team? Game? My jaw tightened. “This is no game. It is war.”
Sofia’s gaze flicked to me. “The hidden queen.” She bowed at the waist, almost as if she did not realize she looked as if she’d been vomited out of a dying bear. “A pleasure to see you once again. Forgive our crass way of speaking. You see, in the South, it is always a game of crowns among the royals. To my queen, this is a play to keep the high crown. Her son has been of age for three turns now, and is her greatest contender, and I am her son’s most loyal guard.”
“If Bracken and his mother are ever on opposing sides of a battle, the law of the Southern courts is that the victor will take the high crown,” Ari said.
My brows arched. “His mother did this to her own son, to her own subjects?”
“Not this.” Sofia looked around. “But tossing me, the prince, and his other trusted guards in dungeons, yes. I was brought to the forest stronghold when . . . they brought another prisoner. They wanted me to use my glamour against the other fae, but I refused.”
Lust. Huldra fae used lust and seduction. It was an interesting magic, and I admitted inwardly I’d love to watch her use it.
“How did you end up here?” Ari asked.
“Oh, blame Hodag.”
“And Hodag is?”
