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The Naga studied me and tucked the bag behind him. “You believe I like Sai because of his brazenness?”
“Do you not?” I couldn’t help the words coming bitterly. Father certainly did. If I was more like Sai, I’d already have the mark as the heir to Father’s magic. I could protect our people and make a difference in the world. But no. I wasn’t anything like Sai. I’d noticed the way he’d held Lira as he abducted her from the ballroom. A possessiveness lingered around his touches. He was a man who wasn’t afraid to go after what he wanted, to steal into an enemy’s fortress to retrieve something, to face down monsters without hesitation. Then there was me—the man who’d stood by and let him take mysister.That idea still felt bizarre. It made me long to get Lira back more than ever, though. I’d never had a sibling, and I liked Lira. As soon as she was safely away from Sai, we could figure out the mess we’d inherited.
“Ah, but I’m not your father, fairy,” the Naga said. “The answer is no. I respect Sai because he lacks the duplicity that seems inherent to your kind.”
I thrust my hands out. “His entire scheme is based on duplicity.”
“He acts, at times, yes. His aim, however, is always straightforward.”
I crossed my arms. I was sure the Naga wouldn’t describe me that way, so we were back to this being a pointless adventure. Fuck. I didn’t know how I was supposed to get to Lira if I couldn’t get into the city.
The Naga smirked. “It amuses me how much you fairies care about my opinions. I can tell you one difference between you and young Sai.”
“That is?”
“He—mostly—embraces the darkness within himself. You run from yours.”
The fire crackled and sparks leapt up against the brick. “You believe I should embrace it?”
“Darkness is part of each being and pretending it isn’t there, glamouring it away,”—he gave me a firm look, and I leaned back from him—“doesn’t actually make it go away.” He lifted his hand against the shadowed beam on the ceiling then offered his fingers out. Dust coated them. “Just because something is hidden, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”
I didn’t know what any of this had to do with my request, and I didn’t understand why the Naga brought up me and my issues. Who cared if I faced the darkness in me or not.
“We both know, fairy, that you’re an elemental.”
“I…” Besides Aila, I’d never discussed it with anyone. It was a miracle Father had never found it. Or, perhaps less of a miracle and more because of Aila’s careful attention and Father’s complete lack of it. After all, you couldn’t observe that which you weren’t there to see. By the time Father started taking an interest in me, when I hit adolescence, I’d long since learned how to hide my magic.
“The divine have prophesied that you and your sister will bring needed changes,” the Naga said. “My interest is in what is good for the fae world as a whole.”
“The prophecy states that we’ll break the Seelie court.”
The Naga chuckled. “Sometimes a broken thing has more value.”
“That makes no sense.” I fisted my hands but then loosened them. This conversation was frustrating as hell, but it didn’t change the fact that I spoke with some fearsome immortal being who could decimate me with the flash of his eyes. “Name one thing that’s better after it’s broken.”
The Naga turned and the image of the cabin glimmered and shifted until we stood beneath the river, grasses swaying in the water, the moon sparkling above on rippling currents. I held my breath, and panic whipped through me.
“It’s an illusion, fairy. You can breathe.”
I hesitantly parted my lips and gasped in air.
He shuffled through a pile of rocks then pulled out a walnut in its shell, offering it to me. “Would you bite down on this?”
“Do you wish for me to break my teeth?”
“Answer the question.”
I frowned at it. “No. I wouldn’t.”
He closed his fist, and the nut crunched. He unfurled his fingers and brushed the shell away, offering the nut to me. “Would you bite on this?”
Somehow it felt like a trick question, and I hesitated. “Yes?”
“It’s better broken.” He lifted his eyes. “The Seelie court, too, will be better when it breaks one day. Your prophecy is a blessing, not a curse, fairy.”
I accepted the walnut and held it in my hand, rolled it around my palm. The breaking of my court couldn’t help my people. Every decision I’d made in the last several years was to avoid my court falling. The walnut landed in the dip of my palm, and I stared at it.
The Naga shuffled through his stash again and drew out a gem. “I’ll grant your request, Lennox of the Seelie, if you make a payment.”
