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“I don’t really care what Balor has been doing.”
“If he truly was finding a way to kill Mother, perhaps he found it, which means he can kill you.”
“You’re right,” I said calmly as I led him through the palace’s private wing. “I suppose we will find out if and when he returns, won’t we?”
“Why leave it up to chance?” Cethlen cried, his face shiny with sweat. “Don’t you want to have a long and prosperous reign, Lonan? We can figure out how to get rid of Balor together.”
Instead of answering, I pushed him into his room and took the key from the inner door handle as his hellhound trotted in behind him. “It’s a shame you didn’t eat your breakfast. You will have meals delivered twice a day, starting tonight. We’ll speak again when I know what I’m going to do with you. Yes?”
“Lonan—”
I shut the door, cutting off his protests, and locked it before pocketing the key. I didn’t even bother with Bres’ room, instead making my way back downstairs and approaching the first member of palace staff I came across.
She looked frightened of me, but I supposed it would take a while for sentiment to change. If it ever did.
“Please send a message to both Idony in the village and Sloga the Higher Spirit,” I told her. “Ask them if they would be interested in visiting the palace.”
“None of my friends can believe that I’m the king’s adviser.” Idony swung her legs over the armrest of Balor’s throne, munching on an apple. “My sister is unspeakably jealous.”
Sloga chuckled from his cushion on the floor. I had offered him a seat, but he said he preferred sitting on the ground. “You will be an excellent spokesperson for the Folk, Idony.”
“And the palace staff,” I added, shifting uncomfortably in my new throne. It was surreal to be sitting here.
“I know.” Idony kicked out her legs. “Lonan, can my first bit of advice be to send your guards back into the forest to hunt Balor down like a pack of rabid dogs?”
I smiled tightly. “I’m still not sure what to do about any of my brothers.”
“You will know when the time comes.” Sloga smiled at me. “There is no rush. They aren’t a threat to you.”
“Bres and Cethlen aren’t,” Idony piped up. “But Balor could be. We don’t know what he’s been doing out there. What he’s planning.”
“He was planning on killing the Carlin,” I said, shifting to try and get comfortable. Perhaps I’d get some furs draped over the throne so it wasn’t so hard and cold against my backside. “But I don’t know if he’s heard of something out there that will let him do it.”
“Balor is obsessed with only one thing.” Sloga looked at me solemnly. “And it isn’t killing the Carlin.”
I knew what he was telling me without saying it in front of Idony. Me. Balor was obsessed with me. Each time I had gone to the forest’s edge on unseelie, he had always managed to find me. He had been lurking there, waiting. Watching. Just like he had watched me and Ash before. He was sick.
Revulsion shuddered down my spine.
“Well anyway, the Folk are all very happy the Carlin is gone,” Idony told me. “But scared that their new monarch is the assassin who used to slaughter them in their beds at night.”
“Idony,” Sloga chastised in his rumbling voice.
“I’m not going to coddle him,” she protested. “Lonan knows how he is perceived by the Folk. I’d be a terrible adviser if I simply tried to placate him with soft words.”
“She’s right.” I scrubbed a hand over my eyes, thinking back to when Ash became seelie king—the speech he had made in front of his entire court. My stomach clenched with unease. “Though I’m not sure how I will assure them that things will be better now. I’m not… overly fond of the idea of giving a great speech.”
“Show them through actions, not words,” Sloga said. “It won’t take long for them to see that you are not like the Carlin.”
I nodded, absently chewing on my lip. “Yes.”
“The Carlin didn’t overly affect our day-to-day lives anyway,” Idony pointed out. “Aside from… well, you know. The constant threat of sudden murder lurking. But Sloga is right. They’ll see soon enough, Lonan. They know it was your mother who sent you out to kill them. They may not have known that you were forced to kill against your will, but they know she was the perpetrator. Not you.”
Honestly, the unseelie Folk’s perception of me was the least of my worries. I couldn’t stop thinking about Ash. Was he alright? Had he received my letter yet? Had he somehow sensed it when I became king?
Perhaps he was still angry with me for leaving. It had been several days, and he hadn’t come after me. Not that I’d done it wanting him to, but… his absence was like a blade in my chest, twisting with every new minute of complete silence from him.
Perhaps he had screwed my letter up or thrown it straight into the fire. Perhaps he hadn’t even read it. I wouldn’t blame him. I had said hurtful things and then left without even telling him goodbye.
