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I gave the tiniest of nods as Keelin announced us and the crowd bowed. I raised my chin. Maybe I couldn’t change the future. Maybe Ornan had tied my hands, but I could do this. I could bring justice to those who’d tried to hurt me. I’d find a way.
Dagda and I sat at the same time.
“You may rise,” I said.
Faeries came forward one at a time to give reports. Some on the resources of the royal holdings and others to inform on movements of troops and other happenings throughout the land.
The morning seemed to drag. I spent most of the session examining Tadhg from across the room. I remembered speaking to him at my ceremony. The one who had challenged my newness with his sexist comments. The one with the mousy wife that cowered in his shadow.
I switched my attention to her for the first time and studied her. Her long red hair was pulled up into a tight bun. Every inch of her was immaculate, groomed to perfection, and yet she slumped, her shoulders pulled inward and she hovered behind her husband. Her right hand clutched her left arm, and she flinched, her face going pale when another woman passed her, bumping into that arm. She must have made some sort of noise, too, because Tadhg turned suddenly to look at her and she shrunk further into the corner, her mouth opening, fear flashing across her face as she nodded too readily at whatever he said.
Something dark and angry twisted in my chest. I took a slow breath to calm myself, not wanting to trigger my sisters. I forced my gaze to whoever was presenting, lost in thought.
Right when my stomach rumbled, Tadhg and his wife came forward. She held his arm, though still somehow walked a step behind. Her eyes were kept steady on the floor.
They gave brief bows.
“Tadhg of the Dutiful Ones, your majesties.” His attention went immediately to Dagda. “I have come before you today to give you an accounting of the royal grain storage, as you have requested.”
“Go ahead,” Dagda said. His face showed no emotion, his words indifferent.
Tadhg unhooked his arm from his wife’s and she shifted back a few steps while Tadhg took an unrolled parchment from his servant and faced Dagda before speaking again.
“In the grain silos of Royal City—”
I stood. Tadhg’s eyes flicked up to me and his voice faded as the rest of the room fell absolutely silent.
I walked down the steps to the throne room floor. All eyes bored into me. I ignored them, holding my head high. I stopped before the woman that cowered behind her husband.
Her eyes went wide, and she bent double, bowing low.
Every person seemed to hold their breath. Curiosity and surprise marked most of the faerie’s faces.
“Please. Rise,” I said.
The woman straightened, though I noticed a slight tremble in her posture.
“What is your name?” I asked.
“Eimear, your majesty,”
“Lady Eimear. You are oncemates with this man, are you not?”
Her eyes moved to Tadhg’s and I read the terror there. “Y-yes, your majesty.”
“That makes you a member of this court. And yet you were not announced as such. You weren’t even announced at all.” I cast a challenging glare at Tadhg.
Eimear kept her eyes on the floor.
“An oversight, your majesty,” Tadhg said. “I shall ensure next time she is introduced properly.”
I ignored him, only speaking to Eimear. “I’m going to ask you something. Answer the truth and I promise you protection.”
Her teeth sunk into her lower lip.
“Has Tadhg ever hit you? Has he ever hurt you?”
Tadhg stiffened. “Your Majesty—”
