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When I admitted to disregarding Father’s warning of keeping outside of the castle, his eyes flamed. I talked faster wanting it to be over. My hands fisted when I got to the part about Malcolm’s notice and how, now that I thought about it, Sersha had probably asked for me specifically to serve her morning tea as soon as she’d become aware of her consort’s interest. Though he’d never spoken directly to me before I’d been imprisoned, I’d often felt him watching.
“And you thought it was a good idea to serve the Queen? Continuously? That you’d remainunnoticed?”
Bristling at the accusation in Father’s tone I chose my words carefully. “I served her for months without incident.”
“You should know better,” my young sibling criticized.
I glared. “Thank you, Kol. Very helpful.”
His adolescent shoulders rose. “Well, you should. It’s your own fault they got you.”
“I’m aware.”
“Did you at least put up a fight?”
My glare turned to daggers. “What do you think?”
The little brat shook his head. “I think you didn’t. Or couldn’t is more likely.”
Father’s head tilted. “What makes you say that?”
“Because Sersha’s still breathing.”
“Excellent point, my son.”
Well then.At least they hadn’t lost total faith in my abilities.
My imagination produced a vision of Sersha gasping for air. I waited for the feeling of satisfaction or a triumphant anticipation of my future vengeance. Something. Despite having every right to the death fantasy, I only felt a sad resignation.
My lips twisted, recalling the blood oath I’d pledged. Strangely, I felt no compulsion to follow through, but there was no escape from such a promise. I was sure I’d feel it once I was fully recovered.
Even if the oath didn’t drive me, Sersha’s breaths were still numbered. It may have been my own fault for being taken prisoner, but I couldn’t say the same for the other fae she’d tortured or manipulated to get what she wanted.
Many would probably feel conflicted about signing up to act as executioner. The old me would have. New me understood the only way to stop Sersha was to end her. Fae were virtually immortal—there was no such thing as life in prison.
After the brief pause, I continued, speaking honestly about what Sersha wanted from me and why. I left out the bulk of the details of their torture, especially of Dolan’s last session with me. Father and Kol had seen what I’d been reduced to. Revisiting it with words would only churn the emotional waters. We needed to be logical right now.
“Malcolm was with you when I entered the Keep.” Menace laced Father’s words.
“Yes.”
“He knew.”
“He knew Sersha had me. I don’t think he really knew how bad it had gotten.”
“Irrelevant. He was complicit. You said he admitted to knowing about the others. He’s been a player in Sersha’s games all along.”
He started pacing, “And it’s not just in this—this twisted thing they do with females. Sersha has slowly depleted the treasury. She’s started strong-arming the smaller communities. Little things at first. Increased taxes to cover her poor decisions. Reduced protections. Harsher punishments for mild infractions. Lately, she’s been visiting the cities and making threats over not being paid the respect she deserves. She’s grown more and more unstable. Last week Niklaus came to me with tales of missing fae.”
The internal pang at the mention of Nik's name wasn’t new. I hoped he was faring better than the last time I’d seen him. The shifter, my father’s most adept spy, had wanted more from me than I could give.
Kol clapped his hands together, and then rubbed them back and forth. “Seems we all agree our Queen is a monster who needs to go. So what are we going to do about it?”
I didn’t like the sanguine glint in his eyes. Warning bells rang in my head. No way was Kol going back to Ansley Keep. Surely Father wouldn’t put him in danger like that twice.
“Kol—” A knock at the door cut off whatever Father was going to say. Opening it, he stepped out into the hall, returning shortly with a stack of garments in his hands.
“We’ve been summoned to appear before the Council in thirty minutes. Here’s a change of clothes, Raven. Wash up in the bathroom. Kol and I will wait downstairs.”
