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Gwen and Lyrena stood on either side of the doors, standing guard. Where Gawayn was, I didn’t really care. So long as he wasn’t outside the door, listening. I didn’t doubt his loyalty, not for a second. But it felt wrong to involve him in my intrigue, when he spent every waking breath worrying about whether I was going to get myself killed. Ancestors, he probably had nightmares about it, too. It was a mercy, then, that he wasn’t here to hear the foolishness I was about to propose.
But the rest of them were—because I needed their help.
Parys was sprawled on the sofa across from me, looking thoroughly put out. Cyara had found him not in the library, but on a veranda with a dozen other courtiers sipping wine. I shuddered to know what sort of nasty rumors he’d heard while sitting there, schmoozing the vapid creatures that populated my court.
Cyara lingered near the window, eyes on the valley and mountains beyond. I wondered if she missed flying. I doubted her wings, newly healed as they were, would hold even her slight weight.
None of them sat at the round table, perpetually mocking me on the other side of the room.
Arran wore the darkest expression of them all. He was all darkness. Black pants, deep green tunic buttoned across his chest, ending at his shoulder. The terrestrial style, still, after all these months. A black tunic underneath, the thin linen open at his chest to reveal a triangle of muscle I wanted to run my tongue over.
His black hair was pulled back into a club at the base of his neck, as always, silken strands gleaming. It had been too long since I’d had him inside of me. But I doubted he had any interest in coming to my bed these days. Sure, the lust was still there. His eyes were always burning when I was around.
But what had started as hate fucking had turned into something more, something I’d killed when he learned I’d been lying to him all these months.
Enough bemoaning my own sexual frustration. I had them here, and I had a limited amount of time.
I stilled my fingers, which had been toying with the diaphanous sleeve of my gown, and sat up on the edge of the chaise.
“You all know, to some degree, what I’ve spent these last months doing.”
Five stares, of varying degrees of emotion, varying shades of guarded appraisal.
“Humans may have swung the blade, but someone within this court was responsible for Arthur’s murder. Someone who has not been brought to justice.”
Cyara’s eyes flicked back out the window. Gwen’s jaw clenched.
Lyrena’s eyes widened, then began blinking rapidly, holding tears at bay. She’d avoided talking about Arthur, not letting that grief anywhere near her, because of those tears, I realized. I’d thought her joyous personality too bright to be dimmed, even by the loss of her lover. How wrong I’d been, about so many things.
“They used a rift in the mountains—an unknown, unmarked rift—to smuggle the humans into Annwyn. Either on their own, or with the help of the Shadows, the black-market runners in Baylaur. Parys has torn the library apart researching the rifts, but someone has removed most mentions of them from the library, years ago. Whatever this is, whoever is behind it, they’ve planned carefully. And they know I am onto them—they attacked Cyara already.”
Silence, as each of them fit the information I’d shared in with what they’d gleaned themselves in their various capacities. It was a huge leap, a huge risk, to bring so many into my quest for revenge. They might get hurt. They might betray me, wittingly or by accident. But I was out of time and options.
“You didn’t mention the darkness in the human lands. The… possession… we witnessed,” Arran said, eyes dark and unreadable.
Possession. Not quite the right word for that dark, lifeless mutilation we’d twice seen. But better than nothing.
“We don’t have time to worry about the problems in the human realm,” I said sharply. I’d decided that much for myself during these last few weeks. “If that darkness truly spills over to Annwyn… it will be dealt with then.”By you,I didn’t add.
Because by then, I would be gone.
This wasn’t the time to think about that, either.
“I have considered the possibilities. But we need to know who is behind this, before someone else gets hurt. They’ve tried to kill me. They’ve attacked Cyara.” I gulped down a deep breath, hoping it would give me the courage to keep my voice steady. “They didn’t want Arthur as High King, and I doubt they will let me be enthroned as High Queen. Mabon is near. Time is short.” Another deep breath. “It is time to seek out a witch.”
Arran blinked. “A witch? Are you out of your mind? It is banned.”
“With good reason,” Parys put in.
“Horribly tricky creatures,” Lyrena agreed.
I sighed heavily. “Yes, but a witch could answer these questions.”
Silence. Utter silence.
They all knew what I meant.
Witches had been banished from Annwyn by the Ancestors, when the original treaty was made to finally bring peace after millennia of endless war between the elemental and terrestrial kingdoms. The Ancestors felt they had too much power, their boundless knowledge giving too much advantage to one kingdom or even one individual.
