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Livia’s mother stepped into the washroom, standing in the cold skeins of moonlight carving through a small window. Queen Elise fought beside her husband in the war; she was not a piece of glass in a glittering palace. The woman was a mortal who’d won a crown amidst the fae folk.
And she wasn’t alone.
Beside the queen was a woman with dark skin and silver spheres pierced in the dimples of her cheeks. A vague memory took shape; I’d seen her before. She’d been there on the shore when I’d been banished to the Ever. She’d stood beside the man who’d taken my blood to build the barriers against me.
The woman kept close to the door, a subtle smirk on her mouth when she caught my scrutiny.
Queen Elise clasped her hands in front of her slender body. Two fingertips were missing on one hand, but from my memories, they never hindered her grip on a blade.
The queen stared at the gash down my chest. “Nothing but violence has occupied my thoughts about the king of the Ever for so long, but to act on it now that you are returned, I do not think would bring me back to my girl.”
I stepped closer, frustration boiling to the surface. “The way I see it, the only one trying to get your daughter back is me.”
A slight curl tugged at her lip. “Such a strange feeling I have for you, Ever King. I want to cut out your tongue and feed it to you in pieces in one breath, then in the other I want . . . to embrace you for . . . for loving Livia the way she deserves to be loved.”
My pulse quickened in my skull, beating against the bone.
What was this game?
The queen cleared her throat, composing herself, and frowned at me again. “Aleksi tried to explain this . . . bond.” She gestured at my bloody chest.
The second woman snorted a laugh. “Valen didn’t take kindly to the idea of Liv’s heart being bound to this one.”
Elise smiled, but clearly tried to hide it, tried to be stern. “For some reason, my nephew is rather relentless in his defenses of you. He went on and told the great hall that you healed him when you could’ve let him fall to his injuries. He explained the troubles in your lands. Most of our folk want to keep you locked away until the remaining royals arrive.”
“Remaining royals?”
“You attacked our world, Bloodsinger,” Elise snapped. “We are made of bonded kingdoms. Your actions impact us all. Do you think the other kings and queens care nothing for Livia? I assure you, they love her like she is their own.”
“Kase wants Malin to make him forget how to breathe,” the second woman said, her smirk never leaving.
Was this all a damn jest to them? Did they not realize what was at stake?
“You not only took my child, a royal daughter,” Elise went on, “but your actions incited panic across the realms. The war ended not so long ago, Erik Bloodsinger. Civil disputes, fear, threats, all of it now lands on our heads because of you.”
“You speak of riots? Panic?” I pressed, all at once irritated that a piece of me actually cared what became of others. There wasn’t room to care about anyone but Livia.
Elise stepped next to me, close enough she could slip a blade through my gut, and I wouldn’t have time to shift out of the path. “Nothing we cannot peacefully handle, but our folk are not the concern. It is the sea fae emerging from the tides across the realms that is causing our Rave warriors to divide to protect every shore.”
“What?”
“They began to arrive several nights ago. It keeps us on guard,fighting our own civil unrest, and preparing for another war. Another reason every throne is convening to plan our moves.”
“I did not send them.”
Elise paused, glancing at the woman. Her companion’s grin fell, and she nodded at the Night Folk queen. “He speaks true.”
How she knew I wasn’t lying didn’t matter. I needed to be free of these walls and setting sail within the next chime, or I would poison the lot of them. As much as Livia loved her folk, they would not be the cause for me to not find my songbird again.
I flexed my fingers and lowered my voice. “Let me go, and I will see to it you have protections from the Ever King against any rogue sea fae. I will offer assurances to your folk that we are not here for war.”
“Again, I hardly know what to think of you,” Elise said.
“Forgive me, Queen, but I don’t do any of this for you. I came seeking help for her.”
Elise considered me for a long breath. “And why is that? Why heal my nephew when the Chasm broke him?” The queen paused. “Why would an enemy want to help my daughter breathe?”
I lowered my voice. “Why do you think, Queen Elise?”
