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"The moment this royal bullshit is out of the way, you're going to leave this place," she orders.
Banishment. A fair sentence, and one I approve of. But she's not done yet.
"You're going to go to Earth, and you will find my sister, if it’s the last thing you do. You will protect her. If one single thing happens to her, trust me when I tell you that my parents' suffering was nothing compared to what you will experience."
A sister.
She has a sister? How didn't I know that?
Caenan and I exchange one look, his as startled as mine.
Valdred includes his head, bringing his fist to his heart. "On my honor. I swear it."
She's right of course; with her parents are gone, the lords will likely hunt down whatever members of her family remain.
Darina nods.
"They didn't suffer, actually." We all turn to find a newcomer I didn’t hear or sense.
Though we came through the courtyard, after using the same side entrance Valdred let Darina through last night, Loch appears on the other side of the corridor. How the hell did he get here?
I spot the deceptively simple circlet in his hand; a platinum band without a single discernible feature. Yet I know it for what it is.
"What?" Darina snaps, frowning.
"Your parents. They didn't suffer at all."
Her eyes narrow, trying to catch him in a lie—a remanent of her human self. Loch cannot lie.
"Oh, their bodies screamed and fought and played the part. But I killed them the moment they arrived. They were brain-dead by the time you oh so nobly attempted to get yourself murdered."
Darina's jaw fell. "You killed them?"
He shrugs, the picture of casual indifference. "It seemed like the right thing to do. A mercy killing and all."
"How could you have done that? You were nowhere near them," Caenan points out.
He breaks into that insufferable smirk, leaning against the wall. "Well, you know. Not all fae are made equal."
His eyes flash with something I haven't seen in several centuries, and the next instant, Caenan screams, holding his head in his open palms, his expression torn in a mask of sheer horror.
It lasts only a second, then he's fine, though fear haunts the depth of his golden eyes.
"Did I overdo it?" Loch asks. "Oops."
I've seen this.
I know this power.
There is only one person in this room who ought to have it, and it's not supposed to be him.
"What are you?" Relva whispers.
But I know the answer.
It just happens to be one that's not possible.
"He's a child of the high queen," I reply, turning to Darina. "He's your elder brother."
