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“I know this is a lot—” I began, but my vision wavered, blurring, and a forceful tug at my chest had me crying out. I winced, falling to my knees on the carpet.
Suriel spun, “Liana…”
But her words and everything else around me vanished.
I shivered, the cold pricking at my bare arms. Opening my eyes—no, not my eyes,Kade’seyes, I found myself high above the ground, hovering in midair.
They’re coming, Kade spoke in my mind and I looked north, the blood turning to ice in my veins. My heart stopping. It couldn’t be…
Far into the distance, an army marched over the frost-covered earth. From the air they looked like ants—thousand uponthousandsof ants. Marching south.
The clatter of their shields and armor and their booted feet pounding dirt a symphony of dread. Rippling through the air and into my soul.
An arrow ripped through the sky, its obsidian tip glinting in the sunlight as it headed straight for Kade. He dropped just in time for it to soar over him.
Get out of there!I screamed inside his head and he spun away, casting me from his mind. I tumbled back down the tether, coming back to myself in Suriel’s council chambers, my fingers digging into the floor like claws.
“Liana,” Alaric said, and I found his wide steel-blue eyes when I lifted my heavy head. “What is it? Was it Kade? What happened?”
They were supposed to wait outside, but taking a cursory look around, I could see all of Queen Suriels’s guards and mine were now crowding the council chamber.
I needed an answer.Now. It was time to leave.
Alaric helped me stand, and I turned back to the Queen of Day, who looked at me incredulously, “You bound yourself to one of your royal guards?” she asked, her hand fluttering at her chest, shock plain in her features.
“No,” I answered her, “I bound myself toallof them.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but I silenced her with a glare and a raised hand, “The Mad King’s army marches south. They’ll be at the borders of my court in a fortnight—maybe less. Ineedto know if I have your support.” I released my hold on Alaric, standing on my own, resolute. My jaw squared, “Will you help us?”
Her royal guards exchanged animated whispers, their brows furrowed and faces grim.
“Quiet,” she barked at them, walking with slow, measured steps to the table. Setting her palms against the smooth wood. She panted, her eyes wild and searching.
Edris moved into the room from where he stood near the door, “Your Majesty, if I may—”
“I need a moment!”
“We don’t have a moment to waste.”
She hung her head and sealed her eyes. Her shoulders tensed. When she turned, it was Edris she spoke to, an apology in her eyes, “This is not our war,” she said. “And there’s no reason for me to believe Ricon means me or my court any harm.”
Frost covered my fingertips, climbing like vines up my arms. “Suriel, if you don’t help us, you’re condemning us to death.”
Her eyes gleamed and her chin quivered, “I’m so sorry,” she said, “But I cannot ask my people to fight—todiefor… I’m sorry, I just can’t.” Queen Suriel rushed past me and out the door to the council chamber. I watched her go, her head bent, her guards following at her heels.
Edris reached out to stop her, but she brushed him off, “Your Majesty, wait,” he said, turning back to me, “You go. The Night Court needs you,” he said, “I’ll stay here. I’ll speak to her. She will see reason—she must.”
“Stay if you like,” I said, my voice sounding oddly detached, “But she’s made up her mind. We are alone in this war.”
My fathers’ gaze hardened, and his lips pressed tightly together. Edris narrowed his sights on Alaric, “Keep my daughter safe,” he said through gritted teeth, “I’ll return to court as soon as I can.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Finn
Ididn't have to be Graced with power over emotion to notice the change in the mood of our party on the journey home. We hardly spoke. Liana was the quietest of all of us. She rode ahead, alone, maintaining a steady pace.
How she must feel.... as if she'd failed her court. I wish I could tell her she hadn’t and that the Day Court's armies wouldn’t have made a difference, but we both knew that wasn’t true.
