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I racked my brain for a solution but could find nothing plausible. The Mad King was coming, and with or without the Day Court army, we would have to be ready when they did. But those were problems for tomorrow.
As we neared the palace, the sun dipped below the horizon and the full moon shone brighter, marking the death of another day.
The ivory castle milled with Fae eager to return home for the evening, and those who passed us on their travels south bowed to their queen or welcomed her home, but it was as if she couldn’t see them, blinded by her own grief. Her hand tight on the reins, wincing with each step of her horse.
The ride had taken its toll on her, and I wondered why she didn’t heal the aches that so obviously were causing her discomfort.
Alaric rode beside me, his head bent, and brows furrowed. His warm breath clouding in the frigid air.
The telltale sound of wings slicing wind had me whipping my head upwards, finding Kade as he descended from one of the terraces to meet us. Liana had already told him the Day Queen’s answer through the bond, and she said his response was so vulgar she dared not repeat it to us. I could only image the amount of profanities he’d spewed aloud, never mind what Liana heard in his thoughts.
He hadn’t told the council yet. Alaric would do that tonight, and Kade would retrieve Silas from the front lines so Liana could meet with him and the rest of the council in the morning to discuss what needed to be done to prepare.
Whatcouldbe done.
Kade came to an easy landing next to Liana’s mare, taking the reins to stop the animal in its slow walk. I saw her shoulders shaking and my insides knotted—my chest collapsing at the sight of her broken and defeated. He pulled her from the mare and into his arms where she shook against him, convulsing with the strength of her sobs.
“Get her out of here,” I heard Alaric gently order Kade as we neared. My brother nodded to his captain with a hard, pained expression and scooped Liana into his arms, flying her the rest of the way to the palace, leaving her mare to make its own way back to the stables.
We—Alaric, Tiernan, and I—hadn’t seen what they saw. No one else had. A finger of ice pressed into my gut.
“I’ll need you on watch tonight,” Alaric said, not lifting his head when I pulled up alongside him. “Tiernan will relieve you in the early morning.”
“Alright.”
“And Finn,” he said, looking up, “She needs you.”
I didn’t catch his meaning.
“Give her one night of peace before the start of it all tomorrow. A formal announcement will need to be made to the court. And then…”
He didn’t need to finish. I understood the weight of what he implied. And then we would make ready for the battle to come. We’d do everything within our power to lessen the amount of bloodshed. And to protect her. Until the end.
I nodded gravely, spurring my horse into a gallop, eager to get him stabled and up to Liana’s chambers.
The faraway expressionhadn’t left her face. She stared into the hearth in the parlor as though it held the answers to her many questions.
Kade had left moments ago after he promised a swift return. She’d squeezed his hand, but said nothing, taking another small sip of icy water when he moved away, sighing as he flew from the terrace.
I knelt in front of her, “Come with me,” I asked her, holding out a hand. Her gaze drifted towards me, looking to my hand, trying to read my expression.
The muscles in her jaw twitched, but she set down her glass and pressed her frost-covered fingers into my palm. I stood, lifting her from the armchair and she followed without question or complaint from the parlor, down the corridor, and into the bedchamber.
She dropped my hand as we approached the bed, and my pulse quickened. “Take off your dress.”
Her vacant expression morphed into one of confusion, “Why?”
“Trust me.”
She swallowed, and undid the fastening above her breasts, letting the thick cloak she wore fall to the floor. I helped her with the corset strings and her dress and trousers fell too.
My heart leap into my throat at the sight of her, bare, her nipples standing at attention against the chill breeze. Her stomach muscles tight and her shoulders tense.
“Lie on your stomach.”
She pursed her lips, but did as I asked, crawling onto the bed and laying stiffly against the feather-filled coverlet. My cock hardened in my trousers, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself on task. The ice that had collected in my bones vanished. This wasn’t about me, or what I wanted. It was about her.
I extinguished the lantern next to her bed and pulled the bar of hardened oils from my vest, unwrapping it from the silk cloth and crawled onto the bed next to her.
