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The man fixed his gaze on me. Mother would not be happy with that news when he returned. “Wait here,” he finally grumbled before his magic took him away.
Ryker turned to me. “What do you think they want?”
“The gods only know. As far as my mother goes, she’s probably just reaching out to complain that I didn’t finish something that she wanted done before she revoked my right to the crown.”
As quietly as he had arrived before, the assassin appeared again, at the same distance he had kept before. His arrival came with the gust of the evening breeze. It spiked the anticipation that bubbled in my gut.
“Forgive me if I do not deliver this with the samegustothe queen would have. Since your crown was revoked, a small number of your supporters have made themselves unavoidable. Your parents are asking that you return and calm them. Nip the rising issue in the bud, if you will.”
“So, we’re asking favors now, are we?” I hummed, bouncing on my toes.Why would I help them? Why now? Were the people that supported me so influential that their fit-throwing concerned my mother that much?It was interesting food for thought.
Unless my father had seen something in a dream.
Unless this was my opportunity to make a proposition.
I looked at Ryker. All I could see was the woman of my dreams, the love that drove me to near insanity for so long. She stood frozen in her place, wide eyes pinned on the assassin, her breath caught in her chest.
Ever so slowly, I turned back to the man. If I could get my crown back, if I could be a prince again, I wouldn’t need to train the world's smallest Nymph army. I could provide an entire Fae army.Holy shit.
“Those who did not support the decision to remove your crown are refusing to provide services or crops for those who did, including the castle,” he continued quietly, his own plea for me to return. My mother would be too proud to divulge that information.
So, they were going to starve the court out. Serves them right, those self-righteous assholes. Though the smallest piece of me writhed with guilt because this starvation was also my fault. These Fae were doing this in my name.
With the crown, I could overturn the court, get rid of them all. Then there was still the matter of Torrance. May he rot in the underworld. A plan was already forming in my head as the revelation struck like lightning and tumbled from my lips before I could think.
“Tell them that I want my crown back.”
Ryker shuffled next to me, sucking in a ragged breath. My own words repeated in my head as a coy grin spread over my cheeks.
The assassin pressed his lips into a thin line, preparing to leave and meet my mother’s unyielding wrath, but I lifted a finger asking for a moment longer.
“And,” I continued, “I want them to take my proposals seriously. I want our Nymphs to be set free.”
He sighed quietly, already preparing himself to deliver the news, and then he vanished. I stared at the spot where his feet had been, wondering how utterly, broiling mad my mother would be. If only I could see her face turn purple. It had to be truly out of hand if she was reaching out tomefor help. It hadn’t been that bad when we had left, and it hadn’t been that long ago, truly. I tried counting the days in my head. How long had we been here? It felt like no time and forever all at once.
“Do you think she’ll do that?” Ryker whispered. Her face was devoid of emotion and she had taken a step away from me at some point.
“Ryker, this is good.” I closed the space between us, grabbing a hold of her arms. “I could gain back my power. I couldusemy power. There are Fae that want me there. They want it as it was before, they believe in your freedom.”
“What about all those Nymphs you brought here?” She shrugged out of my touch. The shine in her eyes made me wonder if I was making the right choice. Of course I was.
“They’ll stay. This is where they belong.” I stepped away, brushing the hilts of my daggers in my belt.
“And Shavarra?”
I hadn’t thought about Shavarra. She’d probably be ecstatic to hear the news. But what would she want to do? Would she want to return with me? She could be a new member of the court. She knew more about the general public than those stuffy old bastards anyway.
“Shavarra will have to make that choice on her own.” I chewed my lip, thinking out loud. It was taking longer for the assassin to return. If he returned at all. Maybe my parents were laughing at me now and I had read this all wrong. “She could join me if she likes, but the Nymphs from the refuge are like family to her.”
A cough drew my attention. The assassin had returned and he didn’t look like they had tried to take his head off. Not yet, anyway. His silence made me wonder how much of the conversation he had heard.
“The queen accepts your offer,” he said slowly.
Internally, I cheered. Outwardly, I waited, because he wasn’t done yet. “But…” I pushed.
His shiny white teeth glinted like sharpened knives in his mouth as he offered his own toothy smile. “But she has one condition.”
I looked at him, waiting for him to continue. “And that is?”
