I was about to backtrack when she added, “I grew up here, but I was never a child. Sylvyre had… specific tastes, and he began visiting me at night since before I can remember.”
Visiting her at night? I thought blankly. Painful as it was to accept, there was no mistaking her meaning. I’d known Sylvyre was cruel and power-hungry, but I hadn’t known he was evil. Sympathy filled my throat, making my words sound tight as I asked, “Your parents never found out?”
“Oh, they knew.” Viessa tilted her glass closer to her face, frowning. She pressed a fingertip against her cheek and stared at it for a moment. The fire made a popping sound. After another moment, she blew on whatever rested on her fingertip and watched it go into the flames. An eyelash, if I had to guess.
“Over the years, I tried to kill him on a dozen occasions,” she continued, startling me. “But every time, without fail, I faltered. Sylvyre had made sure I was terrified of him, you see. So I decided to get someone else to do it. I knew Nuvian wouldn’t because he was fond of His Majesty—the old bastard had only ever been kind to my brother. Eventually I set my sights on Collith. Back then, he was not the male you know now. He was eager to be the shining knight. When the king put that spell on Naevys, Collith actually went through with it. I was happy to see the king die.” Bitterness leaked into Viessa’s voice. Apparently there were wounds even time couldn’t heal. “You know the rest, of course. I tried to kill Collith and botched the job.”
Firelight flickered over the pain she couldn’t hide, and her knuckles were white from the grip she had on the wine glass. “I’m sorry Sylvyre did that to you, Viessa,” I said softly.
Viessa seemed to shake herself; she twisted in the chair and met my gaze. Her tone became brisk. “I’m going to offer you something I rarely offer anyone, Fortuna.”
“What is that?” I asked, trying not to sound wary.
“My friendship.”
I faltered. She’d surprised me, this new queen who made wishes on eyelashes and whose heart wasn’t as frozen as she would have everyone believe. But I had been tricked by too many faeries.
“That didn’t work out very well for Collith, if I remember correctly,” I said.
Viessa inclined her head, making her curtain of auburn hair sway. Some of the strands were encased in icicles, and they clinked like the strangest of wind chimes. “Oh, but I never offered him my friendship,” she said matter-of-factly, raising those frost-tinted brows again. “Merely my fealty. Which is another beast altogether, wouldn’t you agree?”
I didn’t, actually. After exchanging blood with Gil, those lines were forever blurred for me. But I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth—even if Viessa was playing a game, I could benefit from this. “Okay,” I said, nodding. “I accept your offer. On the condition that your first act as my friend is advice. I want to go home, Viessa. How do I make that happen?”
She didn’t seem surprised. “Belanor will send spies to watch your house, if he hasn’t already.”
I leaned toward her in my enthusiasm.“So we pay him a visit. Sometimes confronting your enemy head-on is the best way to win, right? You taught me that.”
“Only if the circumstances are right. If certain pieces have been put into place. This is not the right course of action.” The faerie pushed her hair over one slender shoulder. “In war, most might say that your weapons are bullets. But if you’re really well versed in the ways of war, your greatest weapon is your head.”
Oliver had said something along those lines, once. I searched my memory, and his voice drifted through me. Sometimes it’s not about being stronger. It’s about being smarter.
But I hadn’t been smart; I’d been making terrible decisions lately. No, not just lately—it was something I’d been doing since I was a child. Always rushing headlong into every choice, every feeling, desperate to escape the memories nipping at my heels. The night I could never forget, the event that had forever shaped me into someone else.
A sound through the wall. A cry in the hallway. A shadow under the door.
I tried to think in the way Collith and Laurie had taught me. The way I’d learned while I wore a twisted crown upon my head. The way Oliver had urged me to when all this chaos began.
What was my objective? That was easy. I wanted to be home with the people I loved. What was the obstacle? Also easy. My presence put them in danger. There had to be a way to achieve both outcomes, and usually it was obvious.
Magic. I had magic at my disposal. A force that could do anything. In the past few weeks, I had seen depths and heights of it that I’d never dreamed possible, even growing up knowing such things existed. Witches with their spells, faeries with their glamour…
Glamour.
My mind jerked to attention. That’s it. I already had something that could do the same work as a glamour. Moving quickly now, my thoughts traveled upward. Through the ground, through the woods, and straight into a barn that smelled like new paint. They rushed into one of the bedrooms, bumping the door open like an invisible hand. Then they dove into a shiny vent that breathed warm air in the night, where an obnoxious ring was lodged in a wooden box, twinkling on a bed of cheap velvet.
Slowly I said, “What if Belanor’s spies didn’t see me? What if I went back wearing a different face?”
“Do you have abilities I don’t know about?” Viessa questioned.
Yes, but that was beside the point—I also had a bespelled ring. But I wasn’t about to reveal my new plan to a faerie, hair braiding notwithstanding. “No,” I said. “Just thinking out loud. I thought I was onto something.”
In response to this, Viessa unfolded her pale legs and stood. She was still holding a glass of wine as she adjusted her skirt and strode past me. “If you stay, please know that you are not a prisoner here, Lady Sworn,” she called. “I’ve studied every player in this game, and I decided long ago that you’re not one I’d want as an enemy. You may come and go by your leave; I won’t try to stop you. Enjoy your evening… and thank you for the conversation.”
With that, the Unseelie Queen closed the door behind her, leaving it encased in a glittering layer of frost.
After Viessa left, I tried to summon Lyari again. She was either sleeping or back on guard duty, because she didn’t appear.
Neither did Gil, whose side of the bond remained dim and silent. He needed to know what Laurie and I were planning, as well, but I couldn’t bring myself to wake him. If he’d managed to find a respite from his pain, I’d give him as much time as possible.
To pass the hours between now and Collith’s grand escape, I curled up in my armchair with a novel from the small bookshelf. Whoever lived in these rooms apparently did a lot of traveling—every book had a price sticker on it with the name of a different airport. In spite of the tension thrumming through my body, I found myself actually caught up in the story. I covered myself with the blanket again. The fire made its small, merry sounds. Hours ticked past, marked by the state of the logs and flames. My stomach growled, but most of the items on the charcuterie board had dried up or turned brown. Deciding to ignore it, I turned the page of the book still open in my lap.