“Hey, you didn’t have to come with me,” I told the sulking lamal, who had been accompanying me on my daily outings since my return to Faerie three days ago. She preferred running through the grass because there wasn’t much on the hill for her to chase, but she didn’t like to let me out of her sight when we were away from the court.
She shifted so her heavy head rested on my stomach. I laughed and rubbed the back of her neck, making her purr. She wasn’t the dog I’d always wanted, but she was great company, especially now.
I’d seen Lukas twice since I came back. His days were spent behind closed doors with the king and his advisors, preparing for the big meeting with Seelie. Faolin and the rest of his guard were busy as well, so I trained by myself and spent most of my time alone. Even Roswen and her guard had been absent the last three days.
The whole court was buzzing with anticipation of the Seelie queen’s arrival today, even though most people wouldn’t lay eyes on her. For my part, I was too anxious about when Aedhna would finally send me on my mission to be caught up in the excitement. My gut told me it would happen soon, and the wait was killing me.
When my breathing slowed to normal, I pushed Kaia’s head off me and sat up. She grumbled and stood, fixing me with an aggrieved look that made me chuckle. I’d never seen an animal that could portray human-like emotions the way she did.
I started down the hill. Kaia ran ahead of me, and every now and then she stopped to look back and make sure I was still behind her. As I neared the bottom, I was surprised to find Conlan waiting for me. I hadn’t expected to see him or any of Lukas’s men for the next two days.
“Faolin said you’d be out here,” Conlan called. “Looks like you’ve conquered the hill.”
I grinned at him. “You bet I did.”
He lifted one corner of his mouth. “Shall I tell Faolin you are ready for a bigger one?”
“Not unless you want me to murder you in your sleep,” I retorted.
He snickered, and we began the walk back to court with Kaia leading the way. One second, she was in front of us, and in the next, she was off running through the tall grass. There was a squeak followed by rustling, and I hoped that whatever she was chasing escaped.
“Not that I don’t enjoy your company, but aren’t you supposed to be with Lukas now for the queen’s arrival?” I asked.
“You are never going to call him Vaerik, are you?” he teased.
I huffed softly. “I keep forgetting. He’s Vaerik to everyone here, but I got to know him as Lukas.”
“Well, Lukas sent me to ask if you would like to attend the meeting this morning.”
I stopped abruptly to stare at Conlan. “The closed meeting with the king and the Seelie queen that no one is allowed to go to?”
Conlan nodded. “That would be the one. Vaerik told the king that you have earned the right to be there after your sacrifice for Faerie. King Oseron agreed. Vaerik couldn’t get away, so he asked me to bring you to the meeting. You’ll be an observer only, but you will hear firsthand what is discussed. Do you wish to attend?”
“Do you even have to ask?”
He laughed and motioned for us to keep walking. “Then you’re going to need to clean up and change. If we hurry, we will get there before it starts.”
I picked up my pace, and in less than twenty minutes, we were at my quarters. He waited on the balcony while I showered and changed. I cast a longing look at my new outfits as I dressed in the court clothes Sereia had made for me. I left my hair down except for two side sections that I pulled back into a braid at my crown.
“How do I look?” I asked when I joined him. I had no idea what the dress code was for something like this.
He smiled approvingly. “You’ll do.”
We left my quarters and went to the lift. I expected us to go up, but he surprised me by taking us down to the ground level. We walked through a maze of tunnels that took us deeper into the mountain. I was completely lost by the time we came to an open area with two more tunnels branching off from it.
Instead of taking one of the tunnels, we crossed the space to stand before a wall of rock. Conlan raised his hand and muttered something. A few seconds later, the rock shimmered, and a portal appeared. We stepped through it into a room that was entirely white from the walls to the floor to a set of gleaming white doors. The only color in the room was from the stone-faced guards stationed on either side of the doors and along two walls.
“Are we still in Unseelie?” I whispered to Conlan as we walked to the doors.
“Yes. We’re in a part of the mountain that can only be accessed via a portal and only to those who have clearance.”
He opened one of the doors and ushered me into the room beyond. We moved along the wall to a spot a few dozen feet from the door, and then I turned to check out my surroundings.
We were in an oval room with a set of doors on each end. Two rows of seats were positioned in a semicircle in front of each set of doors, and at the center of the room was a low pedestal with a shallow brazier on top. Instead of fire, the brazier held laevik crystals that glowed softly.
The walls were completely covered in tapestries depicting Aedhna in various scenes. I studied one and was amazed that the artist had captured her exact likeness. Or maybe that was the image she presented to those of us she appeared to.
Conlan and I were the first to arrive. A few minutes later, the door near us opened, and six royal guards came in. After they had positioned themselves along the wall behind the seats, the far door opened, and eight faeries entered to do the same on that end of the room.
More guards entered through the door on our end, preceding King Oseron, who wore a simple crown and a long blue robe. He was accompanied by Consort Maurelle, who wore an ivory robe and a plain circlet adorned with a single blue stone that matched the king’s robe. They moved down to take their places in the middle of the first row.
Faolin and Faris came next, followed by Lukas wearing a plain coronet and a belted midnight blue tunic with silver trim. His pants were a lighter blue with the same braid down the sides. It was the first time I’d seen him in his royal uniform, and he literally took my breath away. He looked like the real-life version of a fairy tale prince.
Lukas didn’t look our way before he took the seat on his father’s other side. Then came a procession of people I’d never seen whom I assumed were the king’s advisors. They filled out the remaining seats. Faolin, Faris, and the others took up positions near the ends of the rows.
Finally, the far door opened again, and I sucked in a breath at the sight of the first two to enter. They were the queen’s guards who had threatened me in New York and warned me to stay away from Prince Rhys. My eyes moved past them to a blonde in an emerald green dress and matching robe trimmed with gold. I didn’t need to see her jeweled crown to know this cool, aristocratic visitor was the Seelie queen.
My gut twisted as Queen Anwyn took her seat directly across from King Oseron. I couldn’t look away from the face of the person who had devastated my parents and tried to take away everything I cared about. The knowledge that there was nothing I could do to get justice for my family made my hands clench into fists.
A gentle elbow nudge from Conlan made me aware of how rigid I was and what my expression must be. I forced my body to relax and looked away from the queen to take in the rest of the Seelie contingent. On her right was a blond male wearing a plain coronet, whom I guessed to be her consort. He wore the bored, bland expression of someone who had better things to do than attend a meeting to discuss the fate of the world. I wondered if he had always been that apathetic or if being mated to Queen Anwyn had made him that way.