“You’re right, Mother,” Roan said, shocking me. I whipped about and gaped at him. No! my mind screamed. No, she’s not!
The Crimson Queen’s eyes narrowed, but her face softened and she lowered her hand. “Yes, I am, and I’m glad that you finally see it my way.” She nodded approvingly. “Ariana will make—”
“Another male a very conniving wife someday, I’m sure,” Roan interrupted. “But she will not be my wife and she will not be the Crimson Princess. I’ve chosen another to be my bride. As you’ve demanded, there will be a Red Wedding.”
He’d already chosen a bride? I tried to pull my arm from his grasp, but his fingers tightened. He wasn’t looking at me. I pulled again, harder this time. Still, he didn’t release me. Who was it? I wondered. Why would he kiss me? Why would he do those … other things to me if he was already betrothed?
Roan’s mother’s head went back. “Who would you select over Ariana?” she exclaimed.
“Cressida is to be my Crimson Princess,” Roan announced, the sudden silence in the room making the words echo up into the top of the throne room.
My jaw dropped. The Crimson Queen’s eyes swung my way as she paled. Even Ariana’s face showed only shock. Then, somewhere in the room, someone began to clap. The sound of slow, steady applause grew louder as the people in the room shifted to the side, moving forward until a man clad in a dark cloak stepped into the empty space before the Queens’ thrones.
“Ahhh, the Court of Frost never disappoints when it comes to entertainment, does it?” the man asked, turning to Roan and me. “Brother?”
Chapter 15
Cress
There was an air of confusion and shock in the room, and this time, I wasn’t the only one feeling it. I tried thinking back. When had this happened? Had Roan proposed to me and I just hadn’t known it? My thoughts whirled. I was sure I would have recalled something like a proposal.
Regardless, he couldn’t be serious. We hardly knew each other. But then again, weirder things had happened—I mean, I was standing in front of two eternal Fae Queens who were more or less the embodiments of fire and ice.
“Tyr.” My head whipped around as Sorrell pushed through the crowd to stand next to Roan. “I wasn’t aware you’d been summoned to the Court of Frost as well.”
“I wasn’t aware you’d respond to such a summons, brother,” Orion said, coming to stand alongside me.
Tyr—the man who’d stepped forward and called Roan brother—smiled, and I found I didn’t quite like it. Nope. Not at all actually. Especially when he turned that smile on me, strode forward, reached for my hand, and lifted it to his lips. My flesh crawled as he pressed a kiss to my knuckles.
“I’m so rarely summoned these days, and I’d heard about a pretty Little Bird that had wandered into your court. I just had to come see for myself.” He winked down at me, but as soon as he released my hand, I put it down and subtly wiped it on my skirts. It still didn’t feel clean.
“You were not summoned to flirt with the Changeling, Tyr,” a frigid voice spoke, the sound causing a ripple across the gathered crowd. Several heads dipped down in respect as the Frost Queen rose from her seat, her hands clasped in front of her as she looked down on those of us who’d gathered closer.
Unperturbed, Tyr turned toward the Queen. “Your Majesty.” He dipped his head and bowed gracefully, pausing briefly and tipping his head back up when she nodded to him. “Why, pray tell, have summoned us—I notice you have high ranking members of every Fae court here tonight. What have we all been brought here for?”
The Frost Queen lifted her chin and looked over our heads before speaking again. “You have been brought here because we have received word that the human kingdom’s leader, King Felix, has obtained the usage of one of our magic orbs.”
A gasp rose within the room, and I glanced around briefly—watching as the women paled, putting their hands to their chests as though they might faint. By contrast, most of the men kept their stoic expressions. Roan, Sorrell, and Orion’s faces tightened at this announcement.
Sorrell was the first to speak. “How?” he demanded, stepping forward.
The Queen—his mother—didn’t even spare him a glance as she turned toward Tyr. “Tyr,” she continued, “you’ve been called to a meeting of the Fae Courts’ Council. Two members of each of the ruling courts are required. It will be held in three days. You will remain until then.”
“Why in three days?” I asked. “If it’s important, wouldn’t you want to do it sooner rather than later?”
Roan whipped his hand out and slapped his palm across my mouth so quickly, I stumbled under the sharp movement, nearly tripping over my own feet. “What she means, Your Majesty,” Roan said quickly as the Queen turned her icy eyes on us, “is would it not be more beneficial for your intentions to host the council meeting a little earlier?”
That wasn’t exactly what I meant. It was—sort of—but why was he … the Queen descended from the throne, disrupting my thoughts. My eyes flitted to her Crimson counterpart, but Roan’s mother was silent as she watched it all with an examining glare as if she were waiting to see what would happen before she would erupt. Because I had no doubt that she was still furious—the anger simmered there, much like Roan’s, just beneath the surface, waiting to be unleashed. The difference between her and Roan, though, was that I found his heated anger kind of sexy and I found hers disturbing.
“Remove your hand from the Changeling’s mouth, Prince Roan,” the Frost Queen commanded.
Roan hesitated and both Sorrell and Orion stepped closer as if preparing for an attack. Orion, I’d expected to come to my aid, but Sorrell? If he was concerned then I had a bad feeling about this. He hated me. So, if he was worried then we were in deep shit. Slowly, Roan eased his hand from my lips, but I kept my mouth shut as the Queen moved ever closer, a wave of chilled air following in her wake. I shivered under her gaze and scrutiny.
“I cannot expect you to understand the ways of the Fae when you, yourself, have no notion of our species,” she said coolly, her words like ice chips falling from her lips. “We Fae have traditions—customs that must be adhered to—lest we fall into the barbaric ways of the humans.” My eyes widened. Whoa. If that wasn’t an obvious sign of species discrimination, I didn’t know what was. “When the courts gather for a meeting of the councils, there must be a three day respite. It is the way it is done. It is the way it has always been done and we will not change our customs because of the opinion of some Changeling.” She leaned closer, her eyes skimming down my form before returning to my face. It was clear by the dullness in her gaze that she found what she saw lacking. “Have I made myself clear?”
I released a breath and met her gaze. “As crystal.”
She straightened and turned away, continuing to speak as she strode back up the steps to her throne. “Regardless of your supposed engagement to one of our Court Princes, your worth remains to be seen.”
“She obviously has no worth, Adorra,” the Crimson Queen commented dryly. “She’s nothing more than a rebellion from my son.”