If they ever fought, Bolg Rothach would not stand a chance. The mark suddenly screamed with pain, and Lorcan flinched.
“It can’t wait. You’ve put Nollaig in charge of a quest to scout in the wood fae lands, one that you’ve commanded both me and Princess Reyna to be a part of.” Lorcan curved his fingers against the wood. “I need to stay here. It would be a mistake to force me to go along. Reyna and I are like bottled lightning. Your precious quest will fail if we both go.”
Bolg stared at him for a long moment, and then dropped back his head. His booming laughter echoed through the corridor, and the serving girls even joined in. “Well, isn’t this rich! Son, you have been hailing abuse at me for weeks, demanding I let you see that princess of yours. Stomping around, throwing fits. And now you have a chance to spend some time in her ‘esteemed’ presence, and you want me to let you out of it?” Bolg laughed again.
Lorcan’s gut churned with irritation. He hated to say what he was about to say, but it would be the only way to get Bolg to agree to his request. “Well, it seems you were right all along. It is a terrible idea to put us together.”
“Ha! Look at you, grovelling! I should have brought the two of you here together ages ago. I’ve never seen you so compliant before.” Bolg’s grin widened. “I like it. I want it to stay. So, I’ll tell you what. You go on this quest with the ice princess. Clearly, it will be good for you.”
Anger boiled in Lorcan’s veins. “I came here to ask something from you, Father. I’ve never asked anything from you before.”
Bolg just smiled smugly.
“I cannot go on this quest. Say I can stay here.”
“No. I don’t believe I will.”
“Dammit!” Lorcan shouted, hands clenching. “Can’t you just do one thing for me? Once? That’s all I’m asking!”
Bolg arched a brow, and his tone lost its laugh. “Once? Just once? I wonder, son, did I not do something for you when I brought you here from your starving grasslands and made you my prince? I gave you power. I gave you everything.” He leaned forward, eyes flashing. “I made you what you are.”
“You gave me nothing,” Lorcan spat into his face. “And then you took everything. I’m not going on that quest, Father. I refuse it.”
The mark pulsed with pain. Blinding, excruciating shards of it streaked through his gut. It dragged through every inch of his skin, tearing all his flesh from his bones. Shuddering, Lorcan stumbled back. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t breathe. Every single part of him burned with the heat of a thousand blazing suns.
“You will go,” Bolg said with a sneer. “Or I will let that mark kill you.”
At that, Bolg leaned back and kicked the door hard. It slammed right into Lorcan’s face. Seething, Lorcan stared at the wood and contemplated how many ways he could destroy it completely. He could take out his sword and chop the thing down, but fire would do a better job. There’d be nothing left but a blackened husk where the door had once been.
More pain burned through him. He was so destroyed by it all that he had to lean against the wall to keep from toppling to the ground.
“Lorcan,” Segonax said quietly, snapping Lorcan out of his thoughts. He’d forgotten the commander was even standing there, bearing witness to the terrible cruelty of the king.
“He’s impossible,” Lorcan spat. “Regardless of what I do, he just wants to torture me. Look at what his mark has done to me.”
Lorcan still trembled, though the worst of it was over now. Now that the king had vanished behind his iron-banded door, the piercing pain of the mark had dulled to an ache.
“Only because you allow him to. You let him get under your skin.” Segonax gave him a thin smile. “You aren’t very good at hiding your emotions from him.”
“I can’t go on this quest, Segonax.”
“Unfortunately, son, you have to.”
“We’ll end up killing each other.”
He arched a brow. “Do you truly believe that?”
“She just told me that she agreed to the Air Court’s alliance so that she could get close enough to Thane to kill him.”
“Ah, I see.” Understanding dawned in Segonax’s eyes. “Your loyalty to Thane, while not ideal for the Shadow Court, is commendable. Loyalty is always commendable. But, and please don’t take this the wrong way Lorcan…you originally plotted your way to Thane’s side so you could spy on him for your father. And you always knew that he would eventually command you to kill him.”
“But,” Lorcan said, but Segonax held up a hand to signal that he wasn’t done.
“Yes, you became close to Thane, but that came later.” Segonax shook his head, laughed. “In truth, Lorcan, you and Reyna Darragh are far more alike than either of you realize.”
Lorcan’s tension in his hands relaxed, just a bit. “What are you saying?”
“You both went to the Air Court to avenge your kingdom. And then you realized that the world isn’t as black and white as you thought. Enemies can end up not being enemies at all. Enemies can turn out to be good people.” Segonax’s smile died. “And allies can be terrible ones.”
“Even if I agree with you, Reyna will never see it that way. This quest is madness.”
He still did not know if he could forgive her fully for what she’d planned for Thane. Lorcan had gone to the Air Court with the very same plot, but he’d done so under the curse of his mark. He’d had no choice. Reyna’d had every choice in the world.
And it wasn’t as though she had apologized. She’d thrown it right into his face when she knew it would hurt the most.
“Most of the king’s plots these days are madness,” Segonax muttered beneath his breath, and Lorcan wasn’t entirely certain he’d heard him right. The commander never questioned his king.
“What was that, Seg?”
“Nothing,” the commander said quickly. “You best get ready for your adventure. The hour is growing late. Try not to get yourself killed, eh? We need you.”
Lorcan frowned at that. The last thing the shadow fae needed was a prince who had no control over his own damn actions. Whirling on his feet, he strode back down the corridor, heading to his chambers to prepare for the days ahead.
And brace himself for the inevitable battle that was looming. His battle with Reyna Darragh. He hoped it would not be a bloody one.
12
Eislyn
“We’re fully north of the mouth of the Bay of Wind now, princess.” Vreis stood tall on the deck beside her, the salty air rustling his brunette locks. An amber jewel hung from his neck and swayed with the rock of the boat. “No ships have been spotted in pursuit. We truly may have escaped.”
Eislyn exhaled, a rush of relief. She had been tense from the moment they’d stepped foot on the Stingray, her eyes ever wandering to the western horizon, fearing a sail would be seen fluttering in the distance, bearing the Air Court’s golden crown sigil. It had taken them a full week to sneak north. At first, they had headed east, deep into the Mag Mell Sea and away from Tir Na Nog’s shores.