“Not since you saw your mother die?” His voice was so soft and so gentle that it soothed some of the raw pain away.
She nodded, and then realized he couldn’t see her any better than she could see him. “It traumatized me. I didn’t speak for years, and I barely remember my childhood. Reyna and Glencora were there when it happened, but the Ruin...it didn’t get into their minds the way it did mine. Even when Reyna left court to become a Shieldmaiden, she wasn’t the odd one of the family. It’s always been me.”
“I’ve always liked the odd ones,” Vreis announced with a smile in his voice.
The corners of Eislyn’s lips tipped up. “You don’t want to run away from me then?”
“Never.”
Her heart grew thrice as large.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps thudded down the ladder and continued across the wooden floor just above where Eislyn and Vreis hid inside the hatch. Fear clenched her heart, and she sucked in a breath, holding it inside of her so that she would not make a sound.
“We know this is a smuggler’s ship,” a deep voice growled. “Show us your hatch.”
Eislyn clenched her fists, and tears burned her eyes. This was it. They would be found now, and she’d be taken straight back to Tairngire where she would face her death. It had been hopeless, trying to escape. Aengus was always going to find her.
But then a creak echoed through the quiet of the ship. Another door swinging open, hinges groaning. “See? There’s the hatch. We don’t have anything in it, I’m afraid, or I’d offer you some of the Sea Court’s best wine.”
“Hmph,” the growly voice replied. “You see any other ships around here lately?”
“Not a one.”
Eislyn clenched her hands, hopeful for once.
“And the Princess Eislyn. You hear anything about her whereabouts?”
A pause. “This is just a rumor, I’m sure, but perhaps there’s a chance she sailed to the Sea Court. Thane Selkirk has family there. She might have hoped to take refuge with them.”
“The Sea Court you say? Thanks for the tip.”
The smuggler cleared his throat. “I would be careful about sailing there yourselves, of course. The Sea Court often looks harmless, but they have sharp teeth.”
“So does the Air Court.”
26
Reyna
The energy at the castle was like lightning. When Lorcan and Reyna arrived well over a day after setting off by boat, every corner of the once-vacant city seemed alive with activity. Nollaig and the others had returned several days past, and they’d informed the king that the Wood Court was on the march.
Bolg Rothach declared war. He decided they must make their move at once. He was gathering the entire army, every last shadow fae who could fight, and he was sending them through the caves and into the wood fae lands.
Lorcan braced his hands on the strategy table, frowning down at the map while Segonax and Nollaig looked on.
“Well?” Segonax asked from where he stood beside Lorcan, decked out in full commander armor.
“You’re right,” Lorcan said. “This is a terrible idea. Findius is a stronghold. I’d say it’s impenetrable, but it’s clearly not. Regardless, it’s far better to stay in here than to storm out into enemy territory.”
Segonax sighed in visible relief. “That’s what we’ve told him, Your Highness, but he refuses to listen. We were hoping that if you brought our thoughts to him, that he might…”
Lorcan glanced up, his eyebrows winging upward. “Listen to his bastard son that he doesn’t give a single damn about?”
“You’re no longer a bastard, son,” Segonax said evenly, pinching the bridge of his flat nose.
“Legitimized or not, I’m still an unwanted bastard in my father’s eyes.” Lorcan turned toward Nollaig, who had been strangely silent thus far. “He listens to you.”
“Not on this, I’m afraid,” the hooded fae said quietly, her voice hushed beneath the thick folds of her cloak.
Reyna watched, torn. On the one hand, she didn’t want to see the wood king win this battle. On the other hand, she didn’t want to see Bolg Rothach win either. He was a disease.
Her relief had known no bounds when Lorcan had told her Eislyn was free. Her sister would not die in these dark lands. She would not perish beneath a red sun. Eislyn was safe. Her father would call her home from the Air Court if he hadn’t already. Most likely, she was sitting in her favorite chair in the Ice Court library, chatting about books with Albin.
She had yet to decide how she would handle Bolg Rothach and his lies. The more she thought about it, the more she felt inclined to say nothing about it, to let him continue to believe she was scared for her sister’s life.
Let the trickster become the tricked.
Nollaig hadn’t mentioned it either, so Reyna thought it best not to bring it up. The castle walls likely had ears. They usually did in fae courts.
“What about Tarrah?” Lorcan asked with increasing frustration. “He has no issue basing his every action on her words.”
Segonax rolled his eyes. “Tarrah has told the king that she hasn’t heard from her god about this blasted battle, so he’s taken that to mean he should go ahead with it. It seems Unseelie has suddenly gone mute.”
“If he ever spoke at all,” Reyna muttered.
Every eye in the room turned her way.
“I’m just saying that he doesn’t seem to be very consistent with his visions,” she answered. “Sometimes, he’s happy enough to pop in with some advice, but other times, like when people are getting shot with poisonous arrows, he’s off doing another death god thing.”
“Hmm,” Segonax said.
Reyna noticed he did not argue.
“So, it seems that regardless of what we think, we must go through with this foolhardy plan. The gods have mercy on us all.” Segonax looked up at the ceiling and sighed before vanishing out the door to round up more warriors.
Nollaig hesitated, shook her head, and then followed the commander. At long last, Reyna was finally alone in a room with Lorcan again, but the circumstances were not forgiving.
“I’m not thrilled by the idea of heading back into the wood fae lands just as we escaped it.” Reyna glanced down at her clean trousers. It wouldn’t be long before they were bloody again. “I’m even less thrilled about fighting against them for your father.”
Lorcan let out a heavy sigh and dragged a hand down his face. “If I knew how to free us from our bonds, I would.”
But the both of them were stuck. They were forced to go along with whatever plan Lorcan’s father concocted. The shadow king might not have Thane and Eislyn held captive, but he didn’t need them now. Reyna’s vow bound her to his will, and Lorcan still had his mark. He’d been able to defy it a handful of times but not always. And she knew in her heart that he would never step into the light as long as she was stuck in the shadows. He would stay there until she found a way out.
Reyna sighed and glanced down at the map. “So, who do we want to win?”
Lorcan tucked a finger beneath her chin. “Us.”