Page 118 of King of Storms and Feathers

“Leaf’s family…. Well, she’s the lost Earth Realm Princess, Zali Omala, part reaver elf and destined to take the human throne. I’ve suspected it for some time. The Zareen, who can sense reaver blood, confirmed it.”

For several long moments, a tense silence hummed through the hall while blood roared in my ears. I couldn’t move. Could barely breathe. Nausea churned my gut as I forced bile back down my throat.

She had to be joking.

The human royal family had died out centuries ago, or so I’d thought. And what… Leaf was somehow their fucking princess? Impossible.

“Excuse me while I completely lose my shit,” I ground out.

“My King,” Ari began, stepping closer to the dais.

“Don’t you fucking dare my king me,” I boomed, lightning flashing outside, the energy sizzling along my arms. “Why did the elves keep Mydorian hidden for centuries?”

“A long time ago, my sister, the Zareen fell in love with a human prince. Their union created a female heir born into the weakest of the five realms, a realm where the people had no magic, no protection against the fae of the Light, Sun, Ice, and Crystal Realms. We needed to protect them against all of faekind for all time. Using our cloaking magic was the obvious solution.”

“But why would you keep this from me?”

“For everyone’s safety, Arrowyn. The reaver alliance with the Earth Realm made no difference to Coridon. Or to you and—”

“No difference!” I shot to my feet, leaped from the dais, and stalked a circle around the Sayeeda. “Your loyalty, your life is bonded to my service, not the Earth Realm’s. I rule the Light Realm. I govern the Gold Accords. And your one and only role is to help me. That’s it.”

Body stiff, she dropped her gaze to her hands. “Of that, I am very aware. Believe me when I tell you that reavers work hard to keep the realms in balance. All of them, Arrow. That is our true and eternal interest. Because without that balance, Coridon would fall.”

“And yet, with a handful of words, you’ve destroyed nearly every assumption I’ve lived by. Your faithfulness. The very order of the realms. And you expect me to believe a Mydorian princess exists, let alone that she could be purchased in a slave market for three gold feathers?”

Raiden’s skin was ashen, telling me this was the first he’d heard of this preposterous tale. Ildri’s usually pale cheeks were rosy with guilt. When she noticed me staring, she bit her lip, but uttered no words. She was complicit in this betrayal. It hurt me to know that Ari had confided in her closest friend at court, but not her king. Not me.

“We don’t know how Zali came to be at the gilt market,” said Ari. “If all wasn’t well in the Earth Realm, the reavers living there should have got word out to Auryinnia.”

“Leaf! Her name is Leaf. I don’t want to hear her called anything other than the name I gave her. Is that clear?”

“If you insist. Perhaps I should have made contact with the Mydorian reavers before we sent Leaf home… but the Zareen, who sees all, urged us to let her begin the journey at once.”

As growing panic worked its way over Ari’s face, deadly silence pulsed between us.

I took her chin between my fingers, pinching cruelly. “What horrors have you sent her back to?”

“If things weren’t well in Mydorian, the Zareen would have known.”

“Are you certain Leaf is this princess? And if so, does she know it?” I said through gritted teeth.

“I don’t think she knows. But, yes, I’m certain of her identity. Only Dust and Stones royal females shave the right sides of their heads. Leaf begged to wear hers that way. Reaver blood only activates in the female line, so unlike her male relatives, gold serum has no effect on her. She passes through reaver gates unaided—”

“But if she’s Mydorian, no doubt she saw this royal girl at some point and wanted to emulate her,” I said, looking for any explanation other than the one Ari had presented.

“You’re not listening. And it doesn’t matter if you refuse to believe who Leaf is; the Zareen has confirmed her identity.”

“So why didn’t you tell Leaf before she left?”

“I worried that if she was captured, under torture she might reveal her identity… and I didn’t want her to be in any more danger.”

“Captured, Ari? For fuck’s sake! Leaf’s little adventure ends right now. I’m going to get her.”

“Wait… Zali is part reaver elf, so she has the ability to cloak herself. And before she left, I tried to teach her this skill. I gave her a nugget of gold and a spell to chant, telling her they would make her disappear.”

My brows rose. “Invisibility is a useful defense.”

“Yes, but unfortunately, she didn’t quite believe she could do it by herself on demand.”

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