Page 130 of Court of the Fae Princes

I glare, growing tired of this conversation. “I don’t know them at all. You realize that, right? I knew Prince Sulien as a child, but the other three are strangers to me. Prince Sulien’s a stranger to me.” I clench my fists. Everyone keeps assuming I’m madly in love with them. That’s the furthest thing from the truth.

Kind of.

She shrugs.

My jaw tightens. “Look, just tell me what you know.”

She regards me for a long minute. Her pointy ears twitching ever-so-subtly, and her green eyes fill with mischief. “Ok, I’ll give you the truth.” She smooths down the front of her shirt and sits up straighter. “They made a deal with the House of Death to find you.”

“A deal with the House of Death? What kind of deal? Why the House of Death?” The questions tumble out of my mouth.

Lady Nova ignores them. “They’ve gone back to pay the price for the help they got. No one knows how long it’ll take. But knowing the House of Death, if they had to return to fulfill the deal, it could take some time. The House of Death doesn't follow the court rules as well as the rest of us.”

Pay the price. What price? My mind races, thinking about how persistent they were with getting an answer out of me about whether or not I was willing to marry them, and how hurt they were when I said no. They left with that on their minds. It was the last conversation we had.

My heart aches. They deserve better. I need to be better.

“What can we do?”

Her expression says she takes offense at the word we in my question. “The elders have a plan set into action. They sent out an enormous party to try to make a trade with the House of Death for them. To get the princes out of whatever deal they made to save your life.”

I feel like I can suddenly breathe. “Thank goodness.”

They made a deal for me. They shouldn’t have to suffer because they helped me, a woman who couldn’t even agree to marry them.

Lady Nova glares. “No, don’t relax. Fae who give their word are bound to it. If they took on a stupid deal, which they probably did in desperation to get you back, they can’t get out of it. They have to uphold their end of it, and I seriously doubt some big fae group visiting them will change that.”

Did they just ride off to their deaths? Are they doomed? All for me? The House of Death doesn’t exactly sound like the kind of place you should make a deal with.

My heart pounds, and my hands begin to tremble. I put them on my lap, so Lady Nova doesn’t see.

“Whatever it is,” I begin, “it has to be bad, right? We’re talking about the House of Death. I don’t know much about it, but I can’t imagine they make sweet, easy deals to help.”

Lady Nova nods. “The elders’ party is going to take way too long to get there too. You simply can’t move quickly with a group that large.”

What? What the hell? Then they shouldn’t have sent such a large group. If the princes need help, they need help now, just like I did when they came for me. We can’t waste that kind of time.

“Well, that doesn’t work for me. I’m going to get them myself.” I push myself back from the table and stand, a plan slowly forming in my mind.

Heading to the dresser, I begin to pack a bag.

Lady Nova gives an unkind laugh, but I ignore her. “It took four princes, a deal with the House of Death, and a bloodbath to save you from your kidnappers. Do you really think saving them will be that easy? Do you really think you can just get on a horse, find them, and undo the deal?”

“I never said it would be easy. I just said I’m going to do it.” I’m throwing clothes in my bag. I’ve got my blade in one of my drawers, and I search each of them trying to find which one.

“So, you’re confident that you’ll make it through this journey and through a discussion with the House of Death to break a deal they made?” She’s amused. I don’t care.

Ignoring her, I smile when I find my blade and place it on my bed. I sift through my clothing until I find something to wear that I can travel in and fight in, if I need to. I can ask a servant to throw together some food and supplies and ask them to get a horse saddled for me. Then I should be ready to go.

“So you’re going to go head to head with the House of Death? With Lady Grave? A woman who has probably already had a premonition about all of this and will be prepared for your arrival, one way or another? With the Keeper of Death? A woman who is among the most powerful of the fae?” Lady Nova questions me, like I’m not thinking things through.

I’m not, but it doesn’t matter. All I need to do is find the princes, and we can work through whatever the hell else is going on. I might not have awesome fae powers, but I have a brain, and I’ve been kicked around enough to be able to handle more than Lady Nova seems to think.

Lady Nova snorts when I don’t respond. “You’ll all end up dead.”

I snap. “If you’re not going to help, then at least shut the hell up!” I close my bag and face her, daring her to say another snotty comment.

Lady Nova grins. “Fine, I’ll help you find the House of Death and make sure you don’t die while you're out there. You have my word.”

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