Page 155 of Court of the Fae Princes

She shrugs, not missing a beat. “We are, with exceptions.”

Okay, I did not expect that. “So, the fae might be all those things, but I thought they mostly liked pretty clothes and expensive jewelry. How did one house end up focused on… death of all things? I mean, yeah, they’re from the House of Death, but still, Prince Sulien is from the Summer Court and doesn’t sport a hardon for the sun all day.”

Lady Nova cocks her head. “You’re a weird little thing, aren’t you?”

I stiffen. “Nope.”

“You’re not?” She arches a brow.

“No way. Totally normal.”

We stare for a minute before she looks away. “As much as I don’t want to think about Prince Sulien, the honorable prince of the Summer Court, sporting a hardon… to answer your question, the House of Death is as weird as the House of War in terms of being fae. Both houses deal with the darkest and hardest parts of life, so that changes us. It’s not strange that the House of Death seems unusual to you. What is strange is the fact that after all they’ve learned, they want more death and destruction.”

I wrap my arms around my shoulders. “Do they like torturing the princes too?”

“Maybe,” she says without hesitation, “but in all likelihood, hurting them is just a necessary step to getting what they want.”

She finishes packing up the camp while I sit, feeling useless. “You know, I’m usually the one who does all the work.”

“I figured. That’s why I’m okay being the one to do it for you,” she answers easily.

Lady Nova is a strange character.

When almost everything is loaded, she stirs the stew over the fire and gives me a bowl, then one for herself. I blow on the spoon, thoughts spinning. We should be close to the House of Death. Shouldn’t we? Then we have to face our enemies.

“Any idea what we’ll do when we get there?”

She shrugs, sitting down on the log next to me. “You’ll try to appeal to them as their future queen. Maybe try to bribe them or scare them into doing what you want. If that doesn’t work, I’ll kill them.”

I stare. “Just like that?”

“Yup.”

“What if I’m not so good at the whole scaring them or bribing them thing?”

She grins. “That’s okay, because I’m good at the killing them thing.”

“You’re prepared to just… kill all the most powerful fae?”

She starts eating, looking smug. “Fae are ready for powers and trickery, not a knife to the throat of a certain Keeper of Death. And if I take her out, the deal is done, and the other fae will stand down. At least, I hope.”

I eat slowly, thinking. “And what will happen if we don’t get there in time? Are the iron demons as bad as they say?”

Her spoon hesitates at her lips, and then she puts it back in her bowl. “How much do you know about the iron demons?”

“Almost nothing,” I admit.

She starts to eat again, her expression thoughtful. “Not much is discussed inside the kingdom, because the fae and humans want to forget. They want to forget the greater world and the greater history because it’s dark and dangerous.”

I sit up a little taller. “How so?”

It takes her so long to respond that for a minute I think she won’t. “There are multiple kingdoms on this continent. The Witch Kingdom, the Shifter Kingdom, the Vampire Kingdom, and the Kingdom we call the Iron Demon Kingdom, which others call the Monster Kingdom. While most of us can get along with one another, at least enough to leave each other alone, the iron demons are an enemy to all. As far as we know, they have no leader and no purpose. They simply roam about causing death and destruction.”

“Do the princes protect all the kingdoms from the iron demons?”

She shakes her head. “The vampires have built a wall to keep them out. The shifters have only a few places where the demons can get through, so they man their warriors there, keeping the rest of the kingdom safe. The witches are in the safest position, their lands are surrounded by the shifters and the vampires, and much of it is also uncrossable by mountains, so I imagine they deal with far less of the bastards than the rest of us.”

“And if the barrier falls around us, even for a short time, how bad will it be?”

---