Page 69 of The Fae King's Labyrinth

“Yes, Mother,” Oran intoned without a hint of contrition. “So, Lady Anon? How did you free my brother from the curse that has bound him to the Unseelie king’s whim?”

“I married him.” It wasn’t a secret, and it seemed harmless. However, I intended to hand over as little information as I could manage.

Although my instincts told me to trust Oran, I didn’t know if that was based on his similarities to Azulin or some intangible evidence I hadn’t pinpointed yet. Either way, I wasn’t risking our lives on my instinct alone. Besides, something about Tana made me cautious even without Oran’s warning.

“That was all?” Tana demanded. “I told him he needed to find a wife of good breeding. He could’ve broken the spell months and months ago if he had listened to me.”

“Mother, I doubt it was that simple.” Oran’s tone of warning carried a power and anger that set my nerves on edge.

She pursed her lips. “If Az had listened to me, we would have a real queen instead of an imposter.”

“You are speaking treason.” Oran glared at his mother. “She is his wife.”

Tana waved her hand elegantly in my direction. “She is human, a liability. I could spell her so she couldn’t speak of this to Azulin, and she would be helpless against it.” A cruel smile twisted her features. “Az couldn’t even stop me before it was too late.”

An intensely prickly sensation teased my nose. I held back a sneeze. The ring on my left hand warmed.

Oran’s whole body tensed. “Stop, Mother,” he commanded.

Tana turned and narrowed her gaze at me, her eyes hard. “Don’t worry, human, this will only hurt for a moment, and you won’t even remember it afterward.”

“Don’t you need my true name?”

Tana laughed. The cold sound bounced off the muffling effect of Oran’s spell. “Pathetic human, I need nothing.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. My eyes watered with the effort of not sneezing and I stumbled backward.

Oran moved faster than thought, stepping in front of me. The air thickened with the liquid sensation of his magic. Hespoke a word, and a spell formed around us. “Mother, don’t do this.”

My nose burned, but I couldn’t give in. If I sneezed, I would betray my shifter magic. Somehow, I suspected that would make this whole situation worse. I put my hand to my nose and squeezed my nostrils, hoping to subdue the tickle.

Tana’s voice cut through the air, piercing my senses like a magical knife. “But it would be so easy. We could sway Azulin through her.” I could feel a spell pressing on my mind.

My stomach knotted. How could a mother do this to her sons? Twisting, controlling, and manipulating. It seemed like a horrible way to live. The ring on my left hand burned my skin. I was tempted to take it off, but to do so would remove my only defense against whatever spells were brewing in the surrounding air.

Oran jostled me backward with his shoulder. “Close your eyes.”

I squeezed my eyes closed, and the knife pain in my head eased ever so slightly. As Tana kept talking, Oran was muttering something hastily in a language I didn’t understand. The sharp sensation in my brain lessened even more.

However, Tana’s voice pressed in on my ears all the louder. “Now move aside, son. I must do this before Malkin does something impulsive and provokes Azulin again.”

“No, Mother,” Oran replied calmly. “Turn around, Lady Anon. No—don’t open your eyes.”

I turned blindly until I faced what I hoped was the opposite direction.

“Take three steps forward and halt,” he ordered.

I complied, and as I did, the intense thumping of my racing heartbeat replaced Tana’s voice in my mind. Oran’s calm, foreign words became a counterpoint to my heart’s frantic pace; something warm and solid brushed my shoulder.

“Azulin has just arrived. Oh, he’s livid. Don’t open your eyes.” Oran’s voice rasped with what I suspected was suppressed anger. He cleared his throat. “When I tell you, I need you to start walking in a straight line. Azulin should be able to pull you free before I close off the trap.” A slight weary note entered Oran’s voice, and the liquidlike magic around me shifted. “I’ll be right behind you; don’t stop walking until you reach him. Nod if you understand.”

I nodded.

A few more phrases in the other language and his magic shifted again, hardening around us.

“Now!” Oran ordered sharply.

I rushed to comply and stumbled, catching myself at the last moment. Then scrambling forward, I tried to keep ahead of Oran’s longer strides and pushed against the resisting magic. Behind us, I could sense the spell closing.

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