Page 33 of A Kingdom of Monsters

“Will you use flames or shadows?” Bael asked.

“Er, I’d planned to use flames, but I suppose I could try both.”

“I can’t wait for you to try turning something to dust,” Bael said slightly wistfully. “I’ve never met someone else who could do what I do.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Scion grumbled, not looking up from his book. “The last thing we need is for her to destroy the castle…again.”

I glowered at him, but he looked up from his book and grinned, assuring me that he was joking.

“You all are fascinating,” Idris said lightly.

I jumped and looked over at him surprised, having almost forgotten we had an audience. “How so?’

“Well, it’s just as I was saying the other day. You all are so focused on fighting and whatever it is you’re searching for in the library. One would think you were all preparing for a battle.”

“Who’s to say we’re not?” Scion snapped, his eyes narrowing.

“But against whom?” Idris chuckled. “I’ve never known royals to be so active. Don’t you all typically spend your time enjoying yourselves?”

“How would you know?” I said quickly. “Do you remember any royals from before you were imprisoned?”

He looked at me sharply. “I was imprisoned in a castle, dear. I simply meant that Ganacanagh’s court never did much else besides go hunting and hold banquets.”

I furrowed my brow. How he could know that when he’d been trapped in a cell was more than a little suspicious, but I didn’t know exactly what to say to challenge him. Perhaps it was better to play along and wait to see if he slipped up again.

“Are you suggesting that we should be throwing parties rather than running the country?” Scion asked, acidly.

“Are you running the country?” Idris asked innocently. “I was under the impression that you left most of the governing to your regional figureheads.”

Scion looked sour. He didn’t take well to criticism, especially when it came to the well-being of Elsewhere.

In fairness, Idris wasn’t precisely wrong.

The cities mostly ran themselves with the oversight of the Governing families. On occasion the lords and ladies of each court would reach out to the capital, usually for money or soldiers, but otherwise we had very little to do with them. As Scion had once explained to me, royalty focused on larger scale problems, such as the ongoing situation in Aftermath and the shifting powers on the continent.

“What do you suggest we do differently,” Scion asked. His tone was perfectly pleasant but I could tell from the steely gray glint in his usually silver eyes that our guest was on thin ice.

“I wouldn’t presume to know precisely,” Idris replied, still smiling.”If it were up to me, however, I might dedicate some time to improving the lives of the people?”

“How so?” Scion snapped, a sickly sweet edge to his tone that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

“I understand you have humans and high Fae living together in your city?”

“We do,” I answered.

Idris reached for his tea, taking a slow sip. “Then perhaps you should focus on them.”

I grimaced. I supposed that wasn’t a bad suggestion. Not at all, actually. “I have been wanting to do something to improve Cheapside,” I mused.

Idris beamed. “That’s an excellent idea. Of course, the humans are an inconvenience but one that is easily remedied.”

I stopped eating abruptly and let my fork fall back onto my plate. “Remedied?”

“Well, of course. If you are looking to improve your city I’m sure there’s somewhere else the Slúagh could be sent that might make everyone a little more comfortable.”

My throat went dry and my pulse sped up, pounding in my temple. I sat up straighter, glaring at Idris. “Somewhere else? Where would you suggest the humans go? Bearing in mind that quite literally every single one of those people is here becauseeither they or their ancestors were stolen from their homes and brought here against their will.”

Beside me, Bael reached under the table and gripped my knee. At first, I thought he was trying to tell me to calm down, but then I caught sight of his expression. It was full of cold rage, the likes of which I hadn’t seen from him since perhaps the day he killed the guard who’d tormented me in the dungeon.

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