Page 102 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“It is ironic he felt that way,” I said while releasing the smoke in a fragrant cloud, “considering it was his birth that set all of those events into motion.”

The others shifted nervously, but I stayed focused on Rian whose expression had hardened. The change was very slight, he was better at concealing his thoughts and emotions than I was, but he was angry with my words.

“What was done to you had nothing to do with him, and it was inevitable for a female royal in your culture,” Rian asserted, his voice leaving no room for dispute. “Any catalyst would have brought about the same events eventually. What happened to thebothof you happened because of your father.”

“If my brother was even remotely the kind of decent male you suggest he was, then he might have treated me a little more kindly at our first meeting. Then perhaps he might not be dead, and I wouldn’t be hunted again.”

If I had thought the tension in the room was palpable before, it was downright stifling now. I could feel four pairs of eyes burning into me, Sage’s most of all, but once more it was only Rian that I stayed focused on.

There was anger there still, but there was also some strange look of… patient understanding.

“And Sage’s village would have been destroyed.”

I blinked, shocked beyond all ability to even consider hiding my reaction at Rian’s calm response.

“Twenty years,” he reminded me, evidently amused by my shock. “Do you think I spenttwenty yearsloving your brother and was never subjected to a barbed tongue?”

He made a scoffing sound, mocking my naivety as he took the bottle back, tearing it out of my listless fingers. He took a long swig before he set it back on the table rather hard and loudly.

“We can disagree on who your brother was, but let us not forget that I knew him and you did not. That said, I do know why you killed him, Ornella. Hard as it is even still, I have come to accept how he would have looked to you in that moment. But you have not yet had an opportunity to consider his perspective. It is not an excuse, it simply remains that Aodhan hurt you for the same reason that you stabbed him; you look like his nightmares.”

His words crashed through me with a sort of violence which I was not remotely prepared to begin processing. So I chose not to and pushed away the uncomfortable understanding that wanted to invade my senses.

“So now, if I am to forgive his crime, then I must also embrace yours,” said Rian, and now he did sound bitter although it still was not toward me. He resented his own conscience that seemed to prevent him from condemning me whilst upholding Aodhan.

Butforgiveness?I was unsure if he meant it, but that wasn’t something I had even considered a possibility.

I sat in quiet contemplation, and Rian reached again for the wine bottle as if he knew I would need a moment.

Sage had implored me to trust Rian, everyone asserted that he was a good leader, and they gave him seemingly unconditionalloyalty, but I had not believed it. I’d simply known too many males who led with fear and brute force, and until then, that was all I had seen from Rian. I had not expected him to be as insightful, reflective, or humble as Sage had proven. The Sua feared his potential destruction. His own riders were wary of his temper! And all of it was for good reason because evidently, when he lost control, people fucking died.

I just wasn’t convinced yet whether the constant need for his restraint made him truly disciplined or if it merely hindered an impending and inevitable doom.

Chapter twenty-nine

VAGRANTS AND CUTTHROATS

Ornella

“What is it that you want from me, exactly?” I asked the Autumn Prince after a moment.

“That depends on you, Ornella. You are a rider, and it is your right to take what we have to offer without any expectation of compensation beyond your faithful service. Protection, loyalty, companionship, it is all yours by the simple virtue of your place among us,” Rian reassured me before he took a deep pull on the pipe in front of him.

“But?” I prompted knowingly, waiting impatiently for him to slowly exhale the smoke out through his nostrils.

“But I think we can agree that there are some external factors that necessitate some additional considerations. Chief among them being the Rot and the Fuath sweeping across Ahnnaòin,” he pointed out.

“Agreed,” I conceded because if nothing else, I wanted to help protect Sage’s family. I accepted the wand for the pipe when he passed it back to me again.

“Then I shall catch you up,” he offered as he sat back on the couch. “In the absence of unifying leadership from our longindisposed queen, or any other political entity in this court, the Wild Hunt committed itself to the defense of Ahnnaòin. We have spent years searching for a way to either reverse the effects of the Rot or reinforce our wards against its decay. We are still searching for the kings and queens of the Four Courts. They are all too weak to help, but it is my hope they may possess knowledge on how to strengthen their magic against the Rot. And if not, then I intend to… encourage them to abdicate their thrones in the hopes that renewing the monarchs might strengthen their power again.”

“You think you canmakethem abdicate?” I verified.

“They can either choose to do it or I will force them,” Rian assured me with an unnerving confidence.

“Have you tried healing the Rot?” I asked.

“Aodhan, among other fey, have all attempted to use different kinds of magic to heal or repair the Rot without any success. It is difficult to get close to and magic is not as easily corrected as physical ailments. We also visited every known library and ancient archive of other courts to search for records on the creation of our world. That was when we learned the blight was not unique to Ahnnaòin. But it was not until we amassed our army that we finally ascertained our ability to slow it by concentrating fey in their courts,” Rian explained.

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