Page 182 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

Riordan was hesitant for a moment before he tightened his arms around me and buried his face in my neck in a deeply emotional hug while he continued to fly.

Amira, you are my mate. There can be no relationship in my heart that you are not a part of,he assured me.

Meaning that he would not act on anything with Orion unless it included me.

“I think…”I think we can explore that,I admitted.

“You want to bring the Spring Court Kinghere?”

I perfectly understood Isaura’s wariness when Riordan began to explain his plan to the council the next morning. The honest truth was that I wasn’t excited by the prospect of that creature living in our kingdom either.

“He needs sanctuary, and we need warriors. It will also prevent Rian from becoming even more powerful than he already is,” Riordan reminded them of his main points.

“Balor has a reputation as a conniving, ruthless tyrant,” noted Dio nervously. I did not think I had ever heard him disagree with my mate during these meetings, but he was clearly uncertain of this plan.

“What if all the fey in the Spring Quadrant defect?” demanded Riordan’s mother, Andromeda, whom he had asked to join the council for this important decision.

“I considered that and sent fey emissaries to gauge the attitude of the Spring Quadrant toward Balor weeks ago. They have not forgotten it was my brother who actively helped them come here to escape the Iscariot War when Balor refused to aid them.”

“You did that?” his mother blurted, clearly surprised and impressed with him. “You sent out emissaries?”

“Of course! Did you think I had come to this decision lightly or naively?” Riordan demanded.

I could tell the anger had come out of him from a place of frustration with his mother’s constant underestimating before he was able to catch himself.

“And of course, I’ll continue to communicate closely with the fey as I build the territory for the Spring Court,” he pressed on more calmly. “It is likely that word will get out to the Four Courts and even more fey will want to seek sanctuary and help us fight Rian.”

“Are we to house them?” asked Castor.

“We can support them, spacewise, and fey take care of their own needs, so there is no reason we cannot house anyone fleeing this war,” Riordan confirmed.

“Fey kings and queens are forces of nature. Are you sure you can control Balor?” verified Nyssa cautiously.

“Amira contained him with a salt circle. I will build him a prison,” Riordan advised them, drawing all of their shocked eyes to me. “He is weak.”

Balor was notthatweak, but we could hardly tell the council that I’d actually used Riordan’s power to bind the Spring King. They might have accepted Riordan as king after they saw how easily he wielded his power, but they were still wary of me. If they heard I could use his magic, they would fear me as Orion had and assume that I might take their kingdom from their king.

“Balor’s own people distrust and dislike him. You said that many of them were even helping Rian hunt for him. Do you really want to help him?” Dio asked Riordan.

“I will not argue that he is not despicable or that I want him here. Ido not. But it is in our best interest to shelter Balor and the other monarchs rather than allow Rian to consume their power,” Riordan pointed out.

This was something the council members had not fully addressed, Rian’s power, because none of them seemed to believe it was real. The whole reason the rogues had been able to take fey for so long was because their threat had never been taken seriously by the council.

“And besides all of that, weneedallies, and it is my job as your king to find them for us. Your job is to advise me while I do it, so do so now. Offer me solutions and compromises. I am here for help to make the contract as ironclad as it can be,” Riordan urged them in earnest.

It was the first time I’d seen him offer them such raw and authentic emotion. They all seemed equally surprised by it, butCastor rose to reach for the rough outline of the contract which Riordan had written and read to them.

“We just want to know you have thought this through,” Dio assured Riordan.

“You know I do nothing without thinking about it,” Riordan insisted.

I was watching Castor reread the contract, his mouth pinching as he absorbed the words again.

“I cannot believe that he would agree to this. It is not in his favour,” he admitted suspiciously.

“He did try to get more, but he is desperate. Rian is closing in on his position quickly. He needs an escape,” Riordan explained, still clearly frustrated by their lack of constructive input for the contract.

“He really thinks this… rogue fey can take his power? Consume the very fabric of magic that is the integrity of his court? Do you fear the same?” asked Castor with his brows rising skeptically. “What kind of monster must this rogue be that eats magic and steals power?”

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