Page 29 of Once the Skies Fade

“No,” I said calmly, and worry clouded Isa’s expression. Inhaling slowly, I drew my shadows back in—hoping that wouldput my friends more at ease—and explained. “I will come with you. I need to see this through personally.”

“Your Majesty,” Graham started. “Isa and I have served the crown for most of our lives. You can trust us to handle it. You should?—”

“Do not tell me to rest, Graham,” I said, but the words came out sharper than I intended, and I had to take another calming breath. He recoiled when I reached out, but I rested my hand lightly on his forearm anyway. “I do trust you, but I need to do this. Just this once.”

Graham and Isa shared a long glance, as if having a silent discussion, before turning back to me. “Just this once,” Isa repeated. I nodded, but somewhere deep in my veins my magic lit with excitement.

It was a lie.

These wouldn’t be the last lives I ended.

Chapter 14

Calla

Iwished I could end these blasted Assembly meetings—end the Assembly itself, actually—but my parents had insisted on structuring our kingdom differently from Emeryn. When the War of Hearts split Sandurdam’s original two kingdoms into four over two decades ago, they had the opportunity to design a new process for governing. The chance to create a kingdom built on laws and rules that would hopefully prevent another war of such magnitude.

The Assembly—typically all fae, though humans had served in the past—was elected every ten years from the six regions of Arenysen and was little more than a group of advisors overseen by Graham. In extreme circumstances they could overrule and retract any of the crown’s edicts, but they had never exercised that power. I’d always found their existence rather pointless, but my father had insisted that they kept a ruler’s heart in check, providing sound reason and wisdom.

They were far from offering anything resembling either, though, as they sat here at my table with zero answers for all of my inquiries.

“So, we have no idea who killed my husband? Or how they killed him? Still?” I asked for what felt like the hundredth time since Brennan’s death.

The six advisors looked awkwardly at one another, avoiding my eyes at all costs. I failed to suppress my growl, though thankfully my shadows remained dormant for now.

“I know of the stars-damned rumors, but I did not kill him. I loved him! Why would I?—”

A hand rested gently upon my shoulder, and I turned to peer up at Isa, who gave me a silent warning to calm myself. I offered a small nod. Appeased for the time being, she stepped back a pace, allowing me to resume speaking. Closing my eyes, I sought the comfort of my shadows flowing through me, ensuring the tether I had on them remained firmly in place. Assured I had control of my power, I met the eyes of each fae seated before me, steadied my breath, and spoke again.

“We will not give up on the search for his killer. I know the healers believe it to be an accident, but after all that happened in his home country years ago, we cannot assume a foreign poison wasn’t used.”

Fern, a mousy female from one of the southern regions, responded quietly. “We will do our best, Your Majesty. Perhaps a village from each region could spare a healer for a brief time to assist with the investigation here at the castle?”

“Can any of our villages truly spare someone though?” asked a newly elected male from the north whose name I couldn’t recall.

“To be fair, Warren,” an older male answered, and I mentally noted the new member’s name. “With the banishment of the humans, our villages are now less fragile, less in need of healing.”

I tensed and held my breath. They seemed reluctant to broach the topic of my decision to exile the humans. Each ofthem, including Graham, who sat to my right, seemed to have bristled at its mention. Even the male who had uttered the words stiffened, apprehension pinching his expression.

Graham cleared his throat and leaned forward to rest his forearms on the table. “Yuri brings up a valid point. We would not need more than one or two additional at any given time?—”

“But why aren’t we discussing the banishment itself?” asked a rigid female with harsh, bitter features who looked as though she were perpetually sucking on a lemon. “Her Majesty has killed a considerable number of humans who refused to leave––and rather gruesomely, I might add.”

Fisting my hands around my shadows, I gritted my teeth. I shifted my feet and fidgeted in my chair, fighting the urge to leap up and scream at her. Graham slid his hand gently over my forearm and squeezed reassuringly. He rose to his feet and stared down at the icy female.

“Ursula, you will not speak of our queen as if she were not sitting before you. You will respect the crown and this Assembly, or you will be removed and replaced. Do you understand?”

Ursula pursed her lips and held Graham’s gaze as she nodded. To my surprise, Graham didn’t return to his seat as he continued speaking.

“We should commend our queen for knowing herself and her own limitations when it comes to ruling the humans. While we may not understand her reasons, we should respect them.”

Ursula straightened in her seat. “I cannot respect the ruthless killing of those?—”

Isa stepped forward, her hand falling to the pommel of her sword. “You mean the killing of outlaws? Of those who know the price of not complying, yet do it anyway?”

Warren threw up a hand. “Then they should get trials! As is customary! You cannot possibly believe these deaths to be ethical, general!”

Isa lifted her chin and stared down her nose at him. “I believe the queen to be worthy of our loyalty, sir.”

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