Page 41 of Queen of Ever

Tarian

Theairinthemeeting room was humid and stodgy, and the only breeze was provided by the puffs of hot air being released from the mouths of the councillors clustered around the table, hurling accusations at each other.Most of them baseless and pointless, giving even less purpose to my being there.

‘As we have been the ones who provided the majority of the intelligence, it’s only natural that we lead any offense,’ one of the Seelie lords said, though I didn’t catch who had actually spoken.

‘I don’t see a need for a leader of one court over another.We’re only talking about a bogus court.They are disorganised and weak.Any combined effort will do away with a rebellion in a day,’ came Taldore’s reply.

‘Seelie forces have more experience in quelling an uprising, given that we were actually successful in keeping our lessers in check last time they revolted.’

‘The Unseelie lands have higher numbers of lesser fae to deal with.’

The words faded out of my awareness again as my attention wandered.So it went, back and forth across the table as the High Council of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts battled it out in a war of words and allegations, with no clear agreement in sight.There was too much chest beating and cock slinging, each side trying to control the room and gain the upper hand.The festivities of the previous day had done nothing to force amity, whatever the intention had been.I wasn’t interested in their attempts to establish a pecking order, but it was best to just let them get it out of their system.

Even knowing this, I was impatient and bored.My gaze frequently drifted to the window, as though I might somehow catch a glimpse of Imogen by some mercy of fate.Stars knew, I saw her enough in the dark of my mind, where I turned the memory of last night over and over, admiring it like a precious stone.Each turn fanned my frustration as I waited for the talking to reach some sort of point, because the more I thought about it, the stronger the urge to go to her became.And after last night, I had hope, something I’d scarcely allowed myself to feel before.Hope there might be a way to convince her to give me another chance.I wasn’t going to fuck it up this time.

My foot jigged against the floor, caught in my restless energy as I waited for enough time to pass to call for a break.I needed to get out of that room.I needed to find her.I needed to make sure last night wouldn’t be written off as a lapse in judgement and self-control.There’d been too much of that in our history together—I wanted to tell her how much it had meant to me so there’d be no mistake.

And I wanted to do it again.

Hands slammed against the table, interrupting the more pleasant path of my thoughts and dragging me back to the present.

‘And how are we supposed to trust that?As far as I can see, the attack may very well have come fromyou.’ It was one of the Seelie councillors hurling this accusation.

At the opposite end of the table, Solas opened his eyes, his attention returned to the room, drawn briefly by the activity.He was leaning on his hand, and his focus had been switching between vacantly staring at a spot on the wall or examining his nails for a good portion of the morning.

‘Oh yes, and then we’d turn right around and attack our own palace,’ drawled Vesryn, which explained why the Seelie councillor was becoming riled up.Ves loved meetings of the High Council.The game of it, plotting ways to pursue his interests by manoeuvring everyone else.Unlike Solas and I, he’d had his attention fixed within the room, sharp eyes dissecting his opponents as he tapped fingers against the tabletop, boot slung over one knee in affected carelessness.Now there was an edge of trouble in his smile as he provoked his challenger.‘Listening to you feels like a terrible waste of eternity.Actually, I’m surprised to see you still on the Seelie council after your last little...embarrassment,’ he said.Whatever scandal he seemed to be referring to, the other male seemed to understand the reference.His face turned red.

‘Iknewfae in Paveil,’ he spat.‘Fae who were left in pieces, their bodies riddled with lead.I’ll not have this matter discussed withsarcasm, night crawler.’

‘Only because you don’t understand it, sun slave.’

The Seelie councillor raised his hands.With a sharpcrack!he was launched through the air by the magic he’d bound himself to, the oath that would punish and prevent any acts of aggression.His body slammed into the wall before dropping to the floor in a groaning heap.

I sighed.This was just going to draw out the cock slinging longer.

Solas had perked up a bit at this display of the blood truce in action, at least enough to cease dozing off in his hand.He must have sensed me looking at him, because his gaze slid to me.

‘Seems we could use a break,’ I said.This was as good a moment as any.

But the Seelie King’s gaze sharpened.‘Do you have somewhere else to be?’

There was a spot between a particular pair of legs with my name all over it, but I was supposed to be on my best behaviour, so I didn’t say that.

‘Eochaid will be angry if we destroy one of the few intact rooms in this place.Let’s give everyone some time to cool off,’ was what I said instead.

‘Oh come on, I bet I could have got the one next to him too if you’d given me a few more minutes,’ Ves murmured.But I ignored him as Solas stood and stretched, signalling his agreement.I would have been first out the door if he hadn’t been half a room closer.Some of the life returned to his eyes as he fell into step beside me upon leaving the room, following me down a hallway.

‘You don’t have much stamina for someone who’s supposed to inherit the throne, do you?At least Imogen’s stay at the Summer Palace has allowed me to show her that not all fae rulers are incompetent.’

It seemed he’d been bored too long by listening to the councillors bickering, so now he’d turned to his favourite pastime.

I smirked, amused by the petty jab.‘She didn’t seem to think I was incompetent last night.’I couldn’t help but glance at him and had the satisfaction of watching the sneer slip from his face.

‘She’s Seelie and she’s undermyprotection,’ he spat.

I turned on him, forcing him to halt.‘No, she’s under mine.She always has been.Crossing the Sunder never changed that, no matter how hard you’ve tried to make it otherwise.I’ll be watching every move you make around her, every word you speak to her, so you’d better keep your fucking hands off her if you want them to remain attached to your body.Her time with you is temporary.I’ll make sure of that.’

He folded his arms, assessing me with sly calculation.‘And what sort of protection is that exactly?I’ve heard about her encounters with Moriana.What a sturdy guardian you must be, to fail to keep even your own mother from tormenting her.Forgive me for not shaking in my boots.’

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