Page 46 of Queen of Ever

‘Fine, I’ll do what I can to sway her to our side,’ I said, coming to the inevitable decision.It was the only way we could play this thing now.‘And if she isn’t on side by the time this conclave ends, I’ll make sure no one else can use her either.’

My advisors all bowed their heads to me before heading for the door in silence.‘And send in my sister,’ I added.‘It’s time for a little family meeting.’

Chapter 18

Imogen

Iwrappedmycloakaround myself to help brace against the cold night air.It was nice to be wearing a simple dress for a change, instead of the ridiculously fancy clothes I’d been required to wear during my time at the Seelie Court.But honestly, I missed my jeans.Maybe I could start a trend in this realm, women in pants.

‘Whatever you’re thinking about is crinkling your brow,’ Tarian said, and I looked over in time to catch his smirk.

I glared at him before turning my attention back to the path ahead.It all felt very clandestine, waiting in the dead of night for an oracle that would hopefully shed some light on this ridiculous prophesy situation.

Haddock Sloan appeared, his shoulders hunched as he walked up the path, head turning over his right shoulder then his left at regular intervals as if he was an armature burglar creeping onto the property.If anyone saw him, they would know immediately that he wasn’t supposed to be there, and that spiked my own anxiety.He wasn’t the only one who wasn’t supposed to be there.I was supposed to be in my room.If Marietta or Solas came to check on me for any reason, they’d want to know where I was.I’d managed to avoid Solas since the feast, but I knew I couldn’t avoid him forever, especially not if he was determined to see me.I was his subject, so apparently required to obey him, and answerable to whatever punishment he deemed appropriate if I didn’t.

‘Could you be any more obvious?’Tarian asked Haddock when he finally made his way to us, voice tight with irritation.

‘I ain’t s’pposed to be here,’ Haddock hissed back, his discomfort clear.‘If any of them High Fae caught me, they’d lop off my head!’

‘No one is going to cut off your head,’ I said, doing my best to comfort the agitated satyr.‘You’re here with us.’

‘That don’t much make me feel better, your ladyship,’ he replied, wringing his hands together.‘The sooner I get off this island, the better.’

Tarian gave a curt nod then turned on his heels, taking my hand as he moved through the darkness.The casual gesture made my heart race.Something about being with him like this made me feel whole again.There was still a lot we were going to have to figure out, but I knew now what I wanted.Whathewanted.Somehow, we would find a way to be happy.

Tarian stopped in front of an old wooden door that was set into a rocky outcrop, like it was a door into the earth itself.We weren’t far beyond the castle and I felt exposed standing out here, even in the dark, when anyone might look out and see us.Tarian seemed less concerned about that, but I thought he would almost have preferred to be spotted and forced to drop the secrecy.Even if that meant Solas marching out here and making some kind of scene.Actually, that probably made the idea even more inviting for him.

Tarian slipped his hand from mine and the cool air rushed to meet my skin in his absence, forcing me to tuck it under my cloak to preserve some of the warmth.He slammed his shoulder against the door once, then again, the sound echoing with each hit, making Haddock cringe, hunching his shoulders even more as he scanned our surroundings.

‘Someone will hear!’the satyr hissed anxiously.

Tarian clicked his tongue in irritation, but I got the feeling it was directed at the door and not Haddock.I didn’t think he’d even listened to the complaint.‘I hope it hasn’t caved in,’ he muttered, almost to himself.He put his hand to the wood, and it began to rot and crack as his magic worked, eating away at the door with an alarming speed until it was crumbling and decayed before us, revealing an opening.Tarian glanced back at us, ignoring the expression of horror on the satyr’s face.‘Right, let’s go.’

‘You did that to scare him, didn’t you?’I said as I followed him inside.

‘Maybe a little,’ he admitted, a note of mischief in his voice that I couldn’t help smiling at.I liked this side of him.I hoped that someday the chaos that we were always tangled in would fall away and that teasing, roguish side would be what I got to see the most.

The corridor beyond was pitch black and I ran my hand along the wall to help guide me.But given the crumbling state of the castle, I didn’t expect it to save me from falling on my face.I kicked rubble as I picked my way down a staircase, biting my tongue against the curses that threated to leap from it each time.By the time we reached the bottom, my toes were throbbing angrily.

‘This is it,’ Tarian said.

I looked up and gasped at what I saw.It was like something plucked from a forgotten fairy tale.Towering pillars rose from the vast pool of water that covered most of the floor, though time had worn them down, their stone surfaces chipped and crumbling.The vines that seemed determined to take over the rest of the castle snaked around the columns, their orange buds glowing softly in the darkness.The surface of the water itself was a wonder and I felt a brief sense of vertigo as I stared over it and saw the night sky perfectly mirrored, like the laws of nature had somehow reversed while we’d been descending those stairs and I was looking into the deep abyss of space.But it was just a reflection of the impossible ceiling, which was a smooth, gleaming material I might have called glass with a perfect replica of the clear, starry sky we’d left above cast across it.The starlight cast a soft glow throughout the wide cavern, but the majority of the light in the room came from tiny creatures that looked like fireflies floating lazily through the air, some hovering just above the water, some darting down to kiss the surface before rising again.It was mesmerising to watch them.

‘It’s beautiful,’ I said in awe.

‘Imagine what it would have been like when King Oberon lived,’ Haddock said, his tone mirroring my own.

‘What are they?’I asked, watching the little lights as they seemed to dance before me.They looked beautiful, but the beautiful things in this realm tended to be dangerous, as I’d found out firsthand on more than one occasion.

‘No one really knows,’ Haddock said.‘Some say spirits of the ancestors—fae that moved on to the next plane.They’re very rare, only congregate in the most sacred of places.Which is another reason we shouldn’t be here.’He shook his head vigorously.‘This was where Dhrigada ‘erself used to read the stars!It’s not for the likes of me.Do you know what she’d do to me if she knew I was meddling here?’

‘Well, you’re all we’ve got so you’d better get used to the idea,’ Tarian said.‘Or are you going to break your oath to me?’

‘No, no, no.I ain’t saying that!’Haddock squeaked in a panic.

‘It looks like this place has been abandoned for a long time, I don’t think anyone can get upset with you for using it,’ I said, trying to encourage Haddock.I hoped he’d help us.I felt like my whole life—and the life I wanted with Tarin—was dangling suspended by this stupid prophecy.I wanted to understand it.‘And you were brilliant when you helped me learn my name.’

Tarian shot me an incredulous look, and I answered by raising my brows, which seemed to keep him from bringing up the fact that I’d been practically brought back from the dead afterwards.

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