Page 72 of Queen of Ever

‘Thank you.'

‘But we’ll finish this later,’ he said.Then he pressed a final, heated kiss to my lips before getting out of bed and began pulling on his clothes.

I led Tarian through the maze-like passages of the underground court, hoping that I was going the right way.Honestly, someone should have given me a map.I took one wrong turn before finding my way back to the huge open space where all the passages seemed to meet.

Ethan was leaning against a wall, an irritated look on his face.‘Finally,’ he said bitterly before striding forward.

I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask him but now didn’t seem like the time given his sour mood.We followed him silently as he led us through the clusters of makeshift gardens I’d seen children running through, though they were quiet now, the space emptier.We rounded a stone pillar to find the queen was seated in a sort of throne made of twisting branches and vines.Standing just behind her was Cassian, eyeing us warily—or perhaps just eyeing Tarian.

The queen sprung to her feet in an elegant motion and smiled at us.‘Welcome,’ she said graciously.

‘You wanted to see us?’I asked.

‘I thought a formal introduction was in order,’ she said.She made her way towards us and inclined her head to Tarian.‘I’m Queen Sylara.I appreciate you staying your hand.’

‘I wasn’t aware the lesser fae had a queen,’ Tarian said, a note of scepticism in his voice.I shot him a glare, but I couldn’t do anything to make him take the words back.Nor did I expect he would apologise for them.

‘I’m sorry—’ I began, but she waved away my words, a good-natured expression on her face.I was beginning to wonder if anything bothered her.

‘Don’t be silly,’ she said.‘We did kidnap his mate, he has every right to be sour about it.But we wouldn’t have done it if we’d thought there was another way.’

‘It seems you’ve managed to garner Imogen’s sympathy, despite what you did to her,’ Tarian said, and he clearly wasn’t happy about that, either.

‘Imogen has a kind heart,’ she said.‘It’s why Marietta suggested we ally with her in our fight for equality.’

‘And attacking the courts was part of that fight?’Tarian asked, a sharp edge to his voice.‘I lost people when you blew up the Unseelie Palace.Goodpeople.’

‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ Queen Sylara said, her voice full of sympathy.‘I can assure you, we weren’t behind those attacks, merely a convenient scapegoat.’

‘And who is it you are accusing?’Tarian demanded.I slid my hand into his, entwining our fingers, hoping to bring him some form of comfort.

‘I can’t say for certain, but we do have a theory,’ she said.I was sure Tarian would put the pieces together soon enough, if he hadn’t already.‘We’ll be meeting tomorrow to discuss how to proceed now that things are in motion.I hope you will join us for that, Tarian.’

Tarian didn’t answer immediately.Instead, he looked at me for a long moment before finally letting out a sigh.‘I will hear you out.For Imogen.’

‘That’s all we ask,’ the queen said, smiling brightly again.I wasn’t entirely sure if Tarian would be convinced to help the lesser fae, but at least he was willing to listen.‘And in the meantime, you’re welcome to explore.Our home isn’t a palace, it’s true, but there is plenty here worth fighting for if you’ll only look for it.’

Cassian made a strangled noise in the back of his throat, but Sylara ignored him.We did as she suggested, wandering around the underground hideout for the better part of the evening with Cassian trailing along at a distance, clearly not as trusting as the queen was in letting us find our way around.The rebels were a wash of lesser fae, human changelings and half breeds, and the evening hour saw many of them gathering in groups around small cooking fires or sitting in sewing circles or telling children stories.They often fell quiet as we passed, but we were quiet too, quieter and quieter the more we saw.I noted how Tarian seemed to sink deeper into his thoughts, feeling further and further away even as his hand stay entwined with mine.His expression was as guarded as ever, but I thought maybe I could figure out a little of what he was thinking, perhaps visible in the subtle frown as we came across a group of winged children played a clapping game in a tiny dugout decorated with swathes of coloured fabric, or in the way he stopped to help a bent old creature with drooping, pointed ears to carry a heavy pot full of a sweet-smelling stew.Perhaps I could figure it out because my thoughts were running along the same lines.

And then we saw the group of fae taking inventory of weapons, laying out swords and daggers and bows along the ground.Preparing to defend this strange underground world.

‘So, you’re going to teach me to use my magic,’ I said as we watched.

And there was no mention of leaving, no trying to convince me that we needed to get out before it was too late.

‘Tomorrow morning,’ he agreed.

Chapter 29

Tarian

We’dventuredabovegroundto work magic.The rebels had been resistant to the idea, but when I pointed out that trying to waken a kind of magic that we didn’t know much about with tonnes of rock and earth above us, ready to fall in, was not the safest idea, they’d relented.They’d still sent protection with us, though, which was a confused gesture.Who were they protecting and from what?Imogen from me?The both of us from the kingdoms that we were part of?

The fae they sent with us seemed just as confused about this as I was, content enough to mill about near the entrance to the lesser court when I asked them to give us some space.All except Cassian, who seemed set on clinging to us like a bad smell.He stood leaning against a nearby tree, arms folded, glowering.But despite his presence, it was calm and cool here on the bank of the Sunder where a cluster of willows stood weeping into the water.

‘So, how do I start?’Imogen asked.She was sitting cross-legged before me on a patch of mossy ground, dappled sunlight flitting over her.‘You’re not going to tell me to meditate, are you?’she continued, wrinkling her nose.

‘Is that what they had you do in the Summer Palace?’

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