Page 24 of A Deception of Courts

He didn’t trust us, and truthfully, I don’t think the fey trusted him either. But I was trying, for Duncan.

“Perhaps you’ll be more successful in getting him to rest than me,” I said, offering a smile that was not returned.

Kayne’s lip curled over his teeth, only slightly. I blinked, and his stoic expression returned. “You may think you need to tell me how to care for him, but you don’t. I have been by his side far longer than you. Remember that.”

I swallowed my words as Kayne stalked away from me. Looking around the cabin, I wondered if anyone else had heard. Althea had already drifted up to the main deck with Flanor, and if Seraphine had overheard, she showed no sign.

It took everything in my power not to look at Kayne as I walked away. As I reached the door, Seraphine blocked me. “Haven’t you forgotten something?”

Seraphine tipped her head toward the grand desk that waited back in the cabin’s heart. “If you are to meet with the humans, do so as youtrulyare.”

There was an underbelly of discomfort when she spoke. As my eyes fell upon the item she spoke about, a bitter touch of ice spread over my spine.

The Icethorn crown sat within the open-lidded box. Elinor had made sure it was sent with the ships to collect us. Physically, it was worthless to our cause. But as a symbol, it meant everything. I last had it in the Cedarfall Court, so it must have been provided by Queen Lyra.

I had brought it with me to see Duncan, allowing it to become an afterthought the moment my eyes had settled upon him. Now, it was the brightest thing in the room.

“Feels like part of a costume,” I admitted. “A rather pivotal accessory though, I can’t deny.”

“Dare I ask why?” she asked, pursing her lips.

“Because I don’t deserve it.” I turned my back on the crown and moved to leave, only to be stopped by Seraphine’s firm hand upon my arm. “But clearly Elinor knows that wearing it will only solidify my authority around so many who may still not trust me.”

“Oh, swallow your self-pity, Robin, and put the damn thing on,” Seraphine scolded. “I am the last person who cares about titles and crowns, but what you have achieved is not something to be dismissed. And what you are going to continue to do suggests, even to me, that you are a king.”

I held her stare until she dropped my arm.

“I’ve paid you to say this to me,” I reminder her.

“Oh,” she replied with a laugh. “I may do many things for payment, but lying is never one of them. Even you couldn’t offer me something for the use of that skill.”

“That’s a comforting thought,” I replied, slipping the silver-toothed metal upon my head. The crown fit perfectly. The cold kiss of metal flattened my blue-black hair down to my scalp and rested just above my ears.

“Glad to have been of service.” Seraphine slapped my shoulder and looked me up and down with an expression I’d not seen on her before. I didn’t have time to place it before she was moving.

CHAPTER 8

The tension in the dimly lit cabin was so thick that each inhale felt like breathing in mud. The small circle of candlelight was only enough to illuminate the three winged humans sitting on one side of the table and the three of us on the other.

“I speak for us all when I thank you for accepting our appeal for a meeting,” Rafaela said, sitting straight in the backless chair that gave room for her folded grey wings behind her. Since having our interaction out on the ice I’d conjured across the sea, Rafaela hadn’t changed out of her gold-hemmed robes of white. Rafaela’s sleeveless tunic exposed arms crafted from defined muscle. She kept her hands joined and rested on the table before her. “And of course, our expressed and utmost sincere apology for what has occurred today. Of course, words are meaningless without action, so we have arranged for any supplies lost in the sinking of one of your ships to be reimbursed and provided at the end of this meeting.”

“Thank you,” I said, meaning it wholeheartedly. “Perhaps we can begin by discussing who or, pardon my rudeness, what exactly you are? As you can imagine, we are a little confused as to what exactly is happening.” I tried to keep my face void of expression that would soon betray me and the discomfort I felt being in the presence of such powerful and unknown creatures.

“An understandable question. One of many I can imagine you have.” Rafaela rolled her shoulders back, enticing her wings to shiver for a moment. “Although we can’t blame you for your lack of knowledge. We were warned that this realm has forgotten of our existence, so your ignorance was expected. It would seem the lack of belief runs deep in both the fey and the humans.”

“Answer the question,” Althea added, speaking before I could utter a similar sentiment. “Please.”

“Altar was not the only god to make beings in his image. It was clear the humans would not stand a chance against the power of the fey, in case they turned their power against them. So, the Creator crafted warriors of his own. We are known as Nephilim. Our purpose is to spread His word and protect it, no matter the cost.”

“Angels,” I said.

“Ah, so the knowledge has not been completely lost?” Rafaela asked.

“Not by everyone,” I replied, aware of my friends side-eyeing me. “There was once a pious man who mentioned angels. I didn’t believe him at the time, but I do now.”

“Nephilim, angels,” Seraphine barked, seemingly the most relaxed out of the three of us. Her boots were moments from resting on the glass-topped table as she slouched down in her seat. “Never heard of you.”

“And that is precisely the problem,” Rafaela confirmed, hardly caring for the assassin’s presence. “Our kind were dismissed from your realms many moons ago. So many that even the moon itself has forgotten about us.”

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