Page 60 of Flight of Fate

“Plus, there’s the personal vendetta against you,” Royad chimes in, gesturing at Myron and me. “At least, those rogue Crows will follow him in his mad desire to rule the world. The Flames, too, I assume if what we assume is right and Jeseida had groomed him as her heir after Sariell’s death.”

None of us likes to be reminded of the tangled conglomerate of reasons why Ephegos will get more support than he deserves.

Kaira bobs her head. “The Flames have more reason to attack than Tavras does. Even when Ephegos is a Crow, he’s managed to bring them all over to his side, fueling the belief that it’s Carius’s heir who deserves to be punished for the Crows taking their home in the first place.”

Sanja’s groan of frustration draws all our eyes, and I’m not surprised to find her rolling her own eyes. “This is like Cyrill all over again.”

I have no idea who Cyrill is, but Rogue, Tori, and Clio nod in unison, grimacing at the mere mention of that name.

“Long story,” Sanja dismisses my unvoiced question. “Perhaps another time, after we send Ephegos behind Eroth’s veil and freeze those flame-spitting Fire Fairies over.”

For a heartbeat, I think Kaira will be offended, but she murmurs her approval, meeting my gaze as she probably reads my thoughts all over again.“Don’t worry about me, sis. That tiny spark of fire that I hold isn’t nearly enough to make me a real Flame. I’d rather consider myself a normal fairy.”

“We’ll need more troops—human, Crow, or fairy—to balance out Tavras’s advantage of the drug.” Rubbing her hand over the side of her stomach where the baby is kicking again, she slides a bit higher in her seat. “I’d go to Jezuin myself if the little one wasn’t tormenting me day and night.”

The horror in Rogue’s eyes isn’t fake at all. He knows she means it. The Queen of Askarea wouldn’t shy away from the risk of leaving the palace if it meant she could protect her family. “I’ll go. I’m certain Dimar II won’t deny me if I ask in your name.” There’s doubt in his voice, as if he has a history of being greeted with distrust and malevolence in the human lands.

“Perhaps, I should go,” Tori offers. “Between the three of us, I do speak diplomacy the best.”

Clio’s wild hair showers over her shoulder in a spray of copper as she shakes her head. “Guarantee they’ll be intimidated out of their wits is all you’d do.” Ignoring the curious expression on her mate’s face, she presses a kiss to his cheek, an offer of consolation. “Nothing against you, Tori, but Dimar II would shit himself.”

Both Herinor and Silas chuckle, and Myron steps around the chair to perch beside me on the rolled armrest. “Could you site-hop Sanja to Jezuin?” he suggests. “If she’s the most likely to get a positive response out of the King of Cezux, then perhaps she should go.”

Rogue has murder in his eyes as he stands up from his chair and explains to Myron, voice so cold I involuntarily shiver, “I won’t risk the pregnancy to site-hop Sanja around like an emissary. She’s no longer human but not a full fairy either. Even with immortality gifted by the Guardians, our healers sometimes don’t understand all of her physique. Site-hopping is dangerous for a born fairy. If you believe I’ll play games with my mate’s and my child’s health for this war, think again.”

For a long moment, no one speaks, tension building in the air until it’s hard to breathe. Only when Sanja places a hand on Rogue’s arm, guiding him back into his seat, does the Fairy King seem to remember we’re not enemies.

“Touchy subject,” Clio comments, dissipating the rest of that uncomfortable prickle in the air. “Sanja is staying home. Besides, if the Cezuxian throne responds better to round-eared creatures, perhaps we should bring some of our rebel friends. I’m sure Andraya would do well negotiating support in this war.”

“For Tavras,” I remind her. “The rebels are only interested in Tavras. I doubt they’d call for aid to support Askarea.” Much as the rebels burn for their mission, it is limited to my homelands, and I doubt they’d offer to defend the fairylands even if the queen they want to see on the Tavrasian throne was the one to ask for their support. “And I’ll gladly go if it means I could buy us a chance at support.”

“We should at least try.” Kaira cocks her head at Herinor’s remark. It’s the first time I’ve caught her openly looking him in the eye since that day in the dungeon.

If only the two of them could get over themselves—Kaira over her grudge and distrust and Herinor over that sense of being unworthy of my sister—they would make a formidable front our enemies would tremble before. But it’s not up to me to push them toward each other when I understand Kaira’s reasons for caution all too well. I saw the memories Herinor shared, saw themale he used to be and the choices that brought him to this point of being the slave of a deal that might one day destroy us all. So I keep my mouth shut and my opinions to myself.

Checking my mental shield so Kaira can’t listen in on my thoughts, I rest my hand in Myron’s open one, glad to have someone to share the burden of this war. Maybe, one day, Kaira will have someone, too. Maybe it will be Herinor; maybe it won’t.

The sideways glance Kaira shoots in my direction informs me she pushed past the shield anyway, and the way the corner of her mouth is twitching upward is a sign I might not be all wrong about my hopes.

“I’ll go with you to see Andraya and Pouly,” she tells me instead of commenting on my thoughts. “Plus, we should bring some of the handsome males as well. I know Andraya will be more receptive to our ideas with a pretty face in her presence when we deliver the news.”

Herinor’s shoulders straighten an inch, but it’s Tori who speaks first. “I’ll site-hop you there today,” he offers, much to Clio’s dismay, who lifts a brow, patting her mate’s bicep.

“She saidprettymales.”

The snort laugh pushing through Herinor’s nose earns him a sharp glance from Kaira. “That’s whyyou’re not coming either.”

That wipes the grin right off Herinor’s face, but Silas steps forward, smooth as a fox, resting his hands on the hilt of the hatchet he never leaves his bedroom without these days. “I believe Andraya was particularly impressed with Royad.”

All eyes turn to the male, who shrinks an inch where he still stands behind my chair.

Myron ignores that Royad is opening his mouth to protest, gesturing at the fairies in the room then the room in general. “I’ll need you here to continue working on a strategy to defeat Erina’s armies. With Ephegos in the lead and that damned drug at theirdisposal, we need to find an edge they don’t expect, or there will no longer be a Crow Court.”

A respectful dip of Royad’s chin tells me he knows Myron relies on him to find that edge and that he’ll do whatever it takes not to disappoint his king.

“Besides the pretty males,” Silas cuts off the brief silence, “we’ll need some muscle on our journey to Cezux, just to make sure our queen and her sister won’t run into trouble.” He gestures at himself and Herinor.

The glance the latter gives Kaira tells all sorts of stories about how he wisheshewas that trouble for her.

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