Page 10 of Welcome to Fae Cafe

“It’s just a headache.” Cress folded his arms and faced the storm.

“Hmm.” Thessalie took a hairbrush from the shelf and began stroking it through his long, golden locks. The scholar’s hair wasn’t quite as long as Cress’s, but it almost reached his waist now. “How are you feeling about the marriage arrangement?”

Cress released a grunt. “I’m relieved. After all these months, I’ll finally be able to hunt down whoever stole my memories.”

Thessalie’s brushing slowed. “Ah. So that’s what you plan to do once you ascend.”

“I’ve thought of nothing else. Once I’m bound to a mighty mate and receive the Queene’s inheritance gift, I’ll be too powerful to stop. Fairies like Bonswick will cower in my presence.”

“You’re already powerful enough without the help of a faeborn mate.” Thessalie set his brush back where it belonged and folded his wrinkled hands. “Bonswick is out of his faeborn mind. We all know it. Perhaps you should have a different goal for after you ascend to the highest throne in the Corners of Ever.”

“Second highest,” Cress corrected. “And Iwillfind out who tricked me, Thessalie. I’ll make the memory thief pay terribly.”

Thessalie sighed. “Queensbane,” he cursed. “When I agreed to be your mentor, Cressica, it was to put your birth mother at ease after she sold you to the Queene. I figured I’d be teaching you the languages of the South, not conspiring with you to fight against nobles,” he muttered. “And never in a million years did I think the Queene would force you to marry her daughter—”

“Force me?” Cress laughed. “I’ll gladly do it. I’ll smile through the ceremony and bow during the Elder’s blessings. And then I’ll own the North, and I will crush those who are trying to destroy me. If my real mother could see all that I’ve…”

Thessalie glanced over at the Prince when the sentence remained unfinished. “Could see, what?”

The silence carried on, pierced only by the rain.

Thessalie turned back toward the window. “If only she could see how dangerous you’ve become? If only she could see how the citizens of the North fear you? If only she could see how even the nobles shudder when you brush by them in the Silver Castle?”

Cress’s mouth closed.

“There are dark minds here, Prince,” Thessalie warned. “You were blessed by the deities of the sky when the Queene recognized the power in your blood and saw the weapon you could become. It’s a true miracle she made you a prince and gave you a newrealname. But don’t become like those with dark minds. I promised your mother I would keep you safe from all that.”

Cress’s gaze dropped to the golden floor tiles. “I must ensure that neither the South Corner nor the Dark Corner would dare come to war against me. You know I will do whatever is necessary to protect the Brotherhood. Even marrythat woman’sdaughter.”

“Perhaps it won’t be so dreadful being wedded to the Princess. At least Princess Haven can sing. You’ve always had a weakness for music.”

“I have no weaknesses,” Cress stated. “And I will not be swayed by her songs, no matter how lovely they are. I’ll never be ruled over by that scheming witch.”

Thessalie turned toward his pupil and opened his mouth to speak, but the door to the study burst open and three males in assassins’ black marched in. The fairies stepped into the foggy light of the paper lanterns, and Cress recognized Mor’s dark, curly hair.

When the trio parted, Queene Levress emerged from behind them. She drifted across the study. Cress’s mother-in-law to be.

The Queene’s hair was as white as snow blossoms in the dim light, giving off a sheen of innocence. But her smile undid all that was pretty about her. The High Queen of the Ever Corners carried such cruelty and savagery in her curled lips that it left only shivers in her wake.

The assassins bowed on one knee and waited for orders.

Levress stopped before Cress.

The Prince felt his heartbeat slow, his blood cool, and his shoulders tighten as though she reached her cold, pale hand right into his chest and squeezed his heart. Though Cress offered her a smile, he fought a scowl. She would cut his tongue out if he scowled.

Queene Levress’s sharp eyes cut to Thessalie like she wondered why the old scholar was there. “Prince,” she said to Cress, “I’ve come to deliver the tragic news myself.” Her white lashes glittered in the lanterns’ glow.

“Tell me your news, my Queene,” Cress said.

“A human assassin attacked us from across the gate. She killed a fairy of the North this morning. She must pay for it with her life, but I plan to wait until the new faeborn year to deal with it.”

“What?” Thessalie blanched at Cress’s side. “Ahumankilled a fairy? That hasn’t happened in a hundred faeborn years—”

“Why have you come to tell me this yourself?” Cress cut off the scholar to ask the Queene.

Queene Levress looked at him for a long while, tapping her long nails together. “Because the murdered fairy was part of your Brotherhood,” the Queene said. “He was the second son of High Lord Gwess of our North Court.”

The life drained from Cress’s chest. “Whyp…?” he whispered.

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