Page 55 of The Lord of the Labyrinth

“Does she get lonely?” the boy asked. “The Flower Fairy?”

“I believe that is why she brings the young Shining Ones to her home to give them gifts. It banishes her occasional melancholy away. And she was certainly there to aid me in the same way. She could often chase my sorrows away whenever I missed my brother and mother.”

“Andme,” Rath added with a wicked wink. Eudora’s heart skipped a painful beat as she saw the heat in his eyes conveying a promise that both excited and frightened her.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Rath, surely you have somethingelseto occupy you.” She was not in the mood to be teased. Fear of an approaching war with the Seelie had most of the Twilight Court on edge. As a Fae who took in the energy of those around her, she was weakened by their fears and anxieties. It didn’t help that those who would seek to take Roan’s place were now vying for loyalty amongst the courtiers.

The presence of the human child was a welcome distraction from her worries. His bright-eyed hope and keen interest in her world refreshed her. When the palace brownie Babbitt had brought the boy to her, she had been annoyed at first, and then she’d felt the boy’s energy and it soothed her. Human children carried a type of magic that did not exist in the Fae realm.

“Now, let me tell you about the Holly King?—”

Eudora halted her tale as a will-o’-the-wisp flitted into the room, glowing brightly.

Rath eyed the wisp warily. Roan and Eudora both held the loyalty of the wisps, which provided light to the residents of the palace, but Rath didn’t trust the watchful little creatures as much as she did.

Eudora held out a hand to the wisp, which drifted down to land in her palm.

“What have you seen, little wisp?” she asked.

Within its glow, she saw a vision of the mortal Roan had taken as his pet. According to the palace pixies, she was wandering the labyrinth, where Roan visited her, but the vision this wisp presented showed the woman in the palace. The dungeons, to be precise. How on earth had she gotten there?

Rath crouched beside Eudora and gazed into the light over her shoulder. “I wager that Roan has no idea his little pet is in the palace,” he said so only Eudora could hear him.

“Is that Kate?” Caden asked, also staring at the vision within the wisp’s glow.

“Yes. It would seem your sister has returned to the palace.”

The child got to his feet, grinning. “Iknewshe’d solve the labyrinth. I knew it.”

“So it would seem,” Eudora said reluctantly. “Though I would imagine that if she had, Roan would be with her, because he would have to bring her here from the center of the labyrinth. But he is not with her. Instead, I see her in the dungeons alone. Weeping.” Why was the human woman weeping? She was not trapped in one of the cells.

“She’s crying?” Caden’s voice pitched in alarm. “Is she hurt? Did Roan hurt her?”

“What? No. Roan would never hurt your sister. But I can’t understand why she’s in the dungeons.”

At this, the boy’s eyes widened. “Because I was there. I was in a cell when he sent Kate away to the labyrinth. She doesn’t know that he brought me to you after she left.”

Eudora tapped her chin, thinking. “So she hasn’t spoken to Roan. Somehow, she got back into the palace and found her way to the dungeons without passing Roan’s challenge directly.” Eudora was quite impressed. “Clever creature. Would you like to see her?”

Caden nodded eagerly.

“Then we shall devise a way for you to see her without my brother finding out,” she told the boy.

Caden beamed at her and Rath. “Really?”

“Really?” Rath said in a very different tone, one full of skepticism.

“Yes, really,” said Eudora.

“Princess, now isn’t the time to anger your brother,” Rath said, his tone filled with warning.

“I shall notangerhim because he shall not find out. Instead, I will please him by distracting his anxious royal court with a ball. We haven’t had a true one of those in years.”

Rath rolled his eyes. “Oh yes, that will bejustwhat Roan wants when we are on the eve of war. Why on earth do you think this is a good idea?”

Eudora lifted her golden skirts and stood. “Don’t you see? A ball will keep Roanawayfrom the palace. He does so despise such things.”

Rath raised an eyebrow but conceded her point.

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