Page 4 of With Wing And Claw

Everyone of importance to the Alliance … except for the one little demon Thysandra would give an arm and a leg to avoid.

She was pretty sure it was relief, that tense, sinking feeling in her lower stomach.

The alves wasted no time ushering her and the other fae forward, through the glaring, hissing crowd, closer to where the Mother’s throne had towered over the hall in better times. It had vanished now, and in its place a crumbling hole gaped in the marble floor – large enough to offer a glimpse into the hollow, blue-glowing cavity that had always slumbered below the foundations of the castle.

The Labyrinth.

Her heart went cold. Surely the Alliance wasn’t planning to sacrifice their captives to whatever unholy magic lived in the underground maze beneath the court?No harm, Agenor had said, but then again, even Agenor had lied before.

It was only then, as muffled curses and hisses of spite went up among the ranks of her fellow prisoners, that she realised she’d overlooked the biggest problem of all before her.

Emelin.

Daughter of Agenor’s house, godsworn mage, and worst of all, new High Lady of the fae empire.

The girl still looked so deceptively fragile to the casual eye, the way she was standing there at the back of the hall – short and wingless and wearing a blue dress with so little red in it that it might be a deliberate insult to the rest of the gathered company. But Thysandra had seen her look harmless before, stumbling through this very hall in nothing but a nightdress and a coat, spinning doe-eyed flattery at the Mother with artful courtier’s skill … and there was something in the smile on her face now, in the tilt of her head and the path of her green eyes over the rows of chained fae, that was nothing less than a deadly warning.

Perhaps it was that look that stifled the grumbling among the ranks of the prisoners within moments. Alternatively, it was the black-haired, black-winged fae male by her side, who stood lounging against the damaged wall among small heaps of bones and could nothave looked harmless if he’d tried.

Not that he appeared to be trying.

Thysandra hastily averted her gaze, swallowing something bitter. Defeat was one thing. Being defeated by Creon bloody Hytherion, who’d first robbed her of the Mother’s love and then gone forth to betray the both of them … that was another level of hurt entirely. She wasn’t yet sure what to make of his claim that the Mother had in fact abandonedhim, too – and surrounded by vengeful enemies and allies she was hoping wouldn’t notice her, this seemed an exceptionally bad moment to start thinking harder about it.

Better to stay numb and invisible. She could feel and wonder later.

A ripple of excitement spread through the crowd as Agenor reappeared, black snake wrapped around his shoulders now, his largest red snake slithering after him as he made his way to where his daughter and son-in-law were standing. A few quick words were all they exchanged. Then the former Lord Protector nodded and ambled off, joining Allie and her half fae friend on the other side of the hall; around him, the humans hastily ceased their hacking, and the phoenix fires sizzled out at once.

Eager, expectant silence flooded the hall. As if every last human knew exactly what they were waiting for, except no one had informed—

‘Thank you,’ Emelin’s dry voice rose, the sound echoing back from the marred walls and ceiling. ‘Lovely to see you all gathered here. There are a few things I’d like to say before we all return to the far more pleasant order of the day.’

She wasn’t even speaking Faerie.

Standing in the heart of faekind, speaking as the High Lady of all fae, and yet she was blatantly rejecting even thelanguageof the empire she’d just inherited – using a human dialect instead, likely the language of the island on which she’d grown up. Thysandra didn’t need to look up to know what the fae around her thought of it; the whispers of outrage told her more than enough even while she stubbornly kept her eyes trained on the floor around her boots.

‘First, the formalities,’ Emelin continued, unfazed – soundingamused, if anything. It took a mighty effort not to look up and see the expression on her face. ‘I’m officially claiming my positionas your new High Lady, having killed the previous one, et cetera, et cetera – I’ve been told I ought to give all of you a chance to dispute the claim, so here we are. Does anyone wish to offer any objections, challenges, or other attempts to make life harder for themselves? If so, this would be the perfect moment to let me know.’

Deafening silence settled over the hall, as if even breathing too loudly might be taken as an act of rebellion.

Thysandra glanced up anyway, in spite of all her wiser intentions – too tense to keep herself blind to her surroundings when even the sounds no longer gave any hints of possible dangers approaching. To either side of her, clenched fists and tight wings suggested shouts barely kept inside … but Agenor’s eyes had narrowed to a threat on the other side of the hall, and against the back wall, Creon was smiling with saintly sweetness as he leisurely turned a knife around between his fingers.

Five, then ten seconds of breathless paralysis ticked by.

‘That’s settled, then.’ Emelin’s beaming smile at the prisoners was too bright to be sincere. ‘I’m glad you’re as thrilled as I am. In that case, since you have so trustingly placed your empire in my hands, I would like to make use of this heart-warming occasion to announce a couple of decisions I’ve made.’

Tared stifled a chuckle behind Thysandra’s back.

‘First of all’ – an edge of disconcerting hardness snuck into their new High Lady’s voice all of a sudden – ‘effective immediately, the empire relinquishes its control over all islands not inhabited by a majority of fae. Taxation and tribute obligations are ending as of this moment, too. For your convenience, let’s just say I’m handing over the authority to whoever was in power before the Mother’s invasion, or to whoever inherits that power according to local customs. Then all of you can sort out for yourself who those lucky rulers might be, alright?’

A few muffled cheers and breathless peals of laughter rose from among the crowd, although most of the audience remained quiet and motionless. They must have known this was coming; even the few nymph queens dabbing away their tears didn’t seem particularly surprised.

‘Second of all,’ Emelin added, her smile at the horde of humans much more genuine than her previous one had been, ‘all human slaves living at the Crimson Court are free to go. I’ll figure out how to remove your bindings to the island later today, and of course we’ll have a few alves available to return you all to your homes as efficiently as possible.’

The cheers were louder this time. Close by, the first disconcerted mumbles rose among the fae prisoners – thousands of servants, their quiet work in the background of crucial importance to the daily operations of the court …

One of the alves snapped a warning, and the grumbling died away again, leaving only thin-lipped glares behind.

‘Thirdly,’ Emelin continued, a little louder now to reach over the elated whispers of the newly freed humans, ‘and perhaps most importantly, I have decided to split up the empire.’