Page 87 of The Curse of a Kingdom
Now, that piqued her interest. “The Crows don’t monitor you as much as in other kingdoms?”
“We are the only kingdom in which the king possesses magic greater than the most powerful Crow.”
“The prince was once a Crow,” Nava commented.
“And now they have lost him.” Fael’s brows deepened into a frown. “We didn’t know he was there, rumors of one of our kind being spotted in other kingdoms wearing black and blue. It could have been anyone.”
They walked in silence, and her mind hoarded all the new information. She wished her room wasn’t so close so she had more time to get answers.
“The Crows are less inclined to come searching for people here and avoid confrontation with us, just like we do with them.” Fael let go of a tired breath and rubbed his prominent brows. “A while back, the king signed a new arrangement with the Society. To maintain amicable terms, they were to keep their quarters here and still hidden; in return, they would make themselves scarce from the kingdom.”
“So this group, are they upset about it enough to burn a forest?”
“Oh, yes, but they are a minority. The rest of our citizens understand that one king and his army can't battle the Society if they rile up the other three kingdoms against us.”
Arkimedes’s mother had to have known the crown was less likely to search for him if he was part of the Society. So why leave him in an orphanage instead of leaving him with them and staying herself?
From what Arkimedes had told her, the Crows didn’t take people who didn’t volunteer, and the young they took were homeless magical beings. The queen would have been recognized by them, and they wouldn’t have taken the child of a royal. Leaving him in an orphanage, knowing he would develop magical traits like no other, meant direct transference to the Crows, without the Copper Kingdom ever being the wiser. Had Arkimedes thought of that?
Both their mothers had been masterminds of their own plots with their children's lives. Nava’s mother had cursed Arkimedes so he couldn’t come to Willowbrook and get close to her, time that had turned into a decade. Then had gotten herself killed by his magic in return and had left a notebook behind with answers for whenever Nava felt like asking questions.
Which was why she was determined to ask as many questions as possible. Still, she didn’t understand why the queen would want to escape and leave her child to strangers, to suffer as a misfit for life.
Fael’s voice took her out of her musings. “Our kingdom is more of a mixed-race population. In the last few decades, humans have been growing angry against the fae.”
Not a shocker. “Does this have anything to do with the obvious animosity that exists from the fae toward the human?”
“The question is, what came first, the chicken or the egg? Tonight the king has demanded that I escort you and your fiancé for dinner.”
The change of subject gave her whiplash. She guessed Fael didn’t want to talk about the subject any longer. Nava tightened her fists, feeling the sharp sting of her nails biting her skin and the soft buzz of her magic coming alive. She didn’t want to be anywhere near the king, especially now that there was this rift between Ark and her.
It was easier to direct her anger toward the man who had kidnapped her soulmate, instead of her own faults.
Fael swatted near his face, and it took her a while to recognize he was trying to get rid of a bee. She let go of a deep breath and called her insect off.
“Is this a casual affair, where the king might murder Devon and me without Ar—Prince Orion being around?”
Fael looked around, alarmed, and then lowered his face to her as he hissed, “Be quiet or you will get yourself killed, for real.” He straightened. “But no, the prince will be there. You just have to be ready before sundown.”
“Fine.”
The beautiful archway of her bedroom door came into view, and she dreaded the loss of information about the queen and whatever was happening with the fires.
Ever since the solstice, it had been eating at her about why the women of the king’s concubines were all Dark Ones. Fael had been disappointed about this.
“I have another minor question,” she said with a voice she hoped sounded neutral and small. He turned to her, his lips set into a sharp line. “It’s about the king’s women. I’m just curious because I never knew they were once part of the Royal Guards.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Were you involved with one of them?” Ugh, why did her brain keep doing this to her?
“I beg your pardon?”
“In a relationship, perhaps . . . with one of the cohorts?”
His face fell. “Wow, you humans do know how to ask inappropriate questions.”
Nava took a shaky breath, her cheeks warming with embarrassment. “It’s not all humans, it’s me. I have a problem with curiosity and lack of a mouth filter.”
