Page 135 of House of Embers
Kerrigan shot him a glance. “Dozan…”
“Fine,” Fordham said. “Then take a seat. I hate you hovering.”
Dozan strode across the room, twirled a chair around next to Kerrigan, and straddled it. He leaned his arms across the back of the chair and tipped his head at the envelope. “What’s the letter?”
“A summons,” Kerrigan said.
“From the mother of the Fae,” Fordham added.
Dozan narrowed his eyes. “LikeTitania?”
“The one and only,” Kerrigan said.
“She’sreal?” Dozan asked skeptically.
“We’ve had an encounter with her before,” Fordham said.
“Why would she summon you now?”
Kerrigan shrugged. “I have no idea, but she asked for both of us.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Fordham said. “The Society forum is in a matter ofdays. If we wait, we’ll miss our opportunity for Bastian to be out of the mountain. Alura’s information was crystal clear.”
“We can’t ignore her,” Kerrigan said. She held her hands up when he looked at her suspiciously. “And I don’t say that like I want to run away from the fight. I’m here. I’ve been here since we…we put my father’s ashes in the crypt. I’m going to face Bastian in his fake forum for peace.” She swallowed hard. “But it would be reckless to ignore Titania.”
“Days,” Fordham repeated, turning away from them with a shake of his head. “We have days.”
“We can make it,” Kerrigan argued.
“I agree with Kerrigan,” Dozan said.
Fordham jerked around. “You were supposed to be the voice of reason.”
“If this is the strongest of all the Fae, you’re not ignoring her,” Dozan said. “Maybe she joins our side. Maybe she kills Bastian for us. Who knows?”
“She’s not on anyone’s side,” Fordham argued. “We had to go through trials the last time we saw her to get a boon. A summons…I don’t even know what that could mean.”
“Well, it’s not going to be rainbows and sunshine,” Kerrigan said. “But it’s going to be worse if we don’t go.”
Fordham pinched the bridge of his nose. “The timing is terrible.”
“We’re ready anyway,” Kerrigan said. She jangled her bracelet. “We can make it back in time.”
“We’ll fly,” Fordham said on a sigh. “I don’t want to use up your magic before we see her. She’s a wild card, and we have to be cautious. She could just as likely be on Bastian’s side.”
Kerrigan wrinkled her nose. “Don’t even put that energy out there.”
Dozan dusted his hands off. “Guess you can leave the war council in my hands.”
Fordham shot him a look and then laughed, a real belly-deep laugh. “Sure, Dozan. Take the war council.”
“Really?” Dozan asked skeptically.
“Let’s stop pretending like you aren’t going to be my brother-in-law by war’s end,” Fordham said as he held his hand out. Dozan eyed it and then put his hand in it. “You should probably ask her first though.”
“Who says I haven’t already?”
“Well then, do it with a ring,” Kerrigan said, pushing Dozan backward with a smile.
