Page 5 of House of Embers
All eyes turned to the dowager queen. “I wouldn’t be opposed,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at Fordham.
Which was an understatement. Viviana had been trying to get her claws into Fordham while she had been married to his father. But as a Blanchard and the dowager queen, she was someone the people already recognized.
Fordham drummed his fingers against the table. He never once glanced at his father’s widow, only around at his subjects: Barron, who looked as if he wanted to be the one marrying the queen and taking Fordham’s place; René, who seemed genuine about his concerns; Celeste, who might have put her own hat in the ring if she thought it would get her a seat on a throne. Then finally, he looked to Kerrigan. Their eyes met and her heart skipped a beat.
“What do you think?” His face was somber, but his eyes were sparking with mischievous danger.
“That this has gone on long enough.”
He nodded once. Then he took her left hand in his and placed a kiss on the finger that held his mother’s ring. “My queen.”
Viviana snorted. “You’d defile these halls with that leatha?”
Kerrigan didn’t even have time to sneer at the racial slur that meant, generously, half-breed bitch, because Fordham reacted on a hair trigger. His black shadows erupted into the room. Not the trickle he’d had before they’d landed in Domara, been sold into slavery, and entered into a gladiator tournament but the roar that he had now that their mating bond had been connected through the Daijan bond, which allowed them to share powers. His magic was now magnified by her own immense power.
The room went dark. A pitch-black nothingness that sent screams into the room. It was choking and oppressive, like beingdipped in inky, suffocating smoke. Like there would never be light again.
Even though Kerrigan could never fear something that came from Fordham ever again, even though the shadows were as much at her command now as his, even though the fear was intoxicating in its own way, she still felt the weight in the gesture.
This was pain magnified. And Fordham should have been able to control his shadows better. His reaction was an outburst that they couldn’t afford unless they wanted to take this throne a different way.
So she put her hand on Fordham’s shoulder. At the touch, she felt something release, and the darkness receded enough to bring back the light.
His shadows still writhed across his extended arm, which was pointed at Viviana, who was choking in the corner. Black smoke encircled her throat, lifting her off her feet. His face was hard and unyielding, the dark prince he’d had to be for so long to survive this court. He was that male no longer, and Kerrigan hated to see it on him, even in defending her.
“I can fight my own battles,” she told him.
He ground his teeth together. It seemed like he didn’t want to control his outburst. He wanted to snuff the life out of this sniveling female who had sold out his kingdom and insulted his love. No one would stop him. In fact, most would revel in it. To gain power in the House of Shadows, you had to take it. But Kerrigan didn’t want to know what it would do to him afterward.
“Fordham,” she said in an insistent tone.
His shadows dropped, and Viviana fell with them. She landed on her hands and knees, gasping for breath. Tears streamed down her perfectly made-up face. Red marks ringed her neck, and claw marks from her scratching at the invisible shadow bonds were visible.
“In case you didn’t know,” Kerrigan said evenly, “that isn’t a word we use in polite company.”
Viviana glared up at her. But she knew better than to insult her again. At least that lesson had been learned…for now.
Kerrigan placed her hands on the table and addressed the room. “The real threat is out there.” She pointed away from the House of Shadows and the Dark Court and Ravinia Mountain. “It’s inside Draco Mountain, inside the heart of the Society. The Red Masks have infiltrated and taken over the government. They’re killing people and removing the magic of any humans or half-Fae who have it. I realize that you don’t care about them, about anyone like me, but the Red Masks are the same people who don’t want you to have a seat at the table, the same ones who stripped you of your rights, andIwas the only one there defending you.”
The Fae looked skeptical of this. They looked back and forth between Kerrigan and Fordham as if this were some trick.
“Fordham had already left to remove the curse on the Ollivier line. I had to renounce my place with the House of Shadows or else not become a Society member. But when they gave me that option, I made them stop and think about the choice they had made with you. I had been within your walls. I knew the hold the thousand-year barrier put on your people, and I was the one who took it down, not Wynter.” She pointed at the princess, who nodded her agreement. “I did that. I helped your king remove his curse. I fought for your rights. And I am still here.” She lifted her chin. “Me. The half-Fae, the leatha that upsets your sensibilities. I’m the one fighting for House Charbonnet, and I’m going to be the one married to your king. You can accept that now, or you can be on the losing side of history.”
Silence followed her declaration. It was a risk speaking to the nobility like this. They had spent far too long hating people like her, but she had to put it all out there, and she couldn’t hide behind Fordham forever. She could have told them about the shadows she now controlled, about the fact that she wasn’t half-human at all but what the gods called a Fae-touched demi-Doma—half-Fae, half-god—or thatshe could open portals at will. But none of that would make them respect her, only fear her.
She’d try for respect first, and if it came to it, she’d take their fear.
“As you say,” René finally said with a slight bob of his head.
Viviana looked like she wanted to run him through with a sword, but she was still panting and desperate on the ground.
“My queen.” Barron offered Viviana a hand. “No pretty speeches are going to change my mind.”
Viviana took his hand and came to her feet. “Blanchard and Laurent are united in this.” Then she let Barron escort her out.
The rest of the Fae assembled watched as the line was drawn in the sand. It wasn’t clear which side those still in the room were on, but if it was Fordham’s power that kept them in line, then so be it.
Kerrigan knew this was only a first step, that it was all far from over. But they had won today.
