Page 121 of Crown of Roses
She had no idea what that meant, but now wasn’t the time to ask. There was a more pressing matter on her mind. She lifted her chin and his brow quirked, just barely. “I have something I need to tell you.”
He nodded once. “I’m listening.”
“I was raised by Carman. The sorceress who brought darkness and death upon Faeven was the same woman who bound my magic with cuffs and locked me in cage.” She swallowed, but her throat was too dry. She shoved an errant curl from her face, entirely conscious of the way he was watching her. “I’m sure you were told I killed her.”
His face was a mask of hardened stone. “I’m aware.”
“But she…before I was able to kill her, she did something.”
Clouds formed in Tiernan’s eyes, the calm before the storm. “What did she do?”
“She used my blood, she used me, to bring her sons back from the dead.” Thunder cracked around them and Maeve jumped. “Balor, Tethra, and Dian…they’re alive. She brought them back. I brought them back.”
He jerked his head. “No. You did not do this. It was against your will. And no one will hold you responsible.” But there was no mistaking the way his hands flexed, then coiled into fists. He was furious. “Where are they now?”
“I don’t know. Kells, maybe. Casimir stole me away to Suvarese before they could stop him.”
“Stop him?” The question dripped with a tone she didn’t recognize. “Why would they stop him?”
“Because I gave them life.” She could see it in his eyes, in the clench of his jaw. The way he was struggling to maintain control of his rage while simultaneously attempting to act as though nothing was wrong. “But it doesn’t matter.”
“How do you figure that?” he ground out.
“Because they answer to me.”
Tiernan’s gaze drifted over her. Up and down. “I see.”
“But, um…” Now her confidence was wavering. “It’s actually a bit worse than that.”
“I’m not sure how much worse it can get, astora.” He chuckled softly, shaking his head, and her heart skipped a beat at the use of the affectionate name again. “What could possibly be worse than the three Furies coming back from the dead?”
“Parisa.” Maeve winced and blew out a short breath. “She told me what she’s done, Tiernan. She’s raised an entire Dark Court. The Sluagh…it’s hers.”
He paled. “She what?”
“When I was being tortured, she told me she established a Dark Court. The dark fae answer to her. All of them do. All the creatures of night, the ones we thought no longer existed once they were banished from Faeven.” Maeve’s voice dropped to a whisper. “All of them.”
“Fuck.” He raked a hand through his midnight hair and his eyes darkened to such a shade, the sunlight within them nearly blinked out. “There will be another war.”
“Yes.”
“We must prepare.”
“I agree.”
“You should get some rest.”
Maeve reared back. “Telling me what to do already?”
He smirked. “Only when you let me.”
“I don’t want to rest.”
He swept his arms wide. “Then what do you want?”
Maeve looked down at her hands, where magic flowed freely and fully inside her. “I want to see what I can do.”
Tiernan nodded. “Very well. Let’s see what we’re working with.”
