Page 63 of A Court of Hearts and Hunger
I slide my hand along Clara’s waist, pressing my side along hers. “I should have prepared you for her. Told you what to expect. Though to be honest, I wasn’t sure how she would be, after everything. She has always been—scattered. Prone to hallucinations and dramatic shifts in temper, as well.”
“It’s all right.” Clara’s body yields, curving against mine. She’s watching Ygraine dance along the shadowed edges of the tower chamber. “Honestly, Fin, I think she’s rather charming. I can see why you loved her.”
“I never said I—”
“But you did love her, in a way. I can tell.” She turns to me, reaches up to stroke my face the way she sometimes does. If there is any jealousy in her heart, it doesn’t show in her brown eyes. The only thing I see is compassion and a love so deep I could drown in it.
“You said it to her, didn’t you?” Clara whispers. “You told her you loved her.”
My lips pull back, baring my teeth, and my claws emerge. “Maybe.”
“And then terrible things happened.”
I hiss through my teeth, a wordless admission.
Clara’s expression shifts a little. Wavers. “Now that you know she’s alive, do you still—”
I clasp her face carefully between my hands, and I bend so I can breathe the truth in her ear. “No, sugar. When I said there was only you, I meant it. I have never been so entwined, so enchanted with anyone. Not in all my long life. You have nothing to fear.”
And I mean every word, with all my heart.
18
Fin’s words, his tender touch, and the look in his eyes are exactly the reassurance I need. The impulse to kiss him is so strong I can barely resist it. But I must. I can’t go into the Dread Court with his scent on me. I need to charm the Queen and the White Rabbit’s friend.
But first, I need to talk to Louisa. The lack of response from her and Lir worries me.
“So how does this ligation mirror work?” I ask.
“When you use it, you can speak to someone of your blood. A family member,” Fin explains. “Your face will appear in a reflective surface near them, and if they touch it, you’ll be able to see and hear each other. All you need to do is dab a little blood on the mirror’s surface and think of the person with whom you wish to speak.”
“I have a sister and parents,” says Ygraine. “Far, far away on a ship in the sea. They’re pirates, you know. I made all their hats. They’re the only reason I keep that trinket.” She twirls away, humming.
“And it activates with blood.” I bite my lip until I taste salt, and then I swipe my fingertip across the sore spot and press it to the mirror, thinking of my sister.
A ripple passes over the mirror’s surface, and a hazy view appears. I squint at it, trying to identify the shapes and surfaces, but everything is too indistinct.
“It won’t clarify until she touches your image.” Fin drapes himself over a half-rotted wooden chair nearby. He produces a lollipop from nowhere and puts it in his mouth. The shape of his pink lips around the lollipop stick is distracting, and when he notices me staring, he grins around it, his dark lashes dipping lower over his golden eyes.
“Shut up,” I mutter, trying to hide a smile.
He flutters his lashes. “I didn’t say anything.”
I refocus on the mirror in my hands, just in time to see a figure moving closer. Louisa’s face comes into clearer focus, though I still can’t make out her surroundings very well. She’s a little paler than usual, and her golden hair is a mass of frizzy curls.
“Clara?” Her voice is slightly garbled, but it clarifies as she continues speaking. “Clara, is that you? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Are you? You and Lir didn’t reply to a message from the palace. It was sent a few days ago.”
She shakes her head. “We didn’t receive a message. What was it about?”
I don’t want to tell her about Drosselmeyer, the kidnapped human girl, and the book. She would ask too many questions. Fin’s right—we’re too far into this for Lir and Louisa to stop us—but I don’t want to worry her. “Finias and I wanted to know if Lir has received any intelligence from his spies lately, about what’s going on in the Unseelie kingdom. The new Queen is destroying her own people, Louisa. She’s awful. Eats the hearts of her courtiers and guests, turns them into monsters—”
“That’s terrible. Lir has mentioned something about it a few weeks ago, but he didn’t share many details.”
“Fin has sources that the crown might not have access to. I think Lir needs to investigate this more thoroughly. Maybe even interfere and help the Unseelie depose their Queen, before her wickedness spreads to our kingdom. Lir could just turn into a dragon and fly over the border and—”
“It’s not that simple,” Louisa interjects. “Where is Sugarplum?”
