Page 38 of Forbidden Obsession
“It’s a draft. If too many of you side with humans, it could turn the tides of power. Fae need mixlings on our side. That’s not so secret.”
“Isn’t it? I’m from farther north where it’s fifty-fifty whether or not the people believe the revolt in the south is happening.”
This does seem to surprise her. “Really? They don’t know?”
I nod. “It’s easier to pretend when it’s not in front of your face. It’s different here. Everyone acts as if the brewing war is common knowledge.”
“It is.”
My stomach lurches at her simple honesty. At what those two words mean. No matter how often I hear talk of war getting batted around as if it might really happen, it’s no less a punch in the gut now. But from the lips of Princess Suvi? It’s like I’ve been hit by a battering ram.
“When?”
“Soon. Will you fight?”
My head shakes without permission from my brain. No. I won’t hurt humans. I won’t kill them. They’re near to defenseless in this realm already, with no power, no wealth, no status to call their own. The queen is nothing more than a bully if she plans to subdue them with a fae and mixling army, and I won’t be part of it.
“Not at all?” she asks carefully. “Or not for my mother?” Intelligent pink eyes stare a hard line through my soul.
This is dangerous territory. I could be killed for less. “Not for your mother.”
“You’d protect the humans who rebelled against the crown?”
“I’d protectmy mother.”
“Ah.” Her expression softens. “So you don’t plan to fight unless the fighting breaches the north? Why come at all, then?”
I’m getting tired of this one-sided interrogation. “Are you the only one allowed to ask questions in this conversation?”
“I don’t think so, but while your tongue is tied, do you really expect me to hold back mine?”
“Why are you talking to me at all?”
She narrows her gaze as she considers me. A muscle in her jaw twitches. At length, she says, “I’ve been looking for an opportunity just like this among the mixlings who’ve come pouring through the Great Hall to pledge. When all this time I should’ve been looking for the ones cloaked in magic sneaking around our castle passageways.”
“Why?”
“My reasons are my own, but you needn’t fear me. I want peace between our species.”
“And your mother doesn’t?”
“She wants to maintain the status quo through any means necessary. I want peace throughpeacefulmeans. Neither of us is likely to get what we want.” Her lips turn down at that. “And you and I must be careful while she is queen and I am not.”
The wind punches from my lungs. She could be killed for saying less, for revealing those intentions at all, let alone to a common mixling. I feel as if we’re on more even footing, but I won’t risk telling her my name. Not when I could still run. Still hide.
“Why tell me that?”
“My instincts have always served me well. I sense you and I are of similar minds on the matter, and I need to know what’s happening beyond my city walls. I can’t afford to wait for a better opportunity when one may never come. Where are you from?”
“Clodhill.” It’s much safer than saying Jodpirn and close enough to the truth it shouldn’t alert her to any falsehood. “What is your plan?”
Suvi tilts her head and purses her lips. “Right for the heart. I should’ve expected as much. Are you any good at keeping secrets?”
I shrug. “Haven’t had any to keep.”
“The humans in the south will be annihilated without my help. We could use a mixling like you, with powers like yours—”
“How do you know about my magic?”
