Page 67 of Stone Heart
Chapter 22
“Iforbid you from going with them,” Khantar roared, pacing back and forth before her.
She’d called a meeting with her parents in the small study of the lair. Fae and gargoyle guards remained outside the door as her and her parents met. Vikuth refused to let her walk through the lair without one of his men attached to her hip.
There’s too much at stake, he’d claimed.
Rina glared at her father, refusing to back down from her plans to go after Rhodack. Her mother remained quiet on her perch on the couch as Rina stood and faced her father.
This surely wasn’t the way she’d imagined spending her initial days getting to know her parents.
“I’ll go with them. If I’m to lead Faery, I should at least be able to save my own mate,” she exclaimed.
“I know that you have feelings for Rhodack, but his men are built for war. This is why they were sent to guard this realm. Your place is in Faery. We shall leave at once,” he snapped. He turned to her. The resemblance between the two of them was striking.
Everything about her appearance reflected her mother, but gazing into her father’s eyes brimming with anger and a hint of fear, she saw herself in him.
Like father, like daughter.
“I’m not leaving Rhodack.” She shook her head. There was no way she would leave Rhodack behind. He’d flown off after her with no regard to his own life to save her. It was because of her he’d been captured.
Her father sputtered in place as she stood firm in her decision.
“Now, listen here, Larina. I am your father—”
“I know that but I’m grown and make my own decisions,” she cut him off, holding a hand in the air.
This was a delicate subject matter for them to discuss, but it needed to be said. Because of the war and the danger against the Faery throne, their lives had been separated. She’d grown up as a human, not as a Faery princess with her royal parents.
No, Solana had raised her to be an independent woman who could make her own decisions. Little did she know that those skills that were ingrained into her head would stay once her memories returned. She’d have to remind her father she was no longer that little eight-year-old innocent Fae princess who had sat by his feet, lost in his war stories.
Now, she was a grown elf and would fight for what she believed in.
She had her memories.
She had her powers.
Now it was time for her to utilize them.
“Rhodack Gahnoth is mine, Father.” She paused, glancing over at her mother, who had remained quiet this entire time. Rina switched her train of thought and faced her mother. “Mom, if Father was taken by our enemy to a place unknown and tortured, would you just sit still? Would you sit back and wait for the armies to go after him and bring him back?”
The room grew silent. Her father turned to the queen. Defiance radiated from Roshi’s eyes, and she glanced over at her husband. Her mother stood from her seat and ambled over to the king. She stopped directly in front of him and cocked her head back.
“I would fight with every breath left in my body to bring my king back to me.”
Relief filled Rina as she watched her parents. Her mother reached up and laid a hand on her husband’s chest.
“Roshi,” he breathed, but the queen placed a finger over his lips, silencing him.
“If you were taken from me, I would lead the armies. There is no way in the seven hells I’d sit back and wait for you to return to me,” Roshi said.
Rina’s eyes met her mother’s, and she knew she had an ally in her.
“Support our daughter in going after her mate. We’ll worry about the details of her being the future ruler of Faery and the guardian protector later. For now, the Fae will stand with the gargoyles as we have done since the beginning of time.”
Rina could have wept with relief at the sight of her father’s walls breaking. Just a few words from her mother, and the king was putty in her hands. His gaze flew to her, and she waited, her heart racing, but he remained silent.
Then, “We will support Clan Gahnoth,” he began. He glanced back down at her mother, bringing her close to him, before his attention moved back to Rina.
