Chapter 30
thirty
Rune’s shadows retreated just as fast as they’d come out. Maera moved closer to us, too, as the shadows retreated and enabled us to see the brighter orange lights that approached us, hovering over four men—and one morvekai behind them.
My knees shook. I’d seen one of them from a distance before with Vair, and now there it was.
Close—too close. Barely fifty feet if that.
And it was indeed much bigger than the average fae man, and its skin looked dead under the orange lights, and its eyes were the same. Pits of darkness, not actual eyes.
Then the men in front of him took my attention when a small light slipped out of Rune’s hand—my bird, casting a blueish white light upon us that was at least twice as powerful as those orange lights.
The bird flew over them, and suddenly the light became a gorgeous shade of purple, but it did nothing to hide the colors of the fae in front of us.
They were all men, there of them soldiers wearing armor the color of rust that matched that of their hair perfectly.
The man who’d spoken, who stood before us now with a smile on his face, wore a deep earthy brown jacket made of velvet, not old-looking or worn in the least, but brand new.
His hair was a fiery auburn, long enough that he’d tied it behind his head with a thin brown velvet ribbon, and his boots were shiny and looked soft, and his fingers were clean, perfectly manicured.
No hollows on his cheeks, and no bags under his eyes, and though he did look skinny, he didn’t seem sick like the rest of the Unseelies we’d seen so far. He looked…okay.
And that brought all my thoughts and all my fear to a halt, the morvekai who stood far behind the men nearly forgotten.
“That’s impressive, Your Highness. I’ve always liked the color of Midnight light.” Every inch of my skin rose in goose bumps. I looked at Rune, and back at the man, still smiling.
He knew who Rune was.
“It’s special, indeed,” Rune said, his voice perfectly controlled, even, like he’d been expecting this very thing to happen all along. His self-control really was to be envied.
“As is your entourage, I see. Quite special,” said the man, eyeing Maera curiously, who was showing her teeth at him but not moving at the moment.
And then the guy looked at me, and his dull eyes sparkled like jewels.
My magic reacted as if he’d pushed a button on me. Ice-cold and relentless, it exploded in my center and spread over my entire torso in a second.
“We don’t mean to intrude. We were only curious about this settlement,” Rune said, and I could tell he was tense in the way he held his shoulders and his head up, his hands open and ready. His magic must have been buzzing the same way mine did, right under his skin.
“Of course, Your Highness. King Lox and Queen Codessa will most certainly welcome you to the Unseelie Court. I’m glad I recognized you before we made clowns out of ourselves trying to apprehend you.” A laugh, bitter and short, and full of malice.
I did not like this man at all.
“Just as I was glad to recognize the Seelie King mere hours ago. Our king and queen had no knowledge how…famous this settlement was among the other courts.”
There went my heart, skipping way too many beats at once again.
Lyall had been here. Lyall had been in this very place, searching for the heir. We were too late.
I was moving before I realized it. “Where is he?” I demanded, and had Maera not been standing there between us, I’d have gotten close and personal with the guy by now purely on instinct.
Rune’s hand fell over my shoulder gently—he was right behind me.
The man raised his brows at me, as if he were genuinely surprised that I’d spoken.
“I’m afraid I don’t know where the Seelie King goes when he is not in our court.
Please, allow me to introduce myself and to formally invite you and your friends to our kingdom this fine evening.
” With a hand to his chest, he bowed his head.
“Chancellor Ryat, at your service. You would honor us with your presence at the Fire Palace, King Rune of the Midnights.”
Rune turned to look at me for a moment, and I read the same question in his eyes.
He was wondering whether it was a good idea to go meet with the king and queen right now—but it wasn’t.
Even if there was a fight and we won, or even if a miracle happened and we managed to talk to these people about stepping down from the throne—the heir was still missing.
The heir was not here. And most importantly, Lyall wasn’t, either.
I shook my head just a little, just to tell him what I was thinking, and Rune seemed to agree.
When he turned to the chancellor again, he said, “I’m afraid we’re short on time tonight so I must decline. Respectfully, of course. I do look forward to meeting the king and queen—perhaps in the coming days?”
The way his voice sounded so unlike himself was honestly impressive. It was like he was a completely different person to the world around him. So much different from the man he was with me.
“Certainly,” the chancellor said, and for a split second, I could have sworn he was relieved. “We’d like but a message of your arrival, so we can better prepare to expect you as is appropriate.” A deep nod—yes, definitely relieved.
“Of course,” Rune said. “But before I leave, I will ask you this and hope it stays between us.” He moved to the side, and Maera did the same, as if they were connected somehow and she knew Rune wanted to get closer.
He did. He was a good head taller than the chancellor and his soldiers, who were visibly tense as they slowly reached for the handles of their swords, but the morvekai monster behind them didn’t move.
Would Rune be able to kill it if a fight broke out? Because I certainly would try.
“I do hope I can answer, Your Highness,” the chancellor said. He tried to act like he wasn’t affected by Rune’s proximity, by the weight of his magic that he no doubt felt against his skin, but his shaking voice betrayed him.
“The Seelie King. I’d hoped to meet him here before he left. Did he say why he was here, and where he was going, perhaps?” Rune’s voice was a whisper, soothing to the ear. Or maybe it was just me.
The chancellor took half a step back as casually as he could. “He said he was here to sight-see, just like yourself, Your Highness,” said the chancellor.
“Where was he going?” Rune insisted.
A second of silence. Maera was standing next to Rune, and I hadn’t even noticed her approaching, but the Unseelie fae sure had. His eyes moved lightning fast from her to Rune, but he ignored me completely, like I wasn’t even there.
“And what if I choose not to say?”
He said the words separately. Slowly. Terrified, but he pushed them out anyway.
The tension that filled the air came from Rune. He was doing it on purpose, just a second before he stepped back.
“Then I will take it, and I will leave, Chancellor. It is entirely your right.” He was smiling, Rune. I heard it in his voice. “Perhaps I’ll drop by the Fire Palace to ask the king and queen.”
The chancellor breathed easier, but he held back the sigh of relief I knew he wanted to heave. “The king and queen haven’t seen the Seelie King, I’m afraid. He, too, refused my invitation today. The only thing he said when he left was that he would be back.” A small smile. “Just like yourself.”
Oh, yeah. That definitely sounded like Lyall.
“Very well,” Rune said, and he and Maera stepped back together, but my blood was fucking boiling because this wasn’t right.
If Lyall had already been here, how were we to know if he’d found the heir already, if he’d killed them, or if he’d found a clue to where else they could be?
Because they most certainly were not here.
So, I said to the Chancellor, despite my better judgment, “Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure he didn’t say anything else?”
“Yes,” the fae said, and he did not even meet my eyes when he said it. He was too busy watching Rune and Maera because they were the bigger threat.
Rune then looked back at me once, and I knew what he meant. He was done here, apparently, and he didn’t think this guy knew more. That, or he knew that we needed to get out of there asap.
“We will be on our way now, Chancellor. Thank you for the warm welcome with the morvekai.” Rune stepped back, took my hand in his.
The fae’s orange eyes zoomed in on it and I could have sworn he looked three times paler all of a sudden as he swallowed.
“Of course,” he barely managed, and he and the soldiers stepped aside to make way for us to pass.
The morvekai did, too.
Not going to lie, I was scared shitless to be passing by that creature. Holy fuck, he was most certainly over seven feet, maybe eight, and his shoulders were really wide, and his skin was really plastic, and those eyes…fuck.
Rune stopped right in front of it, pulled me back. This time I had no trouble half hiding behind his shoulder because that thing was truly monstrous. If it wasn’t for my burning curiosity, I’d have even looked away.
But Rune studied it carefully. Slowly. Like he had never seen anything more fascinating and disgusting at the same time. The morvekai didn’t blink or breathe or move at all. It had weapons on its person, lots of them—swords and knives and even an axe—but it didn’t reach for them yet.
“The making of a morvekai is illegal by fae law,” Rune said, looking back at the chancellor, who no longer looked half as happy as he had in the beginning.
In fact, he looked about ready to start running back wherever he came from, possibly to alert whatever king and queen this kingdom had.
“I’ll be sure to ask how these ones came to be when I meet with your superiors. ”
Superiors. Not king or queen, or even royals.
The chancellor looked him dead in the eyes. “I’m sure they shall be thrilled to answer,” he said, his voice almost a snake’s hiss now.