Chapter 34
Sebastian
The female points at a large, rounded entrance.
“This is it.” She flicks a thick strand of blonde hair from her shoulder. “The Drakar is expecting you.” Then she turns and walks away.
I enter.
The space is cavernous and carved from rock. There is no throne. No raised dais. Massive bones arch overhead, forming the ribs of the ceiling. From their sheer size, I would say that they are dragon bones, bleached white by age.
In the center of the cavern, a large fire pit burns low, the flames contained within a ring of black stones. Around it, stone platforms covered in furs create something between seating and nesting areas.
A female rises from one of the fur-covered platforms.
She is taller than most fae females and built like a warrior.
Her hair falls in a cascade of fiery red all the way to her waist, catching the firelight until it looks like actual flames.
She wears a small piece of fur that only just covers her breasts and a strip of hide wrapped around her hips. Not uncommon for the shifterfae.
Her face is striking, with sharp cheekbones and large green eyes. She looks just like her brother Salvorne.
“Greetings, Shadowfae King, heir to the Shadow Court.” Her voice carries across the cavern; it’s rich and deep.
She walks toward me with the easy grace of a predator.
I find myself wondering if she, too, is a dragon.
If I am not mistaken, all of the royals can shift into the great beasts.
“May I call you Sebastian?” She stops a few paces away, her gaze moving over me.
“You may.” I incline my head a moment. “You must be Kilara, Salvorne’s sister. The Drakar in his absence.”
“Indeed. Welcome to my hall.”
“I appreciate your hospitality. For bringing my travel companion and me to safety…for saving us.”
Her mouth curves. “You speak of hospitality as though you are not sure whether to accept it.”
“I do, though admittedly under duress.”
“I appreciate your honesty. Sit. We have much to discuss, you and I.” She gestures to the platform of furs to her right.
I hesitate for just a moment before sitting. Kilara takes a seat across from me, the fire pit between us.
“I’ll be direct with you, Sebastian.” She leans forward, resting her forearms on her knees. “Our species have not always seen eye to eye. The shadowfae and the shifterfae have a complicated history. But in times of trouble, we need to set our differences aside. An enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Friend.
After all these summers and everything that has happened, the word sits wrong.
I want to tell her that I will never be a friend to the fae species that orchestrated the murder of my parents.
I want to throw her offer back in her face and demand to know what really happened. Ask why they did what they did.
But I hold my tongue.
I like her. She’s nothing like Salvorne, who is arrogant and conceited. She is still a shifterfae, so I must tread carefully.
I need allies. And I need information if I’m going to find the other Lost Kings and stand any chance against Snow. I cannot afford to make enemies of the only fae able to oppose her.
I need to play my cards right.
“You are right,” I say carefully.
She laughs. “Again, you make that statement under duress.
I smile, but it quickly fades. “You are good at reading people. You are right about needing a united front. It is going to take everything and everyone working collectively to destroy her.”
She gets this faraway look. “Yes, we will. That would include all seven kings. Do you have any idea where she is hiding Salvorne?”
“Me? Why would I know that?”
“You were hidden, too. I thought perhaps that you might have encountered others in the same situation. How is it that you were freed?”
“I haven’t seen any of the others.” I shake my head. “I was hidden in plain sight. Kept as a servant in my own court, my mind fogged by magic. I had no knowledge of who I was until recently,” I tell her. “I was a blind clerk until a singing performer set me free with her magic.”
“A blind clerk. You were blind?” She sounds shocked.
“Yes.” I nod. “I have a theory. In order to see shadows, you need to be able to see the light. Shadowfae need shadows to pull up our magic. Isla used her powers to help me see again. That brought forth the magic in my veins.” I pause a moment.
“Have you been in contact with any of the previously Lost Kings?” I ask, even though I can guess the answer.
“No.” Kilara’s jaw tightens. “We have always kept to ourselves. The shifterfae prefer isolation. It is our nature. But that needs to change.”
“This is a long shot, but do you know where any of the Lost Kings might be?”
“I do not.” She studies me. “I have heard rumors, but nothing concrete.”
“What kind of rumors?” I’m desperate to find them. I have nothing to go on.
“If you use your magic, they will be able to find you, just as Snow is able to find you.”
“That’s risky,” I say, more to myself.
“It is. I’m not sure it’s worth the risk, given that it’s just a rumor…
not much more than a story.” She pauses.
“Talking of stories, I heard of your bravery on the battlefield. How you tried to take on Snow alone.” Her expression shifts into something close to respect. “I also heard that it backfired.”
“I had to try,” I tell her, my voice rough. “I knew it was a long shot.”
“We felt the same way.” Kilara nods slowly.
“When we rode to face her, we knew we would lose lives. Snow does not leave the Ice Court very often, so her appearance was an opportunity we could not ignore.” She reaches out and adjusts one of the furs beside her, her movements deliberate.
“We did not see our defeat as a failure. We saw it as an opportunity to learn more about the queen.”
I consider her words. “We did learn a great deal.”
“Yes.” Kilara’s eyes sharpen. “One of the most important things we learned is that a half-breed like your companion could be the answer to ending Snow.”
I go very still.
“Snow can take any fae magic used against her,” Kilara continues. “Even that of a king. She almost drained you to the point of death. But she did not fare as well against a half-breed with magical abilities. Your Isla wounded her. Knocked her back. It was a revelation.”
Your Isla.
I don’t correct her, even though I should.
“That is why she fears half-bloods,” I say.
“Our thoughts exactly. It is why mixed unions are forbidden. We need to find more of them. We are hoping Isla chooses to stay on with us,” Kilara says, and my blood turns to ice.
“We will sniff them out.” She wiggles her nose.
“Isla can help train them. There will be others scattered across the realm. Half-bloods with power they’re too afraid to use. If we can gather them together—”
“No.”
The word leaves me before I can stop it.
Kilara’s eyebrows lift. “No?”
“She’s not staying here.” I hear the edge in my voice and don’t care. “She can’t.”
Kilara’s mouth curves into a knowing smile. It makes me want to hit something.
“What?” I demand. “What is so funny?”
“Terra told me the Shadowfae King had fallen in love.” She tilts her head, watching me the way a cat watches a mouse. “I didn’t believe it. Until right now.”
Heat floods my face. “I am not in love with the half-breed.”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.” I force my voice to stay level. “I don’t know what Terra told you, but she’s wrong. Isla and I are not together. We never were.”
“That is good for us.” Kilara holds my gaze. “Either way,” she says, “we will be inviting her to stay. The half-human can decide for herself. You are not her keeper.”
I want to argue. I want to demand that she refuse Isla the option. I want to make her understand that Isla cannot stay here, cannot throw in her lot with the shifterfae, cannot become part of some resistance army that I won’t be able to protect.
“You will need to find another half-breed to do your bidding,” I tell her, my voice hard.
“It would not be our bidding. It would be working together with us. Be careful how you tread, Sebastian.”
“I am in your court, so I must remain respectful, but I would ask you to leave Isla out of this.”
Something shifts in Kilara’s expression. She leans back, regarding me with new intensity.
“It will be up to her to decide what she wants to do. She is not yours, and therefore you do not have a say.”
Kilara is right. I want to argue. I want to pound my fist into the wall, but neither would do me any good.
I tighten my jaw and nod once. “Isla is an intelligent woman. I am sure she will make the right decision.”
“You mean she’ll choose to leave.”
I incline my head for a second, but I don’t say anything. My face feels hot with anger, and I can’t seem to unclench my jaw.
“There is something else we should discuss,” she says. “Your parents.”
Every muscle in my body goes rigid.
“I understand your mistrust of us. I know you will not believe me.” Kilara’s voice is softer now.
“But for what it is worth, we were not involved in the attack on your parents. As a species, we would never resort to something so cowardly. Assassination is not our way. Using a human to carry out a kill is absurd.” She shakes her head, looking angry for the first time.
I feel something shift inside me.
She’s right. I don’t want to believe it, but what she says holds truth. I’ve only seen the shifterfae in passing. I disliked Salvorne almost on sight.
There is no denying that shifterfae are bold and brazen. They attack head-on. They challenge their enemies face-to-face. Lurking in the shadows, sending assassins in the dead of night… That’s not how they operate.
I’ve always believed it was them. That is what I was told as a young boy. Was it a seed that took root when it should have died?
“I’m not going to spend time trying to convince you. You are looking in the wrong direction. Perhaps if you look in the right place, you will actually see the truth for what it is.”
“I am not sure what to make of all of it,” I tell her truthfully.
“That is understandable. I hope you will think on all I have said.” Kilara rises to her feet, and I follow suit.
“We offer our services as a species. I am working hard to find my brother. The information I have gleaned from you today will help me in my quest.” She meets my eyes.
“We need to work together to stop Snow before it is too late.” She takes my hand, desperation in her eyes.
“It won’t be long before the rot takes hold here, too.
Before we are all dust.” She lets me go.
I stand as well. “I will think on it.”
“You are free to go,” Kilara says. “We will provide you with supplies and transport. Whatever you need for your journey.” She inclines her head. “I wish you well on your quest to find the Lost Kings, Sebastian. I hope our paths cross again.”
I return the gesture. “Good luck on your quest to find Salvorne.”
She smiles. “The magic that allows him to shift at will is blocked somehow.” She speaks almost to herself, her eyes lifting in thought. “Somewhere hidden in plain sight.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Her face lights up. “I have an idea. I think I know where he is. I need to go right away. Terra will help you with whatever you need.”
“Thank you, Kilara.”
She nods and then strides away, making a clicking noise.
Moments later, Terra appears at the cavern entrance. She gestures for me to follow.
I leave the great hall.
We walk in silence for a time. The tunnels twist and turn, and I try to memorize the route without success.
“I owe you an apology,” Terra tells me.
I glance at her. “For what?”
“For interrupting this morning. For causing trouble between you and Isla.” She doesn’t look at me as she speaks. “It wasn’t my intention.”
“I’m glad you did.” The words come out flat. “I learned the truth. That’s what matters.”
Terra is quiet for a moment. Then she sighs.
“For what it’s worth,” she says, “I believed her. When she told me about her mother, when she swore she didn’t know, she wasn’t lying.”
“She lied by omission.”
“She planned on telling you,” Terra says. “Shifterfae can pick up on lies. There are tells. Changes in breathing, in body temperature, in the way the heart beats. The female wasn’t lying. Not about her mother. Not about any of it.”
I don’t respond.
Terra continues as if she hasn’t noticed my silence.
“Even if my senses were wrong and she’s a good liar – so good that she believes herself – the way her mother reacted tells me that she is telling the truth.
During the battle, her mother was truly concerned for Isla.
I could hear it in her cries. In her pleas for Isla to leave Snow be and to flee.
” She glances at me. “Why would she do that if Isla was on Snow’s side? ”
“All a clever ploy.” The words leave me automatically.
But doubt creeps in.
I push it aside. I can’t afford to second-guess myself. Not now.
We reach the chamber, but Isla isn’t there.
I stand in the entrance, scanning the space as if she might be hiding in the shadows. The disappointment that moves through me is unexpected and wholly unwelcome.
I wanted to see her.
I hate that I wanted to see her.
Terra gives me a knowing look. “She went to help the females prepare for the midday meal.” There’s a note of amusement in her voice.
“Good for her.” I step into the chamber.
“She was waiting for you, you know.” Terra leans against the entrance, her arms crossed. “Worrying herself sick about what would happen with Kilara. I talked her into helping the others to pass the time. You could go find her and talk to her.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Suit yourself.”
I turn to face her. “I will.”
“You’re acting like a fool.” She shrugs. “The female cares about you. You care about her. Whatever happened, whatever she did or didn’t do, you’re not going to sort it out by avoiding each other.”
“Stay out of it,” I growl.
Terra holds my gaze for a moment. Then she pushes off from the wall.
“Fine,” she says. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you. You’re going to regret this. You’ll miss her and live with regrets when you find out that you had your head up your ass all this time.”
She turns and walks away, leaving me alone in the chamber
Am I making a mistake?
No. And that’s all there is to it.