Chapter 42
Isla
I look over at the breakfast dishes we stacked earlier at the wash area near the back wall of the kitchen. I feel Sebastian’s eyes on me yet again. He is sitting across from me next to Maya, who is Orion’s wife.
Maya is very sweet and has made me feel incredibly welcome. I look over at her, and she smiles.
The Beastfae King has one arm draped over the back of her chair.
“So let me get this straight,” Damon says, leaning forward, his eyes on me. “You actually knocked Snow back. Your magic worked against her, and that is why the shifterfae want you to return to them?”
His wife, Kyrie, is next to him, her long dark hair pulled over one shoulder. “I think it’s wonderful that you are so powerful.” She smiles at me.
I smile back and then nod. “Thank you,” I say to her.
“Yes, that’s right,” I tell Damon. “If there were more of us, we might just get the better of her next time we face her. The shifterfae want me to train any half-breeds with magical ability they find.” I turn my cup in my hands.
“They plan to start looking within the human settlements.”
“How do they plan on finding these half-breeds?” Maya asks, frowning. “You mentioned earlier that you were good at hiding your abilities and the fact that you have fae blood. I mean…you look nothing like a fae.”
“Nothing at all,” Kyrie adds. “I would say you are human.”
“The shifterfae have great senses. They can scent magic. They’ll look for humans who scent of magic and try to recruit them to the cause,” I tell them.
“You mean kidnap them?” Orion mutters, his eyes narrowing.
“No…they wouldn’t do that.” I shake my head. “They are a good people.”
“Based on your reaction, or lack thereof, I would say that you trust them, too?” Orion asks, directing the question at Sebastian.
Sebastian nods. “They saved us, housed us, and then let us go.” He lifts one shoulder. “After all we learned from Isla’s mother. I would say that they are trustworthy. We would need them on our side if we have any kind of hope of beating Snow. That really is the bottom line.”
“They are trustworthy,” I add. “They want the same thing as we do: for Snow to be defeated and for the realm to be restored. Snow has a definite weakness when it comes to people like me. Half-breeds with magical abilities. The more people like me we can find, the more chance we’ll have against them.
We all need to be united, or we will fail in our quest. We need the shifterfae, just as much as they need us. ”
“You’ve hit the nail on the head, Isla. The key, I think, is human blood,” Damon speaks slowly.
“You’re right.” Kyrie nods.
“Indeed,” Orion adds. “It’s something we’ve come to realize, and this proves it.”
“It does.” Damon nods. “Snow is afraid of humans because she can’t control them. Not like she can the fae…even us kings, at least to some degree.”
“It is good to know that you can use your magic against her. That she can’t steal it,” Kyrie says.
“Snow almost drained me dry. She very nearly killed me. If it weren’t for Isla, she would have succeeded.”
He turns his beautiful eyes on me, and for a moment I am drowning in them, so I look away.
“The fae can’t keep feeding her, though,” I tell them. “It is why we need a united front. No feeding her, just swords and muscle against those who still stand with her.”
“The fae would need to use good old-fashioned strength.” Kyrie smiles. “Thesha will love that. She’s strong and can fight better than most men I know.”
“Xander and Thesha are going from one human settlement to the next, trying to get the humans on our side,” Orion says. “So far, it’s working. The humans want to be free from her rule. They’re willing to fight when the time comes.”
“It would—” Sebastian starts to say, but a thin wail rises from the back bedroom. The baby’s cry builds quickly, moving from a whimper to a full-throated protest that fills the small cabin.
“That is my cue.” Maya stands. “Excuse me. Maxwell needs me,” she murmurs as she walks toward the back room.
“I suppose the information about Tarro being responsible for your parents’ death is further proof that the shifterfae may be trustworthy,” Orion says, drawing everyone’s attention back to the table.
His eyes find Sebastian. “It must have been a shock.” He shakes his head.
“I still can’t wrap my mind around it. The guilty party was one of your own. ”
The table goes quiet. Even the fire seems to dim.
Sebastian’s jaw works.
Just then, Maya returns with her son and sits on a chair by the fire, adjusting Maxwell and her tunic. The little boy fusses for a short while and then starts to drink.
The attention goes back to Sebastian, and despite everything between us, something in me aches for him in this moment.
“Isla cleverly got the information out of her mother. That diary is damning. I could hardly believe it myself. For years, I detested the shifterfae. All this time, it was Tarro. He sat at our table. He was my father’s friend.”
“Why did he do it?”
“He feared that if my parents fostered relationships between the fae species, he would become irrelevant,” Sebastian says.
His voice is flat. “Tarro believed the shadowfae would lose their identity if that happened. He didn’t want peace.
He wanted power, and he was willing to destroy everything, including my parents, to keep it. ”
“Kakara’s cat,” Damon mutters under his breath.
“It was easy to plant the seed,” Sebastian continues.
“Tarro put lies into my uncle’s head, and next thing, the finger was pointed at the shifterfae.
There was already bad blood between our species.
My uncle ran with it, and an entire kingdom believed the lie.
” He pulls in a breath and lets it out slowly.
“Including me. To think that I was getting ready to wage a war against them when Snow took over. How stupid and short-sighted of me.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” I say before I can stop myself.
“You were young and na?ve. We all were,” Damon says, but Sebastian keeps his eye on me, so I look down at the table.
“The shifterfae declared their innocence right from the start,” Orion says. “But no one believed them.”
“I know.” Sebastian holds his gaze. “They were right about all of it.”
“So Salvorne has not been found, then?” Damon asks.
“No,” Sebastian says. “His sister Kilara rules in his stead.” He pauses, his eyes moving to me for the briefest moment before moving back to Damon.
Sebastian leans forward, resting his forearms on the table. He looks at Damon, then at Orion, and something changes in his expression. The mask he wears, the one I’ve seen him put on a hundred times, loosens.
“There’s something I need to say to the two of you,” he begins.
Damon nods once, as does Orion.
“The fae have always been divided. It is how Snow conquered us. We were too busy looking down on each other to see the real threat coming.” He pauses.
“The shadowfae are…” He laughs, but it’s humorless.
“We’re an arrogant bunch. We’ve always thought ourselves above the rest. We’ve seen ourselves as superior.
” His voice roughens. “I have been the worst. I’ve always been arrogant and conceited.
I believed my court, my kind, sat at the top of a hierarchy.
That every other fae species was below us. ”
Orion’s jaw tightens, and Damon sits back in his chair, his gaze hard and focused on Sebastian.
“I was wrong,” he says simply. “About all of it. About the shifterfae. About the way I treated others. About the assumptions I carried.” He meets Damon’s eyes, then Orion’s.
“I hope, in time, to build a friendship with each of you. A real one. Not born of politics or desperation, but of respect. I hope we can work together, because I know now that it is the only way forward. I have changed, and I hope you will forgive me my ignorance.”
He says it quietly, with no performance in it. Just a man who has swallowed his pride and let the truth come through.
For a moment, just a moment, something in me weakens. I see the Sebastian I once thought he could be. The one who held me. The one whose broken soul, in those quiet moments, reached for mine.
No. He can say all the right things to Damon and Orion. He can humble himself before kings. But I can’t forget how he hurt me, how I’m sure he’ll hurt me again if given half the chance.
There is no future for us. I know that now with a certainty that sits like cold iron in my chest.
Damon speaks first. “I appreciate your words, Sebastian. And your honesty.” He stands and extends his hand across the table. “It takes courage to say what you just said. I accept your apology.”
Sebastian rises and takes his hand. They shake and then let go just as Orion pushes to his feet as well.
“I second what Damon said.” His deep voice fills the room. “We’ve all made mistakes. What matters is what we do next.”
He takes Sebastian’s hand, shakes it once, and then pulls him in for a hug that lasts all of a second or two, ending with a soft thump on the back. Orion releases him and steps away, clearing his throat as if the gesture surprised him as much as it did Sebastian.
“I’m sure the others will feel the same,” Orion says. “Both Xander and Kian.”
“That’s good to know.” Sebastian nods.
“There is much work to be done,” Damon says.
Sebastian blinks. Then he nods again, and I swear I see something bright and raw move across his face before he gets it under control.
“I know that the shifterfae want to meet with us to discuss plans to topple Snow,” Sebastian says.
“I will return to the Shifter Court,” I tell them. “I will get to know them and be there when you are ready to meet with them.”
Sebastian sighs and sits, looking defeated.
“I can take you to the edge of the Shifter Court as requested,” Orion says. “I think it would be a good idea for you to pave the way for a meeting. Can you speak with Kilara on our behalf, Isla?”
Relief washes through me.