Chapter 4
four
The next morning, I woke at the crack of dawn. I hadn’t seen Silas after returning from Irina’s the previous night because he’d had “work to do.” I hadn’t asked him what sort of work would keep him away overnight, and I figured maybe he wasn’t ready to tell me yet either.
Silas arrived to collect me when I was finishing breakfast as the sun peeked above the horizon. “Good morning,” he said, sweeping my wild hair back and pressing a kiss against the sensitive place on my neck. “You look beautiful. I’m sorry I missed you last night.”
“It’s fine. I had a great time with Irina and Henry, and then I slept like a rock.
” I stood from the table. “By the way, I really don’t think it’s necessary for you to waste your morning sitting beside me at the castle.
I know you’re busy investigating the lycanthrope, or whatever else it is you do. ”
“I wouldn’t dream of missing it,” Silas said dryly. “The first Fae Queen holding court in centuries? Nowhere else I’d rather be.”
We said goodbye to Millie, who was starting a loaf of bread and putting away the breakfast dishes. We walked hand in hand along the riverbank, not speaking, as the castle loomed ahead of us.
“Nervous?” Silas asked.
“Yes,” I admitted. “I also just don’t know what to expect.”
“Nobody does. This is new to everyone. Including yourself—don’t forget that. People might expect you to have all the answers, but having all the answers isn’t your job.”
“What is my job?”
“Hell if I know,” Silas said. “Like I said, this is all new. All we have to go off is ancient lore and whatever texts weren’t destroyed from the era of Fae Queens, and those are few and far between. I’m sure Seer Goddard will have collected a few for you.”
This morning I’d chosen a simple white dress.
At Silas’s insistence, I’d put my thin circlet on my hair, the azure gem sparkling under the sunlight.
I felt shy wearing it, almost presumptuous.
But Silas insisted it was important for me to appear confident, even if I was still working on getting there internally.
I also wore simple shoes and earrings, minimal makeup. I didn’t look like a queen. I didn’t feel like a queen. And yet after we reached the castle and ascended to the second floor, I sat on the throne, with my crown shining above the water and beneath the sun, and something felt very, very right.
Islanders started showing up nearly an hour before court was supposed to begin.
I instructed the Rangers assigned as security for the event to let them come in and start early.
By the time the court hours officially started, I’d already seen ten people and had a line of others winding down the staircase and out the front door, snaking down the riverbank.
“I know Irina.” An elderly woman handed over a single daisy as she stepped in front of the throne. “I’m a Forest Dweller with her. I don’t have anything to offer you except my support. But I trust and love Irina, and since she believes in you as the queen, so do I.”
I reached forward, clasped the older woman’s hands in mine. I felt my eyes smart with tears. “You’ve given me more than you know.”
“I never thought I’d see this day again.” The woman’s lined face crumpled into a watery smile. “A Fae Queen. Will you be able to heal our destroyed lands?”
I accepted the small daisy from her and tucked it gently behind my ear.
Her eyes lit up at the gesture. “I haven’t had time to investigate the torched lands just yet, but it is one of my top priorities.
The curse destroyed a lot of things, and I will work to return this island to its former healthy self. ”
“You’ll do it.” The woman nodded, as the Ranger beside my chair cleared his throat, signaling it was time for the next guest. “You’ll do it, my dear.”
As I sat and listened to islanders, I filed away as many concerns as I could. At one point Millie joined my side, and I had her help me take notes so that I could revisit their ideas and worries later. I received lots of questions—about myself, about my powers, about the island.
Will you heal the island?
Will you find whoever is responsible for the curse and the attack of the Furies?
Will you support the people and creatures on this island?
Then there were personal questions.
Have you accepted Silas as your mate?
How can you trust yourself to rule when you don’t know this island?
What if your powers can never be controlled?
There was dissent, but that was kept to a minimum, thanks to the Rangers standing on either side of the throne. Vitriol was quickly redirected into cutting questions.
Why would I ever trust you, someone who knows nothing about this island?
Who do you think you are, coming in here with no training to take control?
Eventually, a man in a hooded cloak approached, his face covered in shadows so thoroughly I’d never recognize him with his hood off. I saw the two Rangers by my side glance at one another, noting his unusual appearance. I raised a hand to hold them off.
“Yes?” I asked. “Can I help you, sir?”
“You will never succeed in defeating him,” the man said in a low, slithery voice—if it was a human voice, it was thoroughly disguised by some sort of magic.
He didn’t want to be recognized. “Your powers will never be strong enough to best the underworld. A Cursed Queen, you are, and this island will see its ruin beneath you.”
“What the hell are you waiting for?” Silas stepped closer to the throne and snapped a finger at the Ranger by my side. “Get him out of here. Bring him in for questioning.”
“No—” I put a hand on Silas’s arm. “Don’t. He’s allowed to express his opinion. However troubling it might be.”
The man was already shuffling onward. I watched Silas watch the man descend from the castle, then make his way into The Forest. Silas looked like he wanted to wring the man’s neck.
“Do you know who that was?” I asked Silas. “Have you ever seen him before?”
“No,” he said. “But if you’re not going to let me pull back his hood, at least let’s call it a wrap for today.”
“There’s still a long line.”
Silas gestured. “There’ll be a line for weeks. You can hold more court hours. But you need to get to your session with Seer Goddard, and he won’t appreciate you being late.”
“Let me make the announcement.” I stood, approached the edge of the balcony.
I waved, until the crowd hushed. “Thank you all for coming out this morning. I have an important meeting this afternoon as I begin my training, so I’m afraid I need to end court for now.
I will be back next week, if not before. ”
I watched as the faces of people who had been waiting for over an hour fell.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you. I want to address all of your concerns. If yours can’t wait, please feel free to put it in writing.” I gestured toward where Millie was still holding a notebook. “Leave your letters at the castle, and I’ll read them all personally.”
Then Silas took my hand, pulled me away from the balcony, and ushered me off the castle’s balcony to the East side of the island.
He led me straight north, following the curve of the cliffside.
Eventually, in the distance, I could see a bare-bones cottage at the top of a rocky path, smoke churning from its chimney.
“Irina told me that Seer Goddard isn’t from The Isle,” I said finally, breathing heavily after our long walk. “Did you request his presence here?”
Silas’s gaze flicked to me. “Yes.”
He seemed stressed. I wasn’t sure if it was from the castle court hours or if it was from the looming meeting with Seer Goddard. Maybe both. He’d barely said a word for the nearly thirty-minute hike up to the cottage.
“Is there anything I should know about the Seer?” I asked. “I’ve heard he’s not the friendliest.”
“He’s effective.”
“I’ve heard that too,” I said. “I just want to make a good impression.”
Silas stilled, softening as he turned to look at me. “Sorry. I’m a little on edge from everything—the lycanthrope, the court hours, and now Seer Goddard. I just want to make things easy on you. Unfortunately, I’m struggling to do that.”
I stepped toward him. “Your job isn’t to protect me. It’s to be my partner so we can face hard things together.”
Silas looked like he had something to say on the tip of his tongue, but as he opened his mouth to speak, a door opened from the cottage. “It’s time,” Silas said instead. “We can continue this conversation later.”
I reached for Silas’s hand, squeezed it, as we started up the steep, rocky slope toward the cottage.
“Just her,” a voice called from inside the darkened doorway. “She will approach alone.”
I turned to Silas, gave a nervous nod. “I guess this is the end of the road for you. I’ll see you tonight?”
Silas leaned forward, pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “You’ll be great.”
Then I headed upward as Silas turned and picked his way back down the slope. By the time I reached the door to the cottage, Silas was but a speck in the distance.
“You may wait outside,” the low, male voice said as I approached the door. “You are not invited inside.”
I stopped at the threshold. “I’m sorry, I just assumed we’d start inside—”
“Assumptions are dangerous.” The Seer’s voice was as rocky as the road leading to his door. “It’s a terrible choice to assume.”
“Sorry,” I said again. “I didn’t know.”
“You assumed you were a human, and look where that landed you.”
“I’d argue that it was a pretty safe assumption,” I said. “I had no clue other things existed.”
“Because you assumed. You need to keep an open mind if you’re to rule an enchanted island.”
“O-okay,” I said. “I guess that’s fair. What about my powers?”
“What about them?”
I squinted, trying to see into the shadowy darkness, but I couldn’t catch a glimpse of anything except moving blackness. “I thought you were supposed to help me learn how to use them.”
“I’m not here for your selfish reasons.”