Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
“ O ur fortunes were—are—declining.” Galeeta drew a shaky breath as she began her story. “When I was a child, in the time of King Elroth’s grandfather, House Fernblade was the first in wealth and prestige. Even the high lords bowed before us. But the wheel of the universe turns, and other houses took our place.”
“Why?” Lila asked. “What happened?”
Her mother shrugged. “There was no one event, except for our complacency. Other houses won more battles, crafted better magic. They had more gold to tempt the learned and talented to their houses. We fell to the second ranks of the Forest Fae, then the third. Once power goes, so does wealth and opportunity.”
“We never lacked for anything.” Lila pulled a chair close to Galeeta and sat, their knees almost touching.
“No, but adequate is not the same as enough. Not when one has allowed supremacy to slip between one’s fingers.” Her mother’s smile was wry. “Your father didn’t mind, as long as there were books and good company to hold his interest. I wanted our legacy back. ”
Lila barely dared breathe. These were facts she knew, but her mother had never been so direct. “And Farras?”
“He was charming, and he addressed me as if those glorious days had never passed.” Her mother leaned back in her chair, her long neck bowed in thought. She was flawlessly lovely, and with an immortal’s ageless health.
Lila would never watch her decline the way humans did. And yet, the light within her was dimmed.
“I confess he made a useful tool of my pride,” her mother said. “It worked, at first.”
It was the most honest thing Lila had ever heard her say. “And then?”
“His friendship was like a charm. Invitations and advancement sprang up like flowers after rain.” Galeeta wavered. “But time passed, and I began to hear from others how their dealings with Farras had gone wrong. It was always the same story—at first, he was all smiles. Then debts were suddenly called in. Marriage plans called off. Fortunes collapsed. People grew afraid to cross him.”
“Why? Why did he do that?”
“You said it yourself. He desires mastery, whether it’s over a horse or another fae.”
“Do you know why? What do we even know about him, other than that he is cousin to the king?”
“He came to court many, many years ago. Some said he was a second son, the only survivor of a family murdered by the dark fae. That is all I know. By the time I met him, he was second only to the king and he did not welcome questions.” Galeeta’s smile was grim. “He has never confessed anything to me, but I believe he hungers for as much power as any fae can possess.”
“Royal power?” Lila shivered at the thought. The power of a king or queen was, by virtue of their role, exponentially greater than their most gifted subject. But it came with the crown, either by birth or by conquest. There was no other way to possess it. “That’s treason.”
“So it is.” Galeeta’s tone was weary. “I began to pull away, hoping our acquaintance would naturally cool. But he wasn’t about to let me go. He made it impossible to deny him anything.”
Lila shifted nervously, dreading what came next. “What did he do?”
“By then, your father had been taken by Lord Teegar. I was alone, and I had you children to think of.”
“What did Lord Farras do?” Lila said again, the words a mere whisper.
“His lordship had already taken Ademar under his wing. He was sponsoring Ademar’s advancement at court and in his studies. Lord Farras has the power to make or break his fortune.”
And to set Ademar up when Lord Teegar came calling, but Lila didn’t say that.
“He held my son’s interests over me, ensuring my loyalty.” Her mother’s eyes grew flinty with temper. “And then he threatened Sala.”
“What?” Lila exclaimed. “How?”
“You said vampires arrived at her door. That was not the first incident.”
“But those were Undead.”
“Farras rarely dirties his hands directly. They were his hirelings.”
“Is that why she tricked me into coming here?” Lila asked, the cold knot in her chest warming to anger.
“Sala has children.” Her mother said it as if that answered everything. “She understood what was at stake.”
And if Farras could hurt an innocent animal, would he stop at a child? Her nieces and nephews?
“We need your cooperation,” her mother continued. “We meant to get it without involving you more deeply than needs be. ”
“You mean that you intended to leave me ignorant,” Lila asked, her voice sharp. “Am I the sacrifice? The child you can afford to lose?”
“No!” Galeeta’s voice was a whip-crack. “You’re the one who had the strength to leave for the human world. To change and grow. You can hold your own.”
Confused, Lila fell silent.
“I need you to convince him of our desire for an alliance.” Her mother’s voice was calm even as her hands twisted in her lap. “Our survival depends on making him believe we’re his loyal followers at the very same time we’re plotting his downfall. He is no fool, so it will take all your cunning. As political games go, this is at a master’s level.”
“I’m not good at games,” Lila answered in a small voice.
“You’re like your father. More interested in beauty than battles.” Her mother’s expression was grim. “That is one good reason why it would have been easier if you knew none of this. Now we have no choice but to play the cards we have, and to play them flawlessly.”
“Why not simply run? Or tell the king?”
Galeeta sat forward, her face pale. “Farras has threatened my family, and a challenge will force his hand. I will not tolerate a threat to those I love. That is the one unalterable truth.”
Lila groped for something that made sense to her. “I still don’t understand. If I’m key to this plan—even if I’m a bad actress—why not tell me everything from the first moment I got here?”
“You’ve been gone for years.” Her mother’s eyes grew dark with emotion. “I needed to be sure he hadn’t turned you against me first. He’s compromised at least a third of the great houses of Forest Fae. Maybe even half.”
All at once, puzzle pieces began to fit together. It wasn’t the words her mother spoke, but the emotion beneath them that triggered understanding. Lila blinked, seeing her mother as if for the first time. Whatever the family’s rank and position, Galeeta had never lacked confidence in her own abilities. She would have been certain of her path right up until the moment she was caught in Lord Farras’s power.
That moment of realization would have been poison, especially when the price of failure was her own household.
Lila had gone to the city with the same confident pride. She’d believed herself modern and authentic, a maverick breaking with hidebound tradition. She’d closed her ears to anything the fae had to say about it.
She was more like her mother than she cared to admit. Neither of them willingly questioned their course of action.
“You’re setting a trap for him,” Lila mused.
“I hope so,” her mother answered, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m improvising.”
“That’s not like you. You’re meticulous.”
“These are uncharted waters.” Her mother gave a nervous laugh. “You mentioned the Magician and how he steals the lives of the young.”
“Yes.” The sudden change of topic left Lila even more uneasy.
“And you’ve heard of how the city fae are losing their powers.”
“I’ve heard the stories.”
Galeeta rose suddenly, pacing to the window. “Some believe there is a relationship between the two. That the Magician is behind both calamities, and that Lord Farras is involved.”
Lila made a wordless exclamation.
Galeeta turned from the window to face Lila, her gaze fierce. “A fae may lose friends and fortune, but if they lose their magic, they lose themselves. If Farras is responsible, we’ve found his vulnerability—the one thing even his most devoted followers will never forgive.”
Her mother was right. With a spark of both hope and terror, Lila began to see Galeeta’s plan. “We need evidence.”
Her mother reached out, grasping Lila’s hands. “Which is why I volunteered to host this banquet. As I said, it gives us an opportunity both to reassure his lordship of our loyalty and to find proof of his guilt.”
Lila pondered that for a moment. “Where does that leave Father? Aren’t we relying on Lord Farras to plead his case to the king?”
Galeeta’s jaw hardened. “If we hand over the Magician, the king will refuse us nothing. I will save Gareth one way or the other, if I have to tear down the royal dungeon stone after stone with my bare hands.”
Lila swayed slightly, as if her mother’s words were carried by a storm. She searched for a reply, and finally settled on the only one possible.
“What exactly do you need me to do?”
Lila left her mother close to an hour later. Her mind spun from the conversation, and from the amount of things that could go wrong. The sinking sensation in Lila’s gut left her sick and giddy. She finally understood Ademar’s anger, because his response to fear was to strike out. Hers had always been to run, but that would solve nothing.
Galeeta had finally spoken the truth, or at least most of it. Her mother was a consummate courtier, used to the cut and thrust of the chambers of power, but even Lila could see she was in over her head. Even if she survived and justice was done, Galeeta was guilty by association with Farras.
Worse, her mother’s sudden honesty highlighted everything she’d withheld before. Fae were good at half-truths. Lila still wasn’t sure how much of the story was missing.
An ache pierced her chest, along with an unspeakable loneliness. She had no family she could rely on. Sala had to protect her children. Ademar was wounded and in an unpredictable mood. It would be up to her to act, to make decisions that would save or doom her family—maybe all the Forest Fae. It was her against Farras with the fate of their people as the banquet’s main course.
She needed someone with real-world experience at her back.
She found Rafe in one of the storerooms, where the advance party of Lord Farras’s entourage had unloaded a mountain of dry goods. Rafe had been put to work with a broom.
“One of the porters broke a bag of rice,” he said, dark head bent as he swept the scattered mess into a dustpan. “In the old legends fae couldn’t pass a spill like this without counting every grain, but they walked away just fine.”
Lila shook her head. “It’s usually the dark fae who get quirky like that.”
“Quirky,” Rafe muttered, dumping the pan’s contents into a garbage can. The silver bracelets rattled against the metal bin. “I’ll remember that description next time a phouka tries to make me its dinner.”
More porters passed by in the hall, this time carrying deep baskets heaped with fresh greens, carrots, and edible flowers. Preparation for the feast was already underway. Anticipation pulsed in the air, as if the way station itself was aware of new and busy people.
The tension put Lila even more on edge. Rafe looked up, a question in his eyes, as she shut the door to the hallway.
“I have a question,” she began, choosing speed over a subtle approach. They didn’t have much time.
Rafe leaned the broom against the wall and gave her his full attention. “Okay.”
“When you came here, how did you intend to identify the Magician?”
“Smell. He’s been here enough to leave his scent behind.” Rafe’s brow creased. “And he’s the type to injure another without a pang of conscience. Whatever their species, stone-cold killers eventually reveal themselves.”
Lila didn’t bother asking how. “What about his appearance? ”
Rafe froze, as if suddenly making a connection. “I suppose I can say I’ve seen him.”
Lila felt her jaw drop, then snapped it closed. “Where?”
“In a video. Security tape from a club. Izetta had it on her phone.”
“What did he look like?”
Rafe shifted uncomfortably, as if embarrassed. “Like a fae. Long fair hair.”
“And we all look alike.” Lila sounded testy even to herself. “I’ve heard that one before.”
“The camera showed him from the back.” Rafe shrugged. “If Izetta returns, maybe she will do better.”
“If she returns?” Lila asked.
Rafe’s expression fell. “Every prisoner dreams of rescue.”
“If she comes with an army big enough to stop Lord Farras, I’ll throw confetti.”
He released a long breath. “If she was going to come, she’d have done it by now.”
Worry tightened his features. His friend had been badly hurt. Even if she’d reached the highway, she might not have survived. But if she’d made it and could bring back reinforcements?
Lila liked that idea. Escape. Coordinate an attack. Make a plan. If House Fernblade had trustworthy allies, Lila would be doing the same thing.
“This banquet may end badly,” she said softly. “Watch your back.”
“Will there be a fight?” he asked, sounding hopeful.
She almost laughed, but she’d seen what a shifter could do—and she might need him to do it. At first, she’d hated Rafe for wounding Ademar, but the wolf was caught in the web of a wider conflict. Just like her.
“I’m almost certain there will be a battle,” she replied. “But fae don’t always fight with the usual weapons. ”
He brushed her hair aside with the back of his fingers, lightly touching her cheek. “Then you be careful, too.”
“As strange thing for a wolf to say to a fae,” she mused.
“You’re the best jailor I’ve had.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “And I thought we agreed to be allies.”
“We did.”
“Good, because despite your family and magic and all the rest, I rather like you.”
The words were lightly mocking, but they held genuine warmth. His touch lingered, comforting her when she had nothing else to cling to. She balanced on her toes to touch his lips with hers. His palm, large and rough with calluses, cupped the back of her head. Body heat radiated through the taut fabric of his shirt. So tempting. So inviting. Lila leaned into him, exploring the hard terrain of his chest with her palms.
She opened her mouth to his, exploring his unfamiliar taste. He was fundamentally different from her—entirely alien, according to most fae—and yet they shared common ground. Both of them were rebels.
Both wanted to survive. His kiss all but promised it, pushing the darkness from her mood. A light, sweet sensation threaded through her as he pulled her close.
Allies. Maybe friends. Certainly forbidden fruit.
The moment of peace couldn’t last. Breaking the kiss, Lila stepped back. She was short of breath, her mouth tingling as if he’d bruised it. Heat lurked in Rafe’s gaze, as if he knew they’d pick this up at a later time.
“I must get ready for tonight,” she said, dread already seeping back into her soul. “I need to think.”
He caught her hand. “Why did you ask about the Magician?”
Lila opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped herself. All she had were suspicions, and Rafe was bent on vengeance. She had to be careful. “There are a lot of fae coming to the banquet. He might be there. I don’t know anything for certain. ”
“Will you be in danger?” A faint growl rumbled beneath the words.
She winced. “I don’t want to think about that answer.”
He took her chin in his hand, tilting her head until their gazes locked. “Remember you’re not alone. If you’re hunting the Magician, you’ve got friends you haven’t met.”