Yaya turned on the oven and slid something inside before I saw what she held. The heavenly aroma of Melwyyn cake filled the kitchen.
“Why would you even attempt to kill him with your level of skill? Don't you know how powerful he is? Being half Nightmare makes him almost impossible to murder.”
Maggie swallowed thickly at that. Her eyes flicked to me, full of fear for the first time. Great. I did my best to hold my gaze steady and face any disgust there.
“Is the cake ready, Yaya?” I said to give me time to search Maggie’s expression.
“Oh, yes.”
I didn’t find any distaste, and I let out a long breath as relief flooded through me. But Maggie did lower her gaze to the table in the first bit of humility I’d ever seen from her. I didn’t care for it, even though it was wise.
Yaya whisked the cherry-studded cake out ofthe oven and onto a trivet in the center of the table. I cut myself a healthy slice instead of the half of the cake I wanted to shove in my face. Melwyyn cake tasted like pure childhood.
Yaya sat down. “Don’t worry about it, Maggie. Noth doesn’t look any the worse for wear. In fact, he has a rosy glow about him.”
I attempted to kick her under the table but she moved too fast for me. I got the feeling Yaya had already married, mated and crowned us in her head and I was still trying to figure out how not to die in my own territory.
“Have some cake, dear.”
Maggie eyed it like the confection would grow teeth and bite her. “I shouldn’t.”
“You’ll love it,” Yaya said.
“It's a magic cake made by the Elves. Try it,” I encouraged her.
“I don’t eat sugar.” Maggie leaned away.
Yaya looked at me again and I shrugged. Maggie could eat or not eat whatever she wanted as far as I was concerned.
“Luckily, it has no sugar in it. Just love,” Yaya said.
I grabbed another slice and stuffed it in my mouth, happily munching away.
Maggie’s glance at Yaya said she didn’t want to be rude. She took barely a crumb between her fingers and put it inher mouth. Watching her mouth work, her smile form and her eyes light up with mutual understanding was addictive.
“This is amazing. Almost better than anything Fallon has ever made.”
Quite the compliment as Fallon was one of the few people Maggie truly liked. I couldn’t resist. I fed her a bit of my cake to evoke her joy again.
“The usurper likes it too. I tried to poison him with it.”
Maggie spat the cake out and she glared at me. I put up my hands.
“I didn’t do it!”
Yaya patted her hand. “Oh, not this one. His bride won't touch it either. She seems painfully thin.”
“Bride?” I asked her.
She sighed heavily, smiling as Maggie shoved as much cake as she could into her mouth. “He’s promising to bring fertility to the Elves and using his bride to prove it. If Severin doesn’t kill him first.”
“The King of the Fae has already made his move?” He was an icy twat at the best of times. It didn’t quite surprise me he had the gall.
“Just court visits for the moment but he’s probing for weaknesses,” Yaya replied. “And he wanted to see the Godd object. He wasn’t impressed.”
I slapped my hand onto the table. It didn’t stop Maggie from eating cake. “Even the Fae knows it’s a fake.And the rest of the court still believes the human has the true Calix?”
“It looks convincing and he’s so confident about it.”
