It took me a moment to realize I wasn’t bowing like I should be and I noted every single other Elf that hesitated as well.
When we all rose, Brad stood on the first step of the dais, flapping his hands like all the adoration was no big deal. Still, he took a moment to adjust the bangles on his wrists. As they glowed, the pressure in the room increased. Those hadn't changed. Could his mecha have saved him from Evie’s mighty hurl into the sky?
“You guys! Come on. We’re basically one big family now, right?”
I gritted my teeth. We certainly were not and watching the twitching reaction of the Elves closest to me said they weren’t either.
“It’s been a hard road to get here, but I believed in us. We’re building something greater than ourselves. I know. A lot of long hours…”
“And no dumplings,” the guard muttered.
“... but I only have winners on my team and that has meant a lot of sacrifice. It also meanswe’re finally ready to expand my kingdom.”
So it was “his kingdom” when it suited him. If ever the stars aligned to teach me a lesson, this was it. The anger missing with Noth and Yaya came pouring over me like a bath of lava. I needed to save my anger for the people who really deserved it and Brad certainly deserved it.
Brad’s smile slid like oil over his face. “And we have a new ally.”
The man who stepped from behind the throne looked enough like Noth that he should have stolen my breath. Tall and lithe like him, his dark hair glinted with cherry undertones. He filled out his royal attire with a well-muscled frame and a sword that saw more than its scabbard. His long hair, not quite as long as Noth’s, framed delicately pointed ears and his moss green eyes. But Noth would have torn the crystalline wings on his back right from his body. The copious light from the windows shimmered his dagger-like wings into a rainbow of colors. It was the only soft thing about him. Haughty, reserved came to mind as he stood next to Brad and surveyed the crowd.
Gasps leapt up at his appearance. Murmurs of confusion confirmed he was the Fae King, as Brad took his hand and raised it like the asshat had won a prize. Distaste flashed so fast on the King’s face, not even Brad caught it with them standing next to one another.
“Together, we will take the Siren Queen’s kingdom.”
“We will discuss,” the Fae amended.
“And the Harrowlands!” Brad shouted.
Too full of himself to hear the Fae or acknowledge the lackluster cheer the crowd farted out, Brad turned back to his throne. The Fae sat to his right as Brad snapped his fingers to be served refreshments. Apparently that was about as rousing as he got for a plan that seemed dumb even to me. But the ambition of a mediocre man knew no bounds.
I retreated to the edge of the room.
“What about the Calix? And the children?” A voice popped up that sounded suspiciously like Yaya’s. Everyone looked at everyone else to see who had spoken first.
“Yes!” The male Elf who had whispered his despair earlier took a brave step forward, then one back when Brad stood again.
In fact, everyone stepped somewhere else at Brad’s start and it gave me an excuse to move closer.
“When will the Calix bestow its blessing?” the Elf asked in a quieter voice.
Brad came down from the dais to make his point. Sweat gathered as I reached the foot of the stairs. I had never actually taken anyone out, not even Noth, as spicy as I usually lived my life. I had to make good on that promise now.
Brad put his hands on his hips and leaned forward, still taller than the crowd that would dwarf him if he weren’t standing on the stair. “Well, are you doing your part? How many of you have banged?”
The murmur of the crowd became a swell with his crude language. And was that a delicate sigh I heard from the throne? The Fae remained as stone-faced as ever so it must have come from the bride. I don’t know how anyone thought this donkey dick was even in the same league as Noth.
“The human experiment was doing better than this! They at least had children with the monsters of the Harrowlands.”
Some brave soul moved forward, Yaya at his back, literally propping him up.
“Don’t start, Erendriel, it's announcement day, not debate day. We can raze that human village now. That dull-witted experiment is over. Maybe we can make it into a polo field.”
“Of- of course, my Liege. Ow!”
Brad didn’t seem to notice Yaya elbowing the man in the kidney.
“What a stupid idea to begin with. Who searches for anything good in such easily manipulated and fragile creatures? They only produced bastard whelps, anyway. Didn’t you tell me you all hated the halfbreed on your throne?”
If I needed another reason to detest Brad, he was apparently chock-full of them. But my rage didn’t burn hot; it had turned ice cold. No one called Rat Face a halfbreed andlived.
