“Wha—” the word caught in my throat as a voice hidden in my subconscious rose.
Come back to me. All of you come back! I’ll eat you all. Drain your hopes, your life!
That voice was the one that haunted my sleep.
“No!” I screamed as a tug, something familiar but also savage, ripped into my mind.
“Fight it! Once he has control, you have to fight your way back!” the fae carrying me screamed, but it was no use.
But the other voice gripped me in a way that I’d never experienced. Above, the faerie loosed a string of curses, and kept running as darkness pulled me under again.
Interlude
LORD LEYV RIIS, LORD OF TONGUES, HOUSE OF THE ICE SPIDER
The Crown Drassil’s leaves swayed in the winds blowing in off the Shivering Sea, and Lord Leyv Riis pulled his overpriced bandicota fur cloak tighter around his shoulders.
Though leaves danced above, many littered the snow at the spymaster’s feet. A bad omen for the future. One fae willfully turned away from. No one at court dared to bring up the fact that all Drassils were losing leaves at a worrying rate. They did not speak their concerns to the Grand Staret or the eldest Vishkus at the House of Wisdom either.
But the Lord of Tongues’ spiders heard what those in the great houses did not say in polite company. All the Drassils planted on noble land were long in the dying. His own Drassil, in a protected grove near Eruhall, what used to be the castle of House Skau, was also in dire straits. And as Leyv was not the old blood of Winter, but an upstart house, he could not help his own tree as often as he’d like to. Rather he required bringing in a noble with the ancientblood of kings and queens flowing through them to enliven the tree.
Perhaps some of the wild holy trees were in a bad way too, though with other matters being at the forefront of his mind, the spymaster had sent no one out to check.
“Sorry I’m late.”
The voice of the female he’d loved all his life flitted through the courtyard. Leyv turned and took in Inga.
“I was lost in my thoughts.”
Her lips curled. It was a smile she gave only to him and her children, and he cherished every single one. “I hope you’re ready to consider a bit more, for I have news.”
His head tilted to the side. He’d called the queen here to discuss what was happening with Vale—and propose their next move. To, hopefully, push her into acting. But the way she spoke told him that whatever she wished to share was indeed important.
He nodded beyond her, to the entrance to the courtyard, where the queen’s Clawsguards might stand. “Alone?”
“I sent them away for privacy in my prayer.” She shrugged. “They obliged as easily as ever.”
No surprise there. Inga Aaberg, née Vagle was the most powerful mind reader—and secret whisperer—in the kingdom. She’d overheard many times others thinking about how she unnerved them. How they felt she was hiding something.
They were all right, of course. Only Leyv’s and Inga’s family, and not even all of them, knew of the queen’s true powers. How her magic made her a silent weapon, and one of the most powerful creaturesin the realm.
Inga joined him before the tree. They allowed the briefest brushing of hands, nothing more, as anyone could walk into the courtyard at any time. Outside their private quarters, the pair had to proceed with caution.
“What did you wish to tell me?” the spymaster asked.
“Magnus has left Avaldenn with Lord Lisika and a retinue of six Clawsguards. Just now.”
“Where? And why?”
He had held a meeting with the king, Prince Rhistel, Lord Roar, Lady Qiren, Lady Ithamai, and selected jarls just that morning. The king had called his banners and made sure that the faithful great houses were amassing their armies. He was preparing to strike the moment Neve showed her face. Magnus was already paranoid that Neve had gathered an army.
He was wrong, but if Lord Riis’s sons had done their jobs correctly, Neve and Vale would already be on their way south. They’d treat with House Balik, and after all that had transpired in the Courting Festival, Leyv believed Neve would soon begin building her army.
He intended to add his soldiers to her cause too, when the time was right, and the young hawk recognized the fullness of her power.
“He wouldn’t say and did not allow me close enough to learn.”
So the king had wished to keep his plans a secret from his wife, not allowing her to touch him and read his intentions.
