Warmth rose to Lara’s cheeks.Shades.Exhaustion must be catching up with her. She didn’t usually go blank like that, in the midst of a conversation.
“You should have done more than that.” Hands braced on the table they stood around, the chief-sacrificer’s dark eyes glittered in the lamplight. “Why didn’t you kill the bitch when you had the chance? You could have—”
“Enough, Gregor.” Lara cut him off.
“But you can’t believe a word that slips from a Shee’s lips.” He looked almost desperate now, and it hit Lara how deeply hatred of the Shee ran amongst her people. “They’re all manipulators.”
“Moris a manipulator,” she corrected him, her own anger rising now. “Your prejudice isn’t helping matters. Rein it in.”
The chief-sacrificer growled another curse. Beside him, Cailean shifted, casting the big man with sharp cheekbones and a shaven head a warning look. They’d never been friends, but had rubbed along well enough of late. However, Gregor was close to crossing a line this evening.
On the way to the meeting pavilion, Lara had weathered stares and whispers. Mor’s confirmation had caused a storm within the camp. News that their High Queen was a fire-wielder rippled through the ranks. Everyone who followed her would know by dawn. However, all those in this pavilion already knew her secret, for they’d been present when she wielded fire to save them at the previous Gateway.
No, Gregor wasn’t in a foul temper about Lara being a fire-wielder, but about what he perceived to be her inaction. He wanted Mor disposed of, and The Uplands back in Marav hands.
Lara wanted that too, but she wasn’t a butcher. As angry as she was, she wouldn’t attack Mor and her Ravens unprovoked.
Annis cleared her throat, even as she cast Gregor a censorious look. “The Gods won’t approve of violence … not when the Shee approached us in peace.”
“Will they return?” Ren, the chief-bard asked. Her sharp-featured face was pinched.
“Aye,” Lara replied, her voice roughening. “Our conversation ended badly. But before she melted into the mist, Mor made it clear, she’d seek me out again … in a couple of days … to see if I’ve changed my mind.”
“And this time, you’ll torch her,” Gregor growled, unable to hold his tongue.
“I think you should heed Mor,” Bree said then, as if Gregor hadn’t spoken.
Silence fell like a cleaver in the tent. The five senior druids Lara took everywhere with her, as well as her captain, all fell silent. They all stared at Bree.
Lara folded her arms across her chest. “Really?” Heat pulsed under her ribs. She didn’t want to heed Mor. She wanted to gather her army, march north, and make all her enemies pay.
Bree raised her chin. “She’s telling the truth.”
The chief-sacrificer made a disgusted sound. “Of course, you’d say that … you’re one ofthem.”
“Gregor,” Cailean rumbled. “Watch yourself.”
The chief-sacrificer’s heavy jaw bunched, high spots of color flushing across his angular cheeks. “You’re a weak-minded fool, mac Brochan. Your wife has you in the palm of her hand, doesn’t she?”
Cailean’s gaze narrowed. “Just keep talking.”
Trying to ignore the ratcheting tension between the two men, Lara met Bree’s eye. “But haven’t you always warned me never to trust her?”
“And I stand by that. However, she’s never reached out a hand to a Marav ruler like this … or made herself so vulnerable before. Things clearly haven’t been going her way of late. She’s worried. Humbled.”
“The threat she speaks of is real,” Cailean agreed reluctantly. “We all know it.”
“But can’t we find a way to solve it ourselves?” Lara cut her attention to her chief-counselor. “Surely, the druids have enough knowledge?”
Annis’s lips pursed. “I’m flattered by your faith in us, My Queen … but earth magic can’t mend what fire magic broke.” She grimaced then. “Onlyyourpower can do that?”
Lara’s stomach clenched. “So, you believe Mor’s story too?”
Annis nodded.
“If that’s the case, why does she need thethreeof you?” Gregor interrupted once more. A vein pulsed on his temple now. “And what’s this crap about needing that half-breed bastard as a ‘bridge’ and her weaving moonlight? It all reeks like shit to me.”
Lara’s gut clenched. Did it? Flustered, she swept her gaze back to Cailean. “Tell me more about your last visit to The Shattered Crown.”
