We were untouchable.
Were.Doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Not under Vaelyn’s rule.
“If this Death Bringer has slipped through the veil, what else do you think she’ll bring with her?” Darin asks, pinning his eyes against me. “A legion of demons? Cursed objects for innocents todiscover? Famine, plague, wrath?”
The room turns to me, awaiting my answer.
No.
Nothing so damning. Nothing so dramatic.
Knowing Ylara, she’ll bring at least one thing with her. Something as hungry for knowledge as she and in possession of a pair of bright yellow eyes.
“No,” I say with a small laugh. “You’ve nothing to fear on that account.”
Even if it turns out to be a lie, I’m not going to give further reason for these kings to hunt my sister, allies or otherwise.
“It doesn’t seem like there’s any love lost between the three of you,” Rowen notes before finishing his glass of brandy.
“The relationship between Vaelyn and Ylara has always been… tense,” I reply. “My relationship with Vaelyn is the same. But Ylara and I… we were close. I taught her how to navigate the hells, its court and their games, how to keep herself safe, and how to be an effective Death Bringer.”
“You were her mentor,” Lilith says.
“She was my ward in a way,” I correct.
“It seems nothing has changed with Netharis’ death,” Fenryn says, his tone bitter as he plucks his near empty glass of water from the low table before him.
“Untrue,” Rowen counters. He crosses the room to claim the seat beside Darin. “Countless lives have been freed from contracts. With any luck, they’ll have learned their lesson and serve to warn others.”
In theory an honorable goal.
In practice, it’ll serve to breed more subversive tactics from demons.
Nothing yeteverythinghas changed with Netharis’ demise.
“Should we convene with the human kings?” Darin asks and Rowen huffs a small sigh. “We would be fools to assume the god of death isn’t making them offers too.”
“I’ve corresponded with Emperor Orenias, but he along with a few other countries are reluctant to summit,” Rowen replies with a tight-lipped frown.
Can’t say I know this Emperor Orenias or the country he leads.
Can’t say I care right now either.
Though, their reluctance is to be expected. Rowen is one of the same fae kings who enslaved humans for centuries. The human king may not have experienced such horrors himself, but his ancestors certainly did. And even now, humans are unwelcome within Vis’ borders.
It wouldn’t matter what Rowen had to say, I’d be reluctant to listen too.
“Perhaps calling a summit should be a task best left to the High Emperor and Empress,” Fenryn says, exchanging glances with Ryc.
“A task not in need of completion right now,” Ryc says, rising from his seat. “Right now, I’d like to retire. Today has been long enough.”
On that, I couldn’t agree more.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
As I openmy eyes and the white ceiling of my new marital quarters comes into focus, the last few fuzzy details of my dream fade faster than fog. I shiver against the cold permeating my bones as I peer toward the windows.
Dawn.
