“Bloodsinger isn’t furious with you.”
“Only because the Ever King finds it entertaining and a way to get the elven folk out of his palace.”
Sander chuckled. “I’m your brother and will be at your side, even when you’re being a damn fool.”
Across from us, Aleksi settled on the bench. We were not blood related, but shared cousins since his aunt and my uncle were consorts. Much like Livia, Alek had been a friend to us since birth.
“What say you, honorable Rave warrior?” I used my toe to nudge his shin.
Alek sighed, running his fingers through dark hair he typically kept braided down the center of his skull. “We are here, aren’t we? What am I supposed to say at this point?”
Loyal Aleksi. Always there, even if he didn’t agree with the choices.
“Although,” he went on, his odd, gilded eyes pouring into me. “I’ve decided to stick to Rave camps and battle strategy. The way you sods are pairing off, next thing I know, I’ll be vowing with an empress I never met.”
“Wouldn’t be so bad, Alek.” Von grunted and pulled himself into the coach. His dark hair was cropped close on the sides and longer on the top, and his features were innocent—big, sad eyes and a smile that hid the true cunning he kept inside. With a sigh, he adjusted the cloak on his shoulders and sat back on the bench between Heartwalker and Alek, knocking Aleksi’s knee. “I’ll take an empress.”
Von was half-alver, but never presented with mesmer magic. We didn’t know if he would live like a mortal, or like magical blood. Not that it mattered. There were elixirs aplenty to extend mortal lives back home.
I was glad for it. Alvers like us lived centuries akin to fae, but without the aid of different magics or spell casts, our mortal friends would fade to the Otherworld too soon.
Von was older than the lot of us, and had become a playful, scheming brother of sorts to me and Sander.
“Well, both my fathers think you’re mad.” Alek kicked up one boot, resting it on my bench. “They even offered to keep you chained in the Northern realms until you come to your senses. I think Uncle Kase considered it.”
Ah, no doubt my father would be overjoyed to lock me away until I changed my mind about this entire vow.
I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m strategic, and I think you all are jealous.”
Heartwalker was the one who chuckled. “Jealous? To have a woman who knows how to slaughter men as a wife? No, Prince. This move is all yours.”
“Heartwalker.” I feigned a bit of stun. “Watch what you say, or I’ll seat you next to Mira the entire ceremony.”
Tait’s face twisted into a deep frown. He said nothing and looked out the window, likely bracing for the whirlwind the youngest royal of the earth realms brought with her.
Another like-a-sister, Mira was the princess of the glamour fae—illusionists and shifters and compulsion magic—and had it in for Tait Heartwalker since the grumbly fool seemed to be the only soul in the kingdoms who was not enraptured with her.
With a jolt, the coach set off toward the palace. Simple conversation overtook the ride. I listened, sometimes chuckled, but my thoughts were lost to the stink of the alehouse, to the disguised princess who almost seemed at peace for the few moments we allowed it.
On first glance, she was unthreatening. But when the elven tried to overtake the sea fae, I fought close to her, and there was no denying the woman handled a blade as well as any Rave warrior.
“Sander.” I kept my voice low, so only my brother would hear. “Do you see this as a betrayal? Tell me honestly.”
He arched a brow. “Why do you think that?”
“She nearly killed you.” There was the other purpose behind vowing with this princess. She had gifts and abilities strong enough they nearly killed my brother, a skilled fighter on his own.
Beneath Sander’s tunic was a gnarled scar across his middle.
“Jo, I’ve told you my thoughts on the elven princess.”
“Perhaps you are too forgiving.”
“She fought to protect the king, the same we would have done.” He adjusted on the bench. “You need to see the memory of it. Maj iswilling?—”
“I don’t want to see it.” My jaw pulsed with tension.
Our mother was an alver capable of borrowing, sharing, or stealing memories. Sander shared the memory of his near death with her shortly after I petitioned the Dokkalfar king. Like him, my mother insisted I ought to see it.
