He nods. “He’ll do worse than break the treaty. I’ve made sure of it.”
“What have you done?”
“It’s not what I’ve done, but what Aspen is about to do. Now that he thinks you changed your mind about him and sided with our mother instead, he’ll show his true nature.”
“He couldn’t possibly think I’d do such a thing,” I say.
“He thinks you’re on your way home right now to fulfill your end of the bargain with Melusine. You left him a letter, after all, saying exactly that.”
“He’ll see through it. He’ll never believe the letter was mine.”
“My brother?” Cobalt lets out a cold laugh. “The most paranoid king that ever lived? The boy who was abandoned by his own mother after she came to regret saving his life? Of course he’ll believe it. He’s always looking for proof that others are out to get him. That no one could ever love him.”
A lump rises in my throat, but I keep my breathing steady. “He’s smarter than you think. He knew something happened to Amelie. Knew the body on the beach wasn’t hers.”
“He may have known that,” he says, “but only because the proof wasn’t convincing enough.”
I’m about to argue that a letter isn’t strong enough proof, when a chilling realization strikes me. Cobalt is confident. Prepared. There’s more to this than I know. “What other proof did you give him?”
“I put a glamour over Amelie to make her look more like you.” His words are nonchalant, free of malice, as if we were talking about nothing more than the weather. “After she brought you from the palace, I sent her to steal one of your dresses. Then she snuck into the stables and stole a puca. I made sure Aspen’s most trusted few saw it happen. Foxglove. Lorelei. Several of his guards. It took him a few accounts before he believed it, but it was clear when he finally did.”
“No.”
“He was crushed. Heartbroken. So enraged, he shifted into his stag form and tore from the palace grounds.”
I blink to fight the tears, clenching my jaw. “Where is he now?”
“He’s probably looking for you. Once he realizes you’re nowhere to be found, the rage will consume him. He’ll attack your village and draw first blood. Perhaps much of it. He’ll make the slaughter at the Holstrom farm look like a picnic.” He shakes his head with disgust, as if he has no hand in any of it.
“How can you say it isn’t war you want, when that’s exactly what will happen after this?”
He shakes his head. “We won’t go to war. The treaty will not be broken, because I will be there to save it. Aspen will perform this final act of recklessness, revealing the unstable maniac he is. It will give the council the fuel they need to be rid of him once and for all and put me in his place. Aspen has been keeping Faerwyvae from the peace it deserves, and I am but one of many who feels that way.”
It all makes sense now. Of course Cobalt wants to be king. All the times he talked about Aspen’s faults, how he has no shortage of allies that would stand against the king…he’s been planning this all along. “What about the unseelie? They couldn’t possibly support you. You’re seelie, aren’t you?”
“I have my mother to sway them. The unseelie trust her word.”
“Your mother supports all this?”
A corner of his mouth quirks. “She knows some of my plans, although she thinks I’m under her thumb. She’d always promised to support my claim to the throne if I could get Aspen out of the way. Little does she know, I won’t be furthering the unseelie cause like she expects.”
“No, you’ll further the seelie cause,” I say. “Fight for a radical seelie council. Eradicate the unseelie.”
“Can you blame me? The unseelie are uncivilized. You know about my mother, how she abandoned her children. That’s not rare for unseelie. They’re hardly better than animals, eating their young, leaving the lame to die. And what about creatures like the kelpies and vampires and goblins? Do they deserve to terrorize their victims?”
His words make my stomach sink, but I remember what Aspen told me. About fair choice and the balance necessary to preserve it. Was he right? Or would the world be better if the unseelie were gone?
“I’m ready to make you a bargain,” Cobalt says. “Go home. Return to your people. Take the ones you love most and get them out of the village tonight. I’ll get you there at once, before Aspen can unleash his wrath. Hide from my brother until his dark deeds are done. I’ll have guards waiting. They’ll stop him before he can draw too much blood. That will be enough to lose Aspen his throne without starting a war. Then I will be made king and the treaty will remain intact. Don’t you see? Amelie and I are mates. We’re Bonded. She and I will marry in your and Aspen’s stead, securing the treaty.”
“And then what? You’ll let Aspen go on his jolly way?” I let out a bark of laughter. “I doubt that. Your first order as king will be to have him executed.”
“Don’t let your emotions cloud your good sense, Evelyn,” he says. “Aspen’s removal is necessary, and yes, he will need to be disposed of entirely. But don’t you understand? Your relationship with him is tenuous, even if my brother remained in power. He might marry you, and he might even make you his queen, but what about when he grows tired of you? What about when your fragile human body slowly begins to age? What then?”
I think of Doris Mason and her cousin, anxiety rising in my chest.
Cobalt shakes his head. “This is the only logical solution. Take my bargain and save your people. The seelie way will keep the Fair Isle safe. Reject my bargain and I will leave you here to die.
My heart leaps into my throat. “You’re going to kill me?”
