“Wait.” He takes another step closer, lowering his voice. “That’s not the only reason I requested we meet.”
“What else could we have to say to each other?”
He brings a hand to his face, rubbing his mustache as if it will help him find his words. Then his gaze falls on his niece, eyes turning down at the corners at the sight of her flushed cheeks, her unshed tears. He goes still. With a resigned grumble, he pins his arms stiffly at his side. “I need your help.Weneed your help.”
I pull my head back in surprise. “Who’s we?”
“The humans, Miss Fair—I mean, Your Majesty.”
I’m so shocked to hear my honorific coming from his lips that my mouth momentarily falls open. I hurry to hide my astonishment behind a look of skepticism. “Why is that?”
He clenches his jaw as if it pains him to answer the question. “King Grigory has forsaken us, left his people to die just to be rid of a powerful nuisance.”
I bristle at hearing the fae referred to as anuisancebut clench my jaw to keep from interrupting.
He continues. “He’s willing to sacrifice an entire population to wrest total control from the fae once and for all.”
“He won’t have much to rule over when he blasts the entire isle to smithereens,” Aspen mutters.
The mayor nods. “I think he’d rather lose the isle than face possible defeat.”
“Why come to me?” I ask. “What is it you expect me to do about it?”
“You’re one of them. One of the fae. You have the ear of the other royals. Not only that, but I trust that you care about the fate of the humans.”
“The fae are already doing our best to prepare for it. We will defend Faerwyvae at all costs.”
“I know,” he says, “but we need you to defend Eisleigh too.”
I’m dumbstruck, words stripped from my throat as I stare at the mayor in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding. You want the fae to protect thehumans? The humans who we are at war with?”
“We will set our squabbles aside.”
“So, what? You’re offering a temporary ceasefire?” I scoff at that, remembering how poorly my last negotiations over a ceasefire ended. “That’s not good enough. We need your total surrender.”
The mayor throws his hands in the air. “We have no king anymore, Evelyn. Eisleigh is broken. If you want our surrender, you can have it. It’s nothing more than the plea of dying men.”
Aspen and I exchange a glance.He’s desperate,he says through the Bond.
Suspicion has my gaze returning to the mayor. “Why are you so willing to bargain with me? In fact, why are you even on the isle still? You said the king sent word to the council with a warning for the elite families to vacate. Shouldn’t that include you?”
His voice comes out small. “I have more than just my household here. Yes, I have my wife and children. But also brothers and sisters.” He waves a hand toward Marie. “Nieces and nephews.”
“All of whom are among the wealthy elite,” I say, narrowing my eyes. “Marie’s parents own the most prosperous trade ships on the isle. Their ships could take your entire extended family to safety.”
“Every one of their ships is out on trade,” he says through his teeth. “As soon as the treaty was broken, the king sent word to all the ports, forbidding ships from returning to Eisleigh. That’s when he launched his warships.”
I frown. “None of the other ships would take you?”
“I’m not leaving my family,” he says. “My wife won’t leave her sisters. My brother won’t leave without his daughters.” His gaze turns to Marie, and his face falls. “Maddie won’t leave Bircharbor, awaiting the return of her husband.”
I bite back my urge to break the news that Maddie Coleman will be waiting indefinitely. With Cobalt dead, she’s no longer the wife of a fae king.
The mayor gestures at his niece. “I doubt this one will leave the fae, for whatever godforsaken reason has her enamored with your kind. Please, I’m begging you. Tell me there’s something you can do for the humans.”
I close my eyes and bring my fingertips to my temples, my mind whirling with thoughts, questions, solutions. It’s already an impossible enough task to come up with a way to protect Faerwyvae. How can we possibly make a plan that could save Eisleigh too? And if I agree to defend the humans myself, is there anything I can do to get the other royals to join me? I can already imagine Flauvis trying to convince the others that we should take this opportunity to eradicate the humans.
Aspen’s voice comes through the Bond like a smooth caress.What are you thinking, my love?
