There was no fucking way that I was going to miss this.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The dining hall of the Royal Palace was a vast space of stone and wood, with vaulted ceilings and heavy chandeliers that shed a soft light on the diners. And there were a lot of diners. Courtiers from all the fae races sat at long crystal tables in gilded chairs—or on the floor in the case of the Trolls—with platters of food set in lines down the center of the tables. They laughed and drank, generally having a good time.
Until the Falcon Lord stormed into the room like a vengeful god.
In a wave, silence spread over the space until it reached General Thalsar, who sat at the front of the room, his table right beside the empty high table that was reserved for royalty. The look of fury on Tae's face would have been enough to put a halt to the festivities, but with the King and me on his tail, the very air trembled.
Thalsar peered around in confusion before his gaze found Tae. One look at the warlord and the General's expression hardened. He stood up and came around his table to face the Falcon Lord, hand rising in placation and mouth opening to speak. Tae punched Thalsar in the face before he could utter a single word.
Thalsar went flying, crashing into the high table hard enough to send it screeching backward. He crumpled to the floor but then shook it off and got to his feet. “That is the second time you have attacked me without cause, Taeven. I will not let it go unanswered this time.”
“Without cause?” Tae made a rumbling sound of rage. “I know what you did, Thalsar.” He stretched his shoulders and neck like a professional boxer preparing for a fight.
Thalsar glanced at me and the King to find both of us glaring at him, but despite that, he decided to give innocence one last try. “I don't know what you're talking about.”
Taeven punched him again, this time a sideways blow that caught the General on the cheek. Thalsar righted himself before he fell, shook off the blow, and snarled, his expression settling into fury as blood dripped from his nose. He sank into a battle stance and bared his bloodstained teeth.
“I'm not going to stand here and let you pummel me, no matter what you think I'm guilty of,” Thalsar snapped.
“Sana confessed, you piece of shit,” Tae hissed. “I don't think you're guilty; Iknowit. She told us all about the hulrine potion.”
The courtiers gasped and whispers began to circle the hall.
Thalsar's expression fell. “Tae, that was just to get you back. You were so wrapped up in him.” He waved a hand at me. “You weren't yourself. I was trying to help you.”
“You thought you were helping me by drugging my valorian and making it appear as if he had betrayed me with you?!” Taeven roared.
Faeries got out of their seats and started to come forward, standing supportively behind their King and me. It looked as if they weren't too happy about an attack on their warlord and his new valorian. Even the faeries who had scorned Tae stood to denounce the general. Tae's bloodline suddenly didn't matter so much. I suppose it was one of those things, like the bonds between brothers. You could fight with your brother and call him the foulest names, but if someone else dared to come at him, you'd demolish them. Regardless of his low birth, Taeven was their warlord, and he'd been betrayed by someone who professed to be his friend.
“I was going to tell you eventually,” Thalsar said.
“Tell me what? That you lied to me when you said you had fucked my lover? That you, in essence, called Shane a liar and drove us apart? Or that you assaulted someone under my protection?”
“I didn't assault him. It was just a little memory loss.”
“You drugged him with an interrogation potion and when he passed out, you stripped him and laid down naked beside him, posing the two of you to make me think the worst,” Tae growled.
The courtiers started to mutter angrily.
“And when Shane swore his innocence to me, you disputed him. You said it was just sex. You made medoubthim when it was you who was lying. You discredited a man who saved my life. Discredited and shamed him. A valorian who has proven himself to the Goddess. The first person to truly make me happy, and you made me believe that he was worthless. That I had wasted my soul on a faithless whore. When you are the faithless whore. Disloyal and cheap with your petty machinations. That, Thalsar, is an attack of the foulest sort.”
“You were ours first!” Thalsar shouted. “We made you happy before him, but you barely looked at us with him there. Over twenty years and you looked relieved when we walked away from you that first night.”
“I was never yours,” Taeven said sharply. “I counted you both as friends, but you never made me happy. Not like Shane does. And now I know why. His beauty, unlike yours and Sana's, goes beyond the surface. He is truly good.”
“Don't you dare speak of Sana like that!” Thalsar shouted and dove for Taeven.
The two men rolled, fists slamming into flesh, and blood flying in a spray that not even the gloriously dressed court flinched away from. A circle of faeries surrounded the brawling men, but this wasn't like a fight in the camps; they weren't egging the men on or placing bets. The courtiers watched with the intense air of a jury bearing witness to justice, and the King stood beside me with his arms crossed and expression vicious—a judge who'd obviously made his decision. He watched in approval as Tae turned into the madman I'd seen in that alley back in Fellbrook. With his face twisted into molten rage and eerie shrieks echoing up his throat, the Falcon Lord beat on the General with cruel efficiency, taking every hit Thalsar landed with barely a blink and giving it back tenfold. It soon became apparent that Thalsar was fighting for his life and only his skill and fae speed were saving him.
The men broke apart, both bleeding, and circled each other as they panted like animals. Neither were armed and both were immortal, so death would take a while, but I saw it there in Tae's eyes and knew he wouldn't stop until his old friend lay dead before him. What would that do to Tae? How could he recover from killing someone he had once cared for? No, this wasn't worth my vengeance. I started to step forward, intent on putting a stop to it, but a pale blur raced by me.
Princess Sanasenne settled into a fighting stance in front of her lover, her gleaming sword held expertly—its tip pointed at Tae's throat. “Stand down, Taeven.”
“The fuck I will,” Tae growled and grinned menacingly. Yep, the man I loved was gone, overtaken by the predator. And the Princess's sword wouldn't make a whit of difference.
“Sana!” the King shrieked. “Get away from that traitor this instant!”
