“My Queen,” Cadoc began slowly. “The hunt—”
“Will proceed beautifully without you this night,” she interrupted, smiling sweetly. The whole court leaned in, scarcely breathing. “You will better serve here, I’ve decided.”
The insult was barely hidden.You are a servant and you are replaceable.
The court shifted, delighted at the addition to the feast, for gossip was revered above all. Whispers flickered like candle flames, quietly snuffed before they could take shape. His grandsire’s eyes were lit with something terrible, more than malice and crueler than contempt. He made no movement that betrayed him, but his eyes . . . his eyes were screaming.
“As you wish, my love.”
The Bonfire Queen clapped again as she stepped forward, placing herself between them, positively giddy over the tension she’d created. “There we are! Gather your blades. Huntsmen, prepare your bows. Sharpen yourselves, dear hearts. The forest is waiting.”
When the horns sounded, the quarry was released. A stag and its yearling, taking off in a scuffle, followed quickly by a darting rabbit. Tate couldn’t tell what the fourth victim had beentransfigured into, for the theater playing out beside him was far closer, and much more dangerous.
“You look unhappy,” the Queen pouted before Cadoc, her baby voice teetering on the edge of mockery, reinforced when her hand reached out, tapping her fingertip against the tip of his nose reproachfully. “Isn’t it nice to have a night off, sweetling?”
She turned to Tate. “And I seem to remember you not enjoying the hunt last time, dear heart. Isn’t this better?”
“I don’t enjoy being put in a cage, either.”
She laughed, delighted. “Oh, you arewonderful, truly. See?” she turned back to Cadoc. “Thisis why I enjoy him. You don’t make me laugh anymore, my love.”
Before them, the hunt came to life. Laughter rang out, high and eager. Weapons were drawn, horses mounted, hounds barked and pulled. Torches bloomed to life, one by one. When the horns sounded again, they were off. The clearing emptied steadily, leaving the three of them behind beneath the lanterns.
Cadoc struck like a cobra, his hand capturing his Queen by the throat before Tate could so much as blink.
“Do you remember the Queen that came before you, my love?”
No sound came from her. Tate wasn’t sure that it could. The hooked talon-tip of the fingerguard Cadoc wore pressed into her temple, trailing down her cheek. Tate had frozen, too stunned to react and not knowing what his reaction should have been, in any case.
“No? She, too, was very beautiful. Are yousureyou don’t remember? I slit her throat right before you, placed her crown on your head, still dripping. I’ve committed atrocities against our own kind for you. I am the only thing that keeps this world in order. Without fear of me, there is nothing stopping this horde from ripping you apart. And you would trade on that . . . for what? Forhim?” Cadoc gestured at Tate, laughing as if he’d told a joke.
Tate wasn’t sure whether he was meant to be offended or not, so he decided it was safer to say nothing.It’s still a fucking setback.Thisis why you don’t make plans in this place.
“Do you think hewantsto be here? Do you think he will stay? Beloved, his eyes have not stopped searching for an exit since the moment he arrived.”
Thatwasoffensive. He’d done nothing of the sort.
“Do you thinkhewill protect you from the monsters you’ve created? I created him. I assure you, he will not. I just wanted to remind you, my only love. Youarea replacement. Don’t forget it after this night, when you have nothing.”
Just as quickly as his hand had found her throat, Cadoc stepped back, releasing the Queen fully, his hand dropping instead to the hilt of his blade. Casually, but with clear intent.
The Bonfire Queen stepped back, carefully, deliberately, saying nothing for a long moment.
“Well,” she began, her voice light and her smile lethal. “It will be a revelation to see who sits beside me on the morrow, I suppose. Be good, my loves. Or at the very least,” her smile hardened, her starburst eyes flashing, “beinteresting. I look forward to hearing all about your tête-à-tête.”
Did I enjoy my weekend? Oh, it was grand. Crashed a wedding with the elf I love and then spent time trapped with the dysfunctional extended family as they made plans to kill each other. Nothing better.
Cadoc was chuckling before she’d even left, disappearing back to the hall in a crimson tangle of hair.
“You should let me go,” Tate blurted. He was careful in Faerie, and care was the only thing that had kept him alive, but now he was running out of time. “Let me go. Kill her, take the crown for yourself. Give me back the coin and you’ll never hear from me again.”
“I do believe that’s treason, dear heart.”
“What is it that you want from me?” His voice carried a note of desperation that he normally would keep hidden, especially here, but time was ticking down. There was no managing Faerie, there were no checklists he could make, no schedule he could perfect that would help him here. The only thing he’d ever been good at on this side of the veil was surviving, and that wasn’t going to assist him in this. It wasn’t going to save Silva.Tick, tick, tick.“Why won’t you just let me go? What’s the point inanyof this? I’m worthless to you. You’ve been clear about that from the start. How are you helping yourself by keeping me?”
“Do you think your presence here is meant to be a punishment foryou, sweetling?”
Tate swayed. He had been brought to court as an adolescent and given leave to go home for the first time by the Queen. Fetched back. Permission to leave once more. Over and over again. Each sentence he fulfilled in Autumn was a bit more bloody than the last, his grandsire’s desire to hurt him increasing, and for each new scar he acquired, the Bonfire Queen seemed more delighted with his presence.
