She grabbed my handand tugged me forward.
We were merely inches from each other, her face painfully close to mine. Her silver eyes piercing right through my soul. “Tell me what you know. Everything. Did you question all the servants? The guards?”
“It’s been a long day. We can discuss—”
“Don’t you dare,” she interrupted. “I need myfriend,not another advisor.”
She held onto my hand, forcing me to speak plainly. “I believe someone was with the princess that afternoon and had come and gone through the secret passageway in her room.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know, but whoever it was knows the ins and outs of this palace and that is a frightening aspect, but I swear to you once they are discovered I will kill whomever it is, regardless of station.”
With that, she sighed and leaned back, releasing my hand. “That shouldn’t make me feel better, but it does. Is that wrong?”
Sliding away from her, I sat across from her. “Of course not. It means you’ll have someone to blame.”
With a nod, she curled into the blanket. “What else did you learn?”
She yawned and rubbed her eyes. The night had drained her and though I knew she didn’t want to sleep; it was what she needed. “Rest, my queen.”
“Everyone keeps saying that, yet sleep terrifies me . . . what if . . .”
Her voice trailed, tears filling her eyes.
“What can I do?” Staying close, I yearned to reach out and wipe the sadness off her beautiful face. Her ivory skin seemed paler than normal and dark shadows lingered underneath her tired eyes.
“Will you sing for me?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve sung around anyone.”
“Please?”
How could I deny her after all she had been through? “Whatever my queen wishes.”
A soft smile crossed her pink lips, and she closed her eyes. I sang in the ancient tongue, a song full of melancholy lyrics, speaking of simpler times, of the grass in the wind, the lilies in the fields, when the fae lived amongst the lands free of walls and rules.
Moira’s breaths slowed as sleep finally came, taking her away from this misery, if only for a night.
I could not fathom the despair she felt of losing not one but three daughters. Nothing until this third death had any of the deaths seemed intentional. Her oldest had fallen during a terrible riding accident and the second princess came down with an illness that seemed to fill her lungs and made her cough uncontrollably.
There had been no attacks, not after Kyros had taken the throne. The previous king had been hated by both fae and humans. A cruel fae who waged more war than necessary. His need to control as much land as possible had thrown the fae into countless fights with the humans and the other races of Saol. Even the Magi Council had visited, sending one of their elementals to put a stop to King Axias’ reign.
King Axias was not a kind man, and more than once I had seen the queen crying in her chambers from something the king had done. Moira deserved more and when she found that in Kyros, even though I hated watching them together, I did not hate the happiness it brought her.
The blanket slipped off her shoulders and I tucked it back around her.
Kyros had arrived at court disguised as a jewelry merchant and charmed his way into Moira’s heart, giving her the admiration and love her current husband didn’t. Until Kyros’ real reason for arriving was revealed and he killed King Axias during the summer solstice festival, taking revenge for the death of his brother, and took the crown for himself.
Many nights I replayed that awful day and wondered if I’d had made a mistake by not turning the full force of the guard on the dragon during the attack, even though my queen had ordered me to stand down. It was unheard of to have a dragon on the fae throne, but when the wars stopped, whether out of fear of the dragon or something else, the fae submitted to their new ruler and life continued as it always had.
So what was happening now?
No struggles to suspect that someone or something hunted the royal line, but with this last death, the circumstances could no longer be ignored.
I was searching for a phantom.
Moira curled into herself. I had known the queen all my life and to see her in such disarray unsettled me. Her silverish blue hair stuck to the side of her face, and against my better judgment, I pushed the wet strand off her cold cheek.
