Gideon had the eyes of his father, dark and full of trouble.
He glanced at the human in my arms, raising a brow. “I see you've brought our future queen home. Congratulations on your engagement.”
I glared at him. “Go away. That is an order.”
“Of course. Your Majesty has had a difficult day.” He bowed, slipping into the shadows where he belonged.
The moon fae had always ruled this castle until my father, the dragon usurper, changed all the rules. Though I had moon blood running in my veins, my dragon side was much stronger.
“I've already had her chambers prepared,” Ella said quietly as she twirled the ends of her brown hair.
“No,” I said. “She's going in the spire.”
Anna flew in front of me, trying to stop me. “Why would you send her there?”
“She cannot be near anything of nature, especially the royal courtyard, until I find her worthy of being the queen. She will be in a place where I can control her.” Before Anna could open her mouth and argue, I continued. “This is my command, and it shall not be broken.”
The pixie nodded, her bottom lip trembling.
It wasn't as if the spire was a horrible place. It was the tallest tower in the castle. But the important thing was that because of its location, it was on the right side of the cliffs where only stone surrounded it. The human would not have any access to her elemental power.
There were thirteen elemental powers: earth, water, wind, fire, lightning, ice, force, plant, light, shadow, moon, aura, and one that hadn’t been seen in anyone in ages—time.
If my sources had been wrong about Deirdre’s power, she could very well have a mutation—plant and another element, and that would be troublesome.
Her power level seemed higher than an average plant mage. I’d never heard of nature reacting to a mage’s power in that way. From her display, she could do more than help plants grow, she could control them, manipulate them, bend all of nature to her will, and that was a dangerous ability.
Walking through the foyer, I headed toward the right wing.
“Call the medic,” I said to Anna, “and her handmaiden.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” she said, flying off.
“She must be hungry. I’ll have food brought to her chambers.” I nodded as Ella left, leaving me and Olivia to deal with the human.
Olivia frowned, strangely quiet.
“What is it?” I said, taking the stone steps that traveled up to the spire.
“Nothing,” Olivia grumbled.
“I don't have time for your games today, Olivia. Speak your mind or be gone from my side.”
“Just remember why we brought her here.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I said as we continued to walk.
Olivia glared at the sleeping human in my arms. “She will never truly be our queen. A human isn't fit for the throne.”
“Course not,” I said. “We'll have our fun with her and then…” I shrugged.
“The priests will push you to marry her quickly.”
“No one forces me to do anything. They learned that lesson many years ago. Why are you so concerned? Why are we even discussing this?”
The stairwell turned as it twisted up toward the spire, the only light coming in through the few slitted, oval-shaped stained-glass windows.
“You're the one who thought it would be fun to capture the human and bring her to court,” I reminded Olivia.
