“Wait!
She turned back around, and I pointed at the goblet and pile of grapes on a plate. “Do you need to assign someone to go to the dungeon?” I would love to see Bylur again before I faced the queen.
She lifted her chin. “It will make the queen unbearable.”
I pulled out Brielle’s ring. “Would a ring with summer magic in it make her more bearable?”
Her eyes turned greedy and she offered me the goblet and plate. “A ring with summer magic would make many things bearable.”
We exchanged the items, and she escorted me to the stairwell that led down to the dungeon.
The guards saw my goblet, pointed me down the corridor, and I wound my way back to Bylur’s cell.
He rushed to bars and put a hand through. “What are you doing here?”
Iset the goblet and plate on the floor and took his hand. “Seeing you, obviously.”
He shook his head and reached for my face. “I have dreamed about you all day. Imagined what I would say to you if we had more time. Wished I could go back and undo my own rash attack that let her land a curse on me so I would be free to be with you.”
I tipped my head, diverting my gaze to his eyes and ignoring the new gash on his temple. “But Bylur. If you weren’t cursed, you never would have even considered marrying me.”
He rubbed a thumb across my cheek. “In that case, I would take a thousand curses and consider it a small price to know you.” I closed my eyes and let myself truly relax for the first time in almost three days while he stroked my cheek. This was worth fighting for. This trust, this closeness, this safety.
“And what’s this?” a sickly sweet voice from behind me made the hairs on my arms stand straight up. I opened my eyes and turned to see the queen.
It couldn’t have been anyone else. She was taller than me, wore a glittering white crown and a rich red dress, and had several medallions hanging around her neck. One of them looked a lot like one I’d seen on Ephaltes.
“Is this the reason you won’t marry me, Bylur?” she crooned. “Does someone else hold your heart?”
My hands trembled, but I stood tall and said the only words I’d thought of after three days. “Queen Daneira, I challenge you for Bylur.”
“No,” Bylur groaned.
The queen tsked. “It seems he does not want to be rescued.”
“He did not want to be imprisoned, either, but that did not stop you.”
Her eyes glinted with an evil delight. “So you’re saying we should decide his fate, regardless of his opinion.”
I folded my arms. “Or you could ask him who he’d prefer, and send him with his choice.”
She cackled. “Oh, no, I suspect you’d rank higher than me, despite your human nature.”
I tipped my head, hoping this was my chance. “Are you afraid of me, then? Because I’m human?”
Her eyes darkened. “Never.”
I stepped closer to her. “Then name your fight. I’ll play the game of your choice, and Bylur will be the prize.”
She stepped closer to me. “You’re too eager. You have a secret, and I won’t fight you without knowing it.”
“Then you are a coward,” I bit out. “Frightened of a human who didn’t even know fae existed until a few months ago!”
She slapped my face with the back of her hand, digging slices into my cheek where her sharp rings cut my skin. Then she grabbed the front of my jerkin and lifted my feet off the ground. “I am as frightened of you as I am of a cockroach.”
Fury burned at my eyes. “I am a cockroach who will find a way to defeat you.”
She laughed in a cold, calculating way and tossed me to the ground. I hit hard enough that my momentum rolled me, and my head bumped against the stone wall.
