Only Isolde made a little mewl of displeasure. Despite her gentle healing magic, the faerie could be fierce when provoked. And she recognized the game as well as the rest of us. Clearly, she did not approve.
My instincts told me that this female did not command vines the way my mate did. Her gifts would be subtler. Poisonous, perhaps. There were many ways to kill and not all of them were loud and demonstrative.
I wondered if Isolde sensed that as well. She was an unmatched healer, preserving life as much a part of her identity as the white braids that dangled around her shoulders or the porcelain-tipped claws she clicked together in displeasure. The magic of the Faeries of the Fen was ancient, not governed by the rules of elemental and terrestrial fae heritage. It was entirely possible that she sensed something about Morgause that the rest of us did not.
But there would be no private conversations in the glass tower we’d been led into.
Morgause dismissed Isolde and the rest of us, focusing her attention on Arran. Ancestors, she wasobsessedwith him.
She gestured to the massive male at her side, though stopped short of actually touching him. “You recall my husband, Orcadion?”
Arran lifted one dark brow. “No wonder you’ve chosen the Cloud Tower for your meeting chamber.” Then to me, “Orcadion is an eagle shifter.”
And a ruthless killer, Arran added just to me.He has never been defeated in combat.
Then he’s never faced you.
Arran’s beast answered my observation with a growl of approval.
I wished I’d said my earlier jest aloud. But I had another observation ready in lieu of a greeting. “We have eagles in the Effren Valley. They are scavengers.”
Morgause narrowed her eyes on me. Which meant they were off of Arran.Good. “Here they are creatures of opportunity.”
“We are not here to debate particulars. I am taking command of the terrestrial army and preparing them to fight the succubus. Veyka will oversee the distribution of amorite. As of now, it is the only weapon we know of that can slay a succubus and prevent it from stealing into a male’s mind,” Arran said, severing our staring contest.
He said he disliked political maneuvering, but he was good at it. It was not so different from commanding bloodthirsty troops, except that the conflicts were with words. I rolled my shoulders, the weight of Excalibur resettling between my shoulder blades. Maybe notonlywords.
Morgause sank down onto her throne, bringing her quietly hulking husband down with her. She ran an idle finger along the wooden arm. “Yes, we’ve heard about your succubus.”
“Heard,” I repeated. “You’ve been unscathed. No attacks.” I did not form them as questions, and I modulated how much of my surprise I allowed to show.
Morgause shrugged her slim shoulders. “We have maintained control.”
She did not question the succubus’ existence or ask for an explanation of what a succubus attack meant. She was posturing. “An illusion of control,” I scoffed.
Morgause folded her hands in her lap. “So often, it is only the illusion that matters.”
My kingdom was falling apart, my people dying and murdering each other while their souls leaked from their bodiesin trails of noxious black bile, and she pretended like it was nothing.
“Yes. For instance, you might imagine that the way I disappear and reappear is an illusion.” I stepped into the void, reappearing on Arran’s other side. Morgause’s eyes widened, her head snapping to the side to follow me. “However, I promise you that my command of the void is very,” in and out, now behind her, “Truly,” I appeared just in front of the thrones, dragging my dagger across her brown knuckles, “Real.” I reappeared beside my mate.
Morgause did not move. Blood welled and dripped down the arm of her wooden throne.
“Your queen is impressive,” she said. This time, her eyes were firmly on me.
“Our queen,” Arran corrected. He did not need to interrupt our staring contest. I held Morgause’s brown eyes with my own as droplets of her blood fell from the tip of my dagger and splattered on the bare stone floor.
“The army is yours to command, of course. But without the support of the Dyad, there will be difficulties. You could spend months rooting out dissenters and trying to establish loyalty.” She had fought her way to that stupid throne, and for that, she had a tiny bit of my respect. Despite the subtler methods I guessed were her preference, she did not flinch from the wound I’d dealt her. But I could bargain.
“Months we do not have,” I said, wiping her blood on my skirt and returning the blade to its jeweled scabbard at my waist. “What do you want?”
“We’ve heard of the prophecy made about Lady Guinevere’s Round Table.”
“MyRound Table.” I was getting sick of correcting her. “Mind your tongue or next time I’ll go for it instead.”
Morgause tightened her hand to a fist, the blood that had finally started to clot flowing once more. “Seat another terrestrial at it. That is our only condition.”
Arran growled. “There are no conditions. The terrestrial army is ours to command—
