“In another decade, we would have been here anyway,” I said casually. He did not respond, too focused on the group ahead. “The Summit?”
“Is that how you would have preferred to meet Morgause?”
“Someone in that court would have killed her by then, I guarantee it.” I flashed a grin. His jaw ticked almost imperceptibly. My smiled widened. “Possibly her own son,” I added, glancing over my shoulder.
Mordred walked with Lyrena a few yards behind us. It must be horrible for her, having to decide between staying at my shoulder or keeping within arm’s reach of Morgause’s son. But as the newest Knight of the Round Table, we couldn’t very well leave him behind.
As we took the final few steps, a tall water-fae female stepped up to Mya’s other side. I recognized her for a warrior instantly, and it had nothing to do with the massive trident she carried.Where Mya’s face was soft, her posture easy and open, the new female was rigid and firm as the weapon she held. And the only part of her that moved were her eyes, scanning each of us up and down like the threats that we were.
The void tugged at my consciousness while my fingers drifted to my waist. The urge to test myself against her in combat was as potent as any physical hunger. Except for the hunger for chocolate croissants. Still no sight of one of those. Mysterious water fae? Sure. Delicious, flaky golden pastry filled with chocolate? None.
I muffled my sigh and slid on the bored, slightly sarcastic mask that was becoming less and less comfortable to wear. It turned out that hiding my feelings had always been easy because I had not let myself fully feel them. Fall in love, make friends, decide to care about my kingdom… and all of the sudden, that mask did not fit quite so well.
Arran stopped three yards short of the other party. Plenty of room for bloodshed. One of the many things I loved about him.
Mya stepped into the breach immediately. “Good tides. This is not my land to offer welcome, so instead I offer my thanks for your willingness to speak with us.”
Arran said nothing. I supposed the politicking fell to me, then. I didn’t match her step forward, but I made my hands fall away from where they’d lingered not-so-accidentally near my weapons. “Thank you for fighting with us yesterday. Our losses would have been much more severe without your help, Your Majesty.”
The blue-skinned queen nodded gracefully. It was easy to imagine how she’d move in the water. “We do not use honorifics. My position is not hereditary. I was elected to the queenship. Queen Mya, or just Mya, will do fine.”
“Elected? You water-fae really are a breed apart,” Lyrena quipped from my shoulder. Apparently with so many potential enemies, she needed to be close.
“Aquarians,” Evander corrected, glaring at his former fellow Goldstone. “She is the Queen of the Aquarian Fae.”
Ancestors, he was still fucking irritating. But the intensity in his eyes was aimed squarely at Mya. It seemed he made a better consort than Goldstone Guard.
“And how did an entire race hide for so long that we—who can live a thousand years—forgot your existence?” I addressed my question to Mya. If I talked to Evander any more than absolutely necessary, I was likely to fling a dagger at him.
“By doing precisely that. Hiding.” Mya still stood in the space between us. Evander drifted to her side as she spoke, but Agravayn and Gaheris did not, setting themselves apart. Interesting.
“Our numbers were depleted dangerously after battling the succubus in the Great War. Fearing extinction, our ancestors retreated into the depths of the Split Sea and forbade any water-dwelling creature from breaching the surface.”
They already know about the Great War and the succubus’ role in it. Perhaps they had never forgotten, like we had. Arran’s hand brushed against mine, a silent offer of comfort. I resisted the urge to curl my fingers around his. We could communicate with our minds. There was no need to show these newcomers any softness.
I was still unconvinced that Gaheris and Agravayn did not nurture some other nefarious purpose.
“Much can be forgotten in seven thousand years,” Mya said.
That truth fucking burned.
Do you think she speaks true?Arran’s beast growled into my mind. I recognized the timber of it. The low threat of a stalking predator.
Her skin is blue and yesterday she had a tail. I’m not sure how much she could be making up.
The Faeries of the Fen hadn’t existed to me a few months ago, either. What was another mythical being? Elemental, terrestrialandAquarian fae? It was not the most fantastical thing that had happened in the last year by anyone’s measure.
Arran was trying to mask his feelings, but though the Brutal Prince’s façade remained staunchly in place, he could not hide his mind from me. Skepticism mingled with desperation and quickly fading hope.
“What do you know of the Ethereal Queen?” Arran demanded, wasting no time on pleasantries.
Mya dipped her chin. “I am the Ethereal Queen.”
“Prove it,” Arran said, brows rising. He threw out a hand in the direction of the lone male off of our right flank, two steps behind—Mordred. “Who is he?”
We had not bothered to introduce anyone else in our party. And though the resemblance between them was there, it was not obvious.
Evander sucked in a breath, a protest on his dangerously sharp tongue. But Mya reached for his arm, leashing him with a single soft touch. Impressive. I’d never quite managed to bring Evander to heel.
