Ivan stares at me, standing with his hands behind his back as he waits for me to speak.
“I wanted to ask you about my aunt,” I begin, but Ivan places a hand up as if to stop me.
“We need to discuss her, but I’m afraid that won’t be a short conversation.”
I swallow the questions. “Right. Is there time to discuss that after lunch? I’d like to visit her this evening. Would it be possible to have someone escort me to my house and my aunt’s house this evening?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll arrange for someone to take you. Let’s plan to meet back in my office after your lunch with Elle.”
I nod and turn to leave. Elle is waiting outside, just as promised. Holly is nowhere to be found, though. Elle notices me looking around and says, “She was close to the Princess. She’s having a difficult time. I told her it was fine if she didn’t join us for lunch.”
A flicker of jealousy flashes through me, followed instantly by shame. The jealousy is two-pronged: one for her relationship with the sister I never knew, and one for the way my sister was loved. Instead of Etta, her bastard half-sister was forced upon the Herd—soon to be upon the entire kingdom.
Shame quickly washes away my jealousy.
“Oh, of course,” I manage to say. “I’m sorry. Were you close with Etta?”
“No. Not like Holly was.”
Feeling like I shouldn’t press, I drop the line of questioning and follow her as she makes her way out of the library. She leads us to the main kitchen. We grab some bread, butter, and an assortment of cheeses and toss it in a basket. We leave the castle and head outside, finding a small table just off the main path.
“I’m surprised Ivan didn’t want to send anyone from the Royal Guard with us,” I say after I take my seat.
She looks at me for a second in stunned silence, then says, “I’m sorry—I keep forgetting you weren’t raised in the courts. Ivan told us that you had a ‘normal’ childhood, but I wasn’t expecting it to bethatnormal.”
I tilt my head. “What do you mean?”
She glances at my antlers. “Mae, do you not know what my antlers mean? Or yours, for that matter?”
“I know that they’re rare. You’re the only other female I’ve ever seen with them. My aunt just told me that it’s a rare genetic condition.” I grab the bread from the table and tear a piece off. The bread is still hot from the ovens, but it tastes delectable.
I offer the loaf to Elle. She takes it and rips a piece off.
“Well, she’s right, but that’s not all. Female deer—not deer hybrids but actual deer—are sometimes born with antlers, and they’re an abnormality. But when a female deer hybrid is born with them, it’s a sign of immense power. Ivan didn’t need to send you with any extra members of the Royal Guard. You’re plenty safe with me,” she says with a smug smile.
No, Willa definitely didn’t tell me that.
“I had no idea. So, my antlers mean that I’m more powerful than other female hybrids?”
She smirks. “Yeah, you could say that. The royal line itself is powerful, and it hasn’t diminished over the years. Plus, you have your mother’s High Fae blood in you.” She raises her eyebrows. “Did your aunt really not tell you about all of this?”
I shake my head. “I’m learning most of this for the first time today. We lived in a human town far from the court. Magic was frowned upon, so she taught me basic things.”
“I can’t wait to see what you can do,” she says, then pops a piece of bread in her mouth.
“What do you mean?” I ask as I reach for the butter.
As I do, Elle reaches down and pulls a jewel-studded dagger from her boot and offers it to me. I stare at her in confusion, not making a single move for the dagger.
“For the butter,” she explains.
Did she just pull a dagger from her boot? And expects me to use it for my food?
“It’s clean, I promise,” she says.
Oh, what the hell. Worse things have been in my mouth. I take the dagger, dip it in the creamy butter, and spread it on the still-warm bread.
“All of the High Kings and Queens have been powerful, so it only makes sense that you will be, too. We’ll just need to work on training you to come to terms with your power and to discover how much of it you have. There hasn’t been a High Queen with antlers in hundreds of years. The kingdom is going to be expecting you to have a lot.”
