“I need a few witnesses.”
Rowan glanced at me. I shrugged. “No idea,” I mouthed.
“Thirty seconds enough?” he asked.
Dad nodded.
Rowan’s eyes flashed gold. The wards shimmered away. Dad’s form morphed back into his god form, his eyes swirling with multiple colors. Several flashes of light appeared.
Mom stood beside my father, and a couple of the people I met in the Hall of Fae arrived next. Birch showed up, and strangely enough, Ethan was there as well, looking decidedly nonplussed.
“Call for Moira,” Dad murmured. “And your banshee and dryad friend.”
“I will do it,” Rowan said. Our gazes locked, and he gave me a short nod.
I shot a hurried text to Moira.
Leave the baby with a trusted person.
The wards went back up. Moira, Ash, and Tess appeared a few minutes later, quizzical looks on their faces. Moira came up beside me. “What’s going on?”
“I think Dad might be about to strip my crown,” I whispered back.
Moira’s attention snapped to me. “What happened?”
“I won’t marry a prancing fae male.” I said it a little louder than I should have.
Dad shot me a dark but amused look. I wiggled my fingers at him. He shook his head and looked away.
“Evie. Rowan. Please come.”
Rowan held his hand out. I interlaced my fingers between his, and we walked to my father.
“Do you know what’s going on?” he whispered.
“Not a clue. I might not be queen in a minute, though.”
Rowan slid me a look of surprise. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Not even a little bit,” I murmured. One less thing on my plate. I hadn’t even started my duties yet, nor had I told Rowan about my deal with my parents.
One thing at a time, Evie.
I squared my shoulders and stopped before my father. A silvery light appeared above my head. Rowan glanced up and hid his smile. The fae crown swirled and glinted around his tousled hair.
“Thank you to everyone who answered my summons today.” Dad’s voice boomed across the land.
The flutter of hundreds of wings sounded in the air. Birds of all sizes and colors settled on the surrounding trees. Fee and Poe were somewhere on Rowan’s land, but they wouldn’t come around if Mom was here. Even after everything, Poe remained wary of Mom and protective of Fee. The raven had an excellent nose for magic. He’d keep the phoenix away until everyone was gone.
Seymour was somewhere around, too, though he’d taken a liking to dorm life and preferred spending his time with Declan and the others. I visited him occasionally, and sometimes he’d find me. As long as he was happy, I left him to his own devices. He was still grieving Caelan, and though he’d come to me of his own volition, I knew he missed the other Lord.
Seymour liked Rowan and was often affectionate to him, but he wasn’t ready to completely let go of Caelan. I understood and let him grieve on his own schedule.
Foxes and coyotes of the natural kind sat at the feet of the fae. Snakes slithered through the grass and curled up on exposed stones. Insects and other creepy crawlies waited around the edge of the semi-circle we made.
My heart lurched with nerves. What was Dad doing?
Above us, the sky churned, stirring up a sharp wind. The temperatures dropped by at least twenty degrees. I took a stepcloser to Rowan. He let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist. His face was blank, but his eyes burned with curiosity even as they swept across the fields monitoring for threats seen and unseen.
