I shook my head faintly. “I don’t know about that.Thousands of years of prejudice can’t be erased overnight. But I’ll certainly do my best.”
“King Judas believed it could be done. And if it weren’t for that wretched harpy he married, he might have accomplished it.”
“My father was a well-respected full-blooded fae,” I said. “Perhaps I could have earned the respect of the people for being his daughter, but once he died, Calista made it quite clear my human blood tarnished whatever claim I had to the throne.”
Sage cocked her head at me. “You fear her.”
I whipped my head toward her. “What?”
“The queen. You fear her, don’t you?”
I swallowed, my appetite gone as I stared vacantly at the platter on my lap. “Of course I do,” I whispered. “Who wouldn’t fear a fae who has power over blood?”
“But you can do this trick again, can’t you?” Sage gestured to where Nyra stood chatting with a few other pixies. “With your blood?”
I huffed a hollow laugh. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple. This was more of a parlor trick. But the magic of the queen is quite literal. If she has my blood, nothing will stop her from wielding power over me.”
Sage leaned forward, her black eyes glittering. “Then you must wield power over her first.”
I would have laughed or rolled my eyes at the incredulity of that statement… if it weren’t for the intensity in Sage’s hardened gaze. Her expression was so full of fiery determination and harshness that all laughter died in my throat.
She was serious.
And perhaps she had a point.
I knew Calista better than anyone. She may havedistanced herself from me as soon as she’d assumed the throne. She may have despised and spit on me, but she’d still been my stepmother.
“If blood has power,” Sage said slowly, “then you should seize it.”
I blinked at her, my mouth falling open as realization clicked into place.
Calista’s blood. Ifshecould control a person with one drop of their blood… did that mean I could do the same with hers?
I feltas if I’d been trampled by a dozen stallions. It wasn’t quite as painful as the slice of a Demon Fae’s claws, but it was pretty damn close.
Groaning, I sat up, then winced from the sharp throbbing in my head. Shivering bones, this headache was worse than the hangovers I’d get from faerie wine, back when I spent every night drinking myself into a stupor. That had been just after?—
I shut that thought down.You aren’t allowed to think about those years. Remember?
I still drank human spirits, which weren’t nearly as strong as faerie wine. But the wine of my folk could only be taken in small doses. Faerie wine didn’t keep one’s wits very well, and without my wits, I’d be dead.
I was in some sort of small circular cave filled with cots and several piles of blankets and quilts. A dozen lights shone from the ceiling, glistening in purples and blues and greens. It didn’t take long for the memories to come flooding back.
The pixies. The princess. Her strange trickery with the blood bargain.
“Shit,” I muttered, staggering to my feet and clutching at my head again. Blood and ice, that pixie magic was abitch.
But I had to get up. If the princess had fled because I’d passed out, I would never forgive myself.
A quick glance over my body had me cursing again. I’d been so sloshed I hadn’t even woken when someone had bathed me. I no longer reeked of Demon Fae blood, and I was wearing a fresh tan tunic and brown trousers. My daggers were resting on the ground by my cot. The pixies must have retrieved them from where I’d dropped them in the snow. Shaking off the disorientation, I clumsily strapped the knives to my belt and snatched the fur coat left for me next to my bed.
Head still spinning, I stumbled past the empty cots along the cave floor and made my way out into the snow. The bitter cold nipped at my skin, but it was far better than the blizzard from the night before. At least the wind was gone, and there were no flurries to blur my vision.
As soon as I stepped out of the cave, I sucked in a sharp breath. With the air clear, I could seeeverythingfrom this high up.Several mountain peaks formed a ridge line that descended until it met the gleaming pearly spires of the Taerin palace. The surrounding villages were capped with snow, and in the distance, I could make out the Gray Lake, which was frozen solid. Its marble surface reflected the sun’s light.
The Winter Court was breathtaking. I often forgot that.
“Ah, he lives,” grunted a familiar voice.
