“How is that even a question?” Silas asked. “She is the only full-blooded Fae left in the universe. She’s the reason we’re not already overrun with creatures—her powers are sustainingthe new wards. Whether you like it or not, she already is your queen.”
“Power without trust leads to ruin,” Fen said. “Don’t we deserve to have a say over who we follow, instead of blindly following the woman we know nothing about?”
There was a bit of silence after this—like nobody could directly disagree. Even I couldn’t. Honestly, I thought he was kind of right to a certain degree.
“Look.” I finally broke the silence. “I’m not looking to control anyone. I’m not looking to control this island. I want to help however I can. I want to support the island and the people on it, but I’ve never wanted to rule anything at all.”
“That’s what everyone says before they get into power.” Fen eyed me warily. “Then they get the power and everything changes.”
I held up my hands. “You don’t have many reasons to trust me on a personal level, I get that. But I’m willing to work on earning your trust. In the meantime, we’ll need to set up some sort of leadership. If that’s not me, it’s fine.”
“There are many islanders who are uneasy with Alessia taking immediate control of the island. We’re just the few brave enough to speak up. Most islanders don’t think she should sit on the throne or take the castle. We think it should be one of us—someone who was born and raised on The Isle.”
“One of us,” Silas drawled, “cannot hold the wards in place. It needs to be a Fae. Do you know any other Fae Queens who might like to apply for the position?”
“I don’t appreciate your tone,” Fen said evenly. “This is a serious matter, Silas. Just because someone shows up and is appointed our ruler doesn’t mean we have to accept it.”
“Put someone else in place, then,” Lily snapped. “See how that works out. I give it a day.”
“Please, don’t argue on my behalf,” I said quietly. “I have no desire to rule a land that doesn’t want me. I have enough to focus on when it comes to me and my powers. I don’t need the headache of being in charge.”
Silas didn’t look happy with my answer, but Ranger X looked intrigued. Fen looked like he could work with this. It was the first partial solution that seemed like it could actually work for both sides of this warring table.
“Let me ask you this,” Poppy said suddenly. “Fenlon”—she said his name like she was driving a spike into the dirt—“what needs to happen for you to put your support behind Alessia as your queen?”
Fenlon raised his eyebrows like he already knew the answer—he just couldn’t say it out loud. If he said “nothing,” that would mean he wasn’t even giving me a chance. So, he cleared his throat and shrugged his shoulders.
“I’ll know it when I see it,” Fenlon said. “I will keep you posted. I don’t have an answer yet. These are unprecedented times.”
I waved a hand. “That’s fine. We all need some time.”
“In the meantime,” Fenlon said, “I will put together a list of names that I think could make a quality ruler.”
“We didn’t have a ruler before,” Silas said. “Why do we need one now?”
“Exactly.” Fenlon’s eyes sparked, as if Silas had walked right into his trap. “Why do we need a ruler now when we’ve been fine without one for centuries?”
Silas ran a hand through his hair. The breath that tore out of him was fast and vicious, like he couldn’t figure out why Fenlon was being so dense. Apparently, the whole returned-from-extinction Fae Queen reason wasn’t enough.
“If we’re going to put a ruler in the seat of that throne,” Fenlon said, “it should be agreed upon by the people being ruled. A real democracy.”
“I think you’re the only asshole who’s arguing that Alessia isn’t a good fit,” Silas said. “You’re outnumbered.”
“I’m hardly the only person who thinks she’s not a good fit.” Fenlon gestured to the people either side of him. “This is just the tip of the iceberg. Most islanders areafraidof Alessia, and that’s why they’re not speaking out. We all think she’s the one bringing danger to our island.”
“How is that possible?” Silas looked truly mystified. “She saved us from the curse.”
“Maybe sheisthe curse,” Fenlon argued. “The Cursed Queen. Darkness trails behind her. Didn’t you notice that once she arrived on The Isle, the curse accelerated? It scorched entire sections of our island.”
“Then she broke the curse and defeated the Furies,” Silas said. “And truly set us free for the first time in years.”
“Now there’s a crimson lycanthrope on our lands,” Fen said. “Barely days later. Not to mention, Alessia obviously can’t control her powers. She struck you last night.”
There was a long pause. A prickle of something resembling anxiety started in my own chest. Was it possible he wasn’t entirely wrong? In all my efforts to help, was I actually hurting the people I wanted to support?
“She’s going to be starting formal training,” Silas said. “You need to give her a chance, just like she’s giving you a chance.”
“Who, might I ask, have you found to train a Fae Queen?” Fenlon, and a lot of others, looked skeptical at this very notion. “Nobody alive is familiar with Fae magic.”
