Kade’s chest was rumbling at my side, and I felt the protective king bear in him rear up.
Dante gave me a head bow. “If you head back to earth now, I will inform King Roland and he will send his army across. Is there a safe place for us to cross?”
“Wherever Rowan is should be safe,” I told him.
Kade’s rumbly voice filled the air as he addressed Dante: “Make sure our people are informed, and that they return with the summer fae.”
I nodded. I wanted Blaine at my side, where I could keep an eye on him. Plus, we would need his skills and knowledge if this turned into a war.
A thought, which had been hovering at the back of my mind, finally made itself known to me. I had killed the winter queen, destroying a leader, which meant… “Is the Winter Court going to be okay? They just lost their leader.”
I directed the question to Dante, hoping he would have some idea. The assassin fae regarded me carefully, tilting his head as his brow wrinkled. “Do you feel any sort of surge in yourice energy?” The question blindsided me, and I paused for a beat, allowing my power to swell.
Blasts of ice shot out of me, narrowly missing the group around me.Whoops.I tucked it back away before that could happen again.
Dante grinned. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“I don’t understand,” I said slowly.
“In the Otherworld, the power to rule is not decided by a contest, or vote, or challenge. It is hereditary, passed down through family lines. When a monarch dies, their successor will be someone of the same blood. Unless there is no more of that bloodline left … and then it just gets messy.” No doubt it involved a lot of sacrifice and bloodletting.
“You and Luca are the last of Isalinda’s line, the last able to inherit the crown. The first one to touch the mecca stone of the winter land will be the leader.”
I felt my mind and body recoil at the thought. “I’m already a queen,” I bit out. “I don’t have time to rule another kingdom. The winter people deserve better than an absent ruler who has no time or energy for them.”
Dante shrugged. “If you do not touch the stone, you will not be their queen.”
But that only left Luca, and since I planned on killing him, that would leave them with no one.
“We can figure this out after we stop him.” Kade’s words lessened some of my worry. “I’m sure the court will be okay until then.”
Dante nodded, and I was relieved. “Okay, so we just need a portal home,” I said, staring around, like one would magically appear through words alone.
Zandu, who’d been quite quiet and observant until now, made a small noise in his throat. It sounded as if he was choking on a laugh.
I raised one eyebrow at him and he bestowed a rare grin on me. “You’re telling me that you can funnel dark magic, restore entire lands back to harmony, kill powerful queens,bea queen of multiple kingdoms … but you can’t create a portal?”
I didn’t think that was funny or helpful right now, and I was about to say so, when Kade turned to me. “He’s right. You have proven time and again that you are capable of great things, of things beyond most shifter or fae. Your magic is tied to both sides, to all sides of the mecca … the magic born fae can create portals. You most definitely can create portals, too.”
I shook my head by instinct. Creating portals was way above my pay grade. “I’ve never done that. I mean, other than in the mecca stone room at the castle. That’s the only place it works for me.”
Zandu stepped forward, his humor from before fading away into a serious and contemplative expression. “You do not need the mecca stones. From what I have observed, youarea mecca stone. I bid you farewell. My people want a report of what happened. It was an honor to fight beside you. The elven people are in your debt.”
Dante whistled low at that, as if those words were more powerful than their simple implication. I was guessing elves didn’t owe debts often. A thought struck me then, the way Zandu was looking at the newly-restored land with misty eyes … the way his people guarded the entrance…
“This was your land, wasn’t it?” I asked softly. “The Dark Fae Lord drove you out, and you’ve been trying to keep him from taking any more land from your people.”
A shadow crossed Zandu’s face, giving it a drawn and haunted look. “Yes. We were never part of the four courts. We were our own people. The Dark Fae Lord came and slaughtered us, stole much of our power, and relegated us to the edges of our land. We’ve been waiting centuries to reclaim it. We’ve tried before but never succeeded. Only ever losing more of our dwindling numbers.”
That made sense. Horrible and awful sense. They guarded the opening not to keep others from going in, but to keep the Dark Fae Lord’s beasts from getting out.
“Well, it’s yours. I mean, if you want it back … it’s yours,” I told him. I wasn’t sure if he needed permission, but in case he did, I was giving it.
It was like a weight lifted off Zandu then. He stood taller, his eyes covered by a misty sheen, which told me everything about the emotions no doubt churning inside of him. He simply nodded. “Be well, Arianna, the great winter.” Then with a blink of an eye he was gone, into thin air.
Chapter Fourteen
Queen of the mecca.
