“Took away our magic?” He chuckled again. “Your Dagda has forsaken you, but dark magic can still be drawn from these lands. It just requires sacrifice.”
Sacrifice.
“What are you going to do with me?” she asked quietly. “Don’t think I don’t understand why you’ve captured Eislyn. You plan to use her against Thane. But what of me? Am I to be some sort of sacrifice for you?”
He rubbed his jaw and leaned back into his chair, the wood creaking beneath him. “That is a very good question indeed, Princess Reyna. The easiest and most obvious solution would be to kill you. However, you are awfully important. I imagine your father would like you returned to him.”
Reyna’s heart thumped hard. “Leave the Ice Court out of this.”
“The Ice Court is in this just as much as the rest of us.” He cocked his head to the side. “Your hoarfrost silk and ice glass are very valuable indeed, and the Fomorians have long favored you for trade.”
“Even if you managed to get my father to make an alliance with that tyrant of a king, the Sea Court is one that willneverbend to you,” she whispered.
He leaned forward, smiling, eyes twinkling. “Oh, I do not plan to make analliancewith the Ice Court, nor do I plan on doing anything other than conquer the sea fae. Neither one of you stand a chance against our armies. The High King of the Air Court will become the Emperor of you all.
“No, your father will no doubt hit us with all he is worth. And then, on the battlefield, I will hold you up before him. He and his fae will kneel. Oryouwill die.”
A shiver went down Reyna’s spine. She had been captured to be used as a puppet in bloody battles that had now become inevitable. She had come to the air fae lands to save her people. Instead, she had gotten them into an even worse situation than they’d been in before. They would be ruled by evil males who used dark magic for their own gain. They would be forced into endless labor. They would be beaten, starved, used.
And there was nothing Reyna could do to stop it.
56
Lorcan
“They went that way,” the kindly woman said after shoving bread into Thane’s hands. “Three or four days past. First, the two warriors with their captive, and then the princess alone with her owl. She did not stop for food nor rest. Poor thing looked exhausted.”
High King Thane gave a slow nod, thanking the woman. He trotted back over to Lorcan, frowning in the direction of Feurach Fortress. “She seems to think they went that way, but that can’t be right, can it?”
“She sounded fairly confident,” Lorcan said. “Though I cannot imagine why they would head to the coast. If they plan to flee by boat, your uncle’s warriors will spot them.”
“Yes.” Thane’s frown deepened. “My uncle. Do you know, I thought it was strange he did not attend my coronation. He begged off, claiming illness, but…well, while my father suffers from his ageing bones, my uncle never has.”
It was odd. Lorcan could not deny it.
“What are you saying?” he asked.
Thane shook his head. “In truth, I cannot be sure. It seems mad to think that my uncle could have anything to do with this. He has always offered me advice. He has always been so close with my father…”
Thane suddenly glanced up, eyes wide. A single thought seemed to occur to him in the same moment it came to Lorcan.
“Unless he is angry about the coup,” Lorcan said quietly as they turned their horses toward the eastern horizon. “Unless he always wanted to ally with the wood fae, just like your father did.”
“Until my mother got involved,” Thane mumbled. “It just cannot be, Lorcan. My own family? Pitting us against each other like this? It could cause a civil war. The Air Court would never again be the same.”
“I imagine he does not intend to allow anyone to cause that civil war,” Lorcan said quietly.
Things were finally beginning to make sense. For too long, it felt as though they’d been walking through thick shadows while their enemies strode through the light. Nothing had made any sense until now. The wood fae had been working with Lord Bowen, who had always encouraged Thane away from Reyna and toward a deal with the wood fae. Lord Bowen had wanted Thane to marry Princess Etaine. And when Thane had turned down that alliance, his uncle had set his sights on Reyna, desperate to remove her from the court.
He had authority with the warriors. He could give them orders, and they would listen. It would explain why scouts had not been sent into the hills. And it would explain why the guards had been removed from Reyna’s chambers the night she and Eislyn were attacked.
Thane’s mind seemed to be following the same path as Lorcan’s, for he asked, “If he is a part of this, then why has he abducted Eislyn? Why didn’t he have her killed during the coronation massacre instead?”
“It seems he has decided that her life is a better bargaining chip than her death.” Lorcan gave him a steady look. “Perhaps because news has spread that you have fallen in love with the girl.”
Thane flushed, grinding his jaw as he looked away. “So, it is my affection for her that has gotten her into this. And my affection will get us out of it. We need to go now. Ride hard to Feurach Fortress. Save her from that place.”
“And what will he do to you? Allow you to leave once you have rescued her?” Lorcan shook his head. “He has captured Eislyn to draw you into his web. Thane, my old friend, he will never let you leave that castle. Even if he doesn’t kill you, you will be stuck in a dungeon for the rest of your life.”
