“Now, we may begin,” the king finally said.
The priest took the court through the coronation quickly. These were all vows the king had made before, just never in this holy building before the true Seat of Power. He was making his pledge before his realm, in front of the Unseelie god himself. It was binding in way that his previous vows had never been.
Finally, Bolg knelt before the priest, and the twisting crown was placed on his head. Smiling, he stood and thumped his staff hard on the ground. A gasp rippled through the crowd as he slowly lowered himself to the gleaming black stone throne.
And then he sat.
Power rumbled beneath Tarrah’s feet as the seat churned from the king’s touch. It rattled her skull. She had to grit her teeth against the force of it. Several fae in the crowd stumbled at the quaking ground, clasping each other’s arms to hold themselves steady.
The rumble soon stopped. Silence punctuated the air. And then the entire court burst out into cheers.
With tears in her eyes, she glanced down at the king. His back was tall and straight. Determination set his jaw. He looked proud and hopeful and as powerful as he should have always been. Nothing could stop them now.
As the crowd died down, the king waved his hand for silence. His booming voice echoed through the room. “Now that we have taken back our city, we cannot stop. The Unseelie god would not have brought us here unless he had a reason.”
Another round of cheers lit up the room.
“We may have a long, hard road before us, but there is one thing we have that they do not.” At that, he glanced up at Tarrah and smiled. “My champion, who the Unseelie god himself speaks to. She has brought us this far. She will take us to the wood fae lands and beyond.”
More cheering. Tarrah smiled. They liked her. No, theylovedher. Her soul filled with light from how good that felt.
“So tell me, champion,” the High King said, pressing the staff into her hands. “What would the Unseelie god have us do now?”
Her fingers curled around the antlers as she stared out at the crowd. Expectant faces blinked back at her. Her visions had been clear. They had been all along. She knew exactly what their god wanted them to do.
She cleared her throat and then spoke loud so that her voice carried to the very back of the room. “It is time for us to press forward. It is time for war.”
66
Lorcan
Lorcan stood with Reyna outside of Imogen’s cell. She had called them for a meeting, desperate to know the status of her son. It seemed that Vreis had been willing to give her the information she craved. Lorcan’s old friend felt guilty for his past actions, even if they had not been solely his fault. Listening to what he thought to be official commands, he’d redirected scouts away from the hills behind the Witchlight Woods and then had instructed Lorcan not to stand guard for Reyna the night of the attack. Sloane had been pulling the strings for weeks, controlling the guards, the warriors, and the scouts before making his final play.
There had been no reason for the guards to suspect that “Lord Bowen” was not who he had appeared to be. And Sloane, as Lord Bowen, had never outright lied. He’d only ever made suggestions.
The truth may be twisted but never false.
“Please, Reyna,” Imogen said, her dirty fingers curled around the rusted cell bars. They burned her skin, but she scarcely seemed to notice it. “I know you’re able to get out of this castle without being seen. Aengus may have forbidden it, but do not tell me that you are afraid of him. We may never have gotten along, but Iknowyou.”
Reyna’s lips were a thin white line. “I fear what he will do to my sister if I disobey his orders and leave.”
“Send her back to your kingdom. She will be far safer there than here.”
Reyna shook her head. “I have tried to convince her to go. She will not have it. It seems she has fallen in love with your son.”
Imogen blinked back, clearly shocked by this revelation.
Lorcan cleared his throat. “We will see what we can do. There might be a way.”
Hope flickered across Imogen’s face. She clutched the bars tighter and pulled her face as close as she could. “You have always been there for Thane. Please do not abandon him now.”
Lorcan clenched his jaw and nodded. The trouble was, things were far more complicated than he had let on to anyone. Any day now, his father would send word. And if he ignored it...
“Lorcan is right,” Reyna whispered. “I can’t pretend that it is going to be easy, but we will not leave Thane out there to fend for himself. We will find him. It just might take us some time.”
Imogen reached through the bars and grasped Reyna’s hand. Her eyes swam with tears, and the pain that flickered across her face was too much for Lorcan to bear. Not when he knew he would only let her down.
“Thank you,” Imogen whispered.
