Wait, she thought. Theymusthave stopped it. The Fomorians didn’t die out. They were still alive.
Eagerly, Eislyn flipped another page, but there was nothing there. It was blank, the words gone. With angry tears in her eyes, she turned to the beginning of the book and read it through. There was little else about the strange dark magic called the ash. Most of it detailed how the Fomorians once visited the human lands but did not bestow any magic on the peoples there.
“You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”
Eislyn glanced up. As she’d been reading, morning had dawned, and pinkish light speared the cave. Vreis sat before her with ruffled hair, lounging against the slick stone, watching her carefully.
“I think I may have found something, something that matches Thane’s research, as well as something I read in a book that randomly appeared in my chambers one day.”
Vreis arched a brow. “Books randomly appear in chambers these days? How very curious.”
Eislyn gave him a frustrated huff. “Thatis what you’re focusing on?”
He grinned. “You have to admit, it’s certainly curious.”
“Yes, but—”
“You are terribly easy to wind up, Eislyn.” His eyes twinkled. “Tell me what you’ve found that has excited you so.”
“I think the Fomorians have experienced the Ruin. These books seem to suggest they tried to stop it from destroying their lands. Theashis what they called it. And whatever they did to stop it must have worked because their empire still exists now. They’re thriving, Vreis. Whatever they did, it worked.”
Vreis held out a hand. “Show me.”
She passed him the book, open to the page she’d read over at least a dozen times. While he read the passages about the strange ash, she knelt beside him, bouncing lightly on her knees. Could she have found the answer? If the Fomorians had conquered the ash, then so could the fae of Tir Na Nog.
After Vreis read the passage, he tapped his finger against the crinkled parchment. “It does sound extraordinarily similar to what your kingdom is experiencing.”
“Ourkingdoms,” she corrected. “The Ruin has made it into the air fae lands now.”
“And it will likely stretch further south before it is done,” he said with a grave nod. “Of course, I can’t say I would be terribly unhappy if it took out the wood king. That bastard needs to be stopped.”
“He needs to be stopped, but what about all of the innocent wood fae who just want to live their lives in peace? They’ll all die, Vreis. I don’t care what their king does. They don’t deserve to be turned into piles of ash.”
He gave her a sad smile. “You are the best of us, Eislyn. And I truly mean that. You will make an excellent queen.”
Her heart ballooned in her chest, threatening to break out of her skin. A gasp slipped between her parted lips, and her darned cheeks filled with heat. She ducked her head, pretending to turn her attention back on the book spread open between them.
“You must be mocking me again,” she said, after clearing her throat.
“If I joke with you, it’s only because I like you very much.” He cleared his throat. “But no, I mean every word I say. Most fae, most future queens, would not care one lick about the innocents trapped inside the Wood Court. They would choose the easy option: kill them all.”
“What would you choose, Vreis?” she asked insistently.
“I would follow my liege’s commands.”
She snorted. “You know that’s not what I was asking.”
“You want to know what I would do if I were king?” He shook his head. “I cannot say. Even Thane was not certain what he wanted to do about that court. To tear down the wood king would be to sacrifice many lives. Not doing anything would mean allowing a cruel king to reign terror over his realm. And to make an alliance would mean to consort with a fae who would be just as likely to eat his own kin as to give him a kiss on the brow.”
Eislyn shivered. She had heard the tales, of course. High King Ulaid Molt, the cannibal of the woods. He chose his victims based on dreams, carving them up and eating them piece by piece. Sometimes, he left parts behind, scattered in strange symbols he claimed would return immortality to his fallen fae body.
His victims were always his own subjects, those who had pledged fealty, who called him their liege. Sometimes, Eislyn could not understand why they did not rise up against him. It would only take one arrow pointed right at his heart, and he could terrorize them no longer. The expert aim of wood fae was legendary.
“And the innocents,” she insisted. “Those too afraid to run from their cruel king?”
He sighed. “I suppose we ought to try to save them, too.”
She beamed at him. “I see you, Vreis. You’re as soft as a cake inside. You just don’t want anyone to know it.”
