“You don’t want us to sign the treaty?” Thane shook his head, confused. “But it was your idea.”
“Reyna has gone mad.” Lorcan’s commanding voice boomed through the tower. Slowly, he stood from the throne, shadows seeping from the skin at his neck. “I was hoping she hadn’t, that I was wrong, but it’s clear the Ruin has destroyed every last shred of her sanity.”
Shock slammed into her like the blunt end of a sword. Reyna’s hands fisted. She pulled a deep breath in through flared nostrils, swallowing down the pain. Staring at her love across the hall, she scarcely recognized him. The hatred in his eyes. The rage boiling beneath the surface. She couldn’t let his words get to her. It wasn’t him.
Murdock frowned, the lines around his eyes deepening. “High King Thane did inform us of your issues with that Ruin. He said it got into your mind, almost destroyed you.”
She cut her eyes toward the golden king. When she’d sent him a letter, informing him of the successful fight against Molt, she’d clearly told him far too much. “Almostis the key word here. It didn’t destroy me, and it’s gone from me now. Nothing I say is influenced by its dark power.”
“You will never truly rid yourself of it,” Lorcan cut in, a strange smile flickering against the corners of his lips, one no one saw but her. They were all too busy watching her face. “You told me that yourself, only a few days ago.”
Dammit.
“Reyna, is this true?” her father asked. “Did the Ruin cloud your mind? Are you still suffering from it?”
“Yes, but—”
Lorcan lifted his finger and pointed straight her heart. “Princess Reyna Darragh is the enemy here, as long as her mind is affected by dark magic. Not me. Guards, remove her from our presence immediately. She’s attempting to sabotage the treaty. The alliance of peace we have all fought so hard for.”
Guards rushed across the room and surrounded her in an instant. Panic clawed up her throat, but she forced herself to stay still. She turned to her father, hoping to find a measure of trust in his eyes. Surely he would never believe a stranger over her.
“Father,” she said in a hiss. “You must stop this now.”
He pressed his lips together until they were as white as the Ice Court’s snow. “I’m so sorry, Reyna, but this is for the best. You’ll feel better about this someday, when your mind has recovered from the Ruin.”
Reyna blinked as the guards shackled her wrists behind her back. Anger burned her cheeks, even as fear threatened to consume her mind. If she didn’t stop this, the curse would spread north. The entire continent would be doomed. And then, perhaps the entire world. Unseelie had played her once again. Just like Molt, he was always two steps ahead.
“You can’t do this,” she hissed, turning to Thane.
Wincing, he glanced away. “If you could only hear yourself, you’d understand why we can’t let you do this, Reyna. You would never object to us signing a treaty with Lorcan. Not if you were in your right mind. You fought so hard to get back to his side. And now you want to turn us against him? It makes little sense.”
A shiver skittered down her spine. Swallowing hard, her gaze swept across the hall and landed on Lorcan. His face beamed with triumph. He’d won, and they both knew it.
She whirled on her feet, hands still shackled behind her back. With a grunt, she slammed her foot into the nearest guard’s knee. He fell onto his back, giving her an opening. She took it, while she had the chance. Throwing herself across the floor, she raced to the open door leading her outside to safety.
“Reyna!” her father shouted. “Stop this madness now.”
Tears burned her eyes as she kept moving, foot after foot across the moss-carpeted floor. She had no idea what she would do now—or where she could go. The treaty still had to be stopped. Running wouldn’t solve a thing. But she couldn’t stop it if she was trapped behind iron bars either.
A hand curled around her ankle, and her legs tumbled out from beneath her. She hurtled toward the ground, getting her elbows up only a second before her face smashed against the mossy stone. But it was no use. As she scrabbled away from the guard, a dozen more swarmed her. A sword hurtled toward her face.
It slammed into her forehead. And darkness filled her mind.
11
Thane
Thane’s heart beat madly in his chest as he stared up at his old friend. The secret shadow fae who had saved his life on more than one occasion. If it weren’t for Lorcan, Thane would be dead. And yet, distrust churned in his veins like venom.
Lorcan seemed…off. That much was true. But so did Reyna. Her eyes had been hollow and wild, and the fire he’d always feared in her had transformed into a conflagration since the last time he’d seen her. Did that mean she was mad? He shook his head. If she wasn’t, that meant Lorcan truly was cursed. And their entire world was in danger.
Could Molt have even done such a thing? Curses required magic. Not the kind stolen by blood. The kind the fallen fae of Tir Na Nog had once had. And Molt had never shown that kind of power.
“What’s happening?” Glencora whispered up beside him, appearing from the shadows beyond the dais. While the kings all talked politics, she’d decided to wait in their guest chambers, and she’d missed all of the unfortunate excitement. It was for the best. Thane doubted she’d enjoy watching her sister get carted off to the dungeons.
Still, he could not hide the truth from her. If anyone would understand the Ruin’s magic, it was her. “Your sister. She tried to stop us signing the treaty. Lorcan believes the Ruin has twisted her mind inside out.”
Glencora’s silver eyes widened. “Stop the treaty? But wasn’t it Reyna’s idea to begin with?”
