Maybe Seelie would help her get away…if he didn’t kill her first.
15
Reyna
Reyna stole through the snaking corridors, her footsteps as loud as thunder in her ears. She didn’t dare slow to cast a glance over her shoulder. There would only be a small window of time to stop the kings from signing the treaty with Lorcan.
Most of the guest quarters were in a separate tower on the castle grounds, but there were a few vacant rooms in the Tower of Thorns she wanted to check first. Lorcan would want Thane close, or so she hoped. She passed flickering torches and raced down the circular stairwell until she found the door where she hoped to find the air king.
She lifted her knuckles to the door and rapped lightly. He might be asleep, but she didn’t want to risk a nearby guard hearing her. Several moments passed in brutal silence, until the door finally creaked and swung wide.
The golden king peered out at her, his curtain of hair sweeping across his face. He widened his eyes, and his hand drifted to his side where he normally wore his sword. But it was gone now, replaced by a simple beige tunic and silken trousers.
“Reyna, what are you doing here?” he murmured, leaning out to cast a wary glance down the corridor. “You should be…”
“Trapped in my chambers?” she asked with an arched brow. “According to Lorcan, yes, I should be. Let me inside. I need to speak with you.”
He shifted on his bare feet, wariness flickering in the depths of his eyes. “You’ve escaped, haven’t you? I should alert the guards.”
“Maybe you should, but you won’t,” she hissed. “You need to hear what I have to say.”
“You should let her in,” a soft voice said from behind him. A female voice. Reyna’s chin jerked up just as a small form drifted out of the shadows of the darkened room. Shock jolted through her. The silver-haired female with beaming eyes and curving lips was her sister.
“Glencora?” Reyna gasped. “What…” Her gaze jerked toward Thane. “What in the name of the Dagda are you doing here?In Thane’s bedchamber?”
“Come inside, and we’ll explain.” Glencora stepped up to the door and pulled it wider, welcoming Reyna inside.
Stunned, Reyna trailed through the door, her gaze locked on her sister. She looked good. Color flooded her cheeks. Life sparked in her eyes. Her body was firm and strong, though there was a hint of haunted darkness in her expression. She’d gotten lucky.
Glencora softly shut the door behind them and sagged against the wood. She gave Reyna a timid smile. “Hello, sister. It’s been a long time.”
Reyna’s heart leapt into her throat and she threw herself toward her sister. Their bodies collided, arms linking around each other, hair cascading around them as if they were one. Reyna breathed her in. Snow and ice. Frost and starlight. Her heart swelled, hope filling her in a way she had not felt in a very long time.
“Glencora,” Reyna whispered, tears springing forth from the corners of her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I never should have forced you to go search that village. I—”
“It’s okay,” Glencora whispered back. “What happened to me was not your fault.”
“It really was.”
Glencora pulled back and shook her head. “It was the Ruin’s. And besides, look at me now. I’m fine. Truly, I’m better than fine. I’ve even married a king!”
Reyna’s jaw nearly dropped open. She swung her gaze toward Thane, who had gone suspiciously pale and silent. Obviously, she had guessed something had happened here. Glencora was in Thane’s room. But the shock of it all still hit her square in the gut.
“I’m sorry, did you say you’remarried?” Reyna asked, struggling to keep her voice to a hush. “What about Eislyn?”
Thane’s brows pinched. He glanced away. “No one knows where she is, Reyna. Your father has tried finding her, but…”
Reyna took a step back. “You think she’s dead.”
“No,” he said, clearing his throat. “I don’t know. You have to admit that it’s possible.”
“So, that’s why you’ve married my other sister. Because you think Eislyn is dead.” She fisted her hands. “I’m trying very hard not to shout at you right now, Thane, but I have to admit, I’m finding it extremely difficult. You made a promise to my—”
“No, I didn’t,” he said hoarsely, his golden eyes flickering with pain. “We never got the chance to make promises to each other. The Wood Court attacked us before we could. And then, your father wanted us to secure our alliance. He thought the only way to ensure it was through marriage.”
“I see,” Reyna said quietly. And she did see. Her damn father, still focused on alliances and politics, even when his youngest daughter was lost to the wilds of the ice fae forests. Or, at least, that was where everyone thought she’d gone. She shouldn’t be surprised that he’d set the marriage up between Glencora and Thane again. Now that his prized eldest daughter was well again, he’d shipped her off to court.
At least she seemed happy about it.
