“There is nothing ugly about your scar.” She put her cards down, braced her forearms on the table, and leaned forward with fire dancing in her eyes. “And you’d make a damn good queen.”
I sat back, caught off guard by the intensity in her voice. She’d never been so blunt with me. I kind of liked it. And so, of course, Alastair chose that moment to return from his tour around the ship. We needed to have a good chat about the timing of his interruptions.
He nodded to the both of us. “Duncan wants to have a chat. He’s waiting for us in his cabin.”
“Duncan?” I asked with a laugh. “Since when are you on a first-name basis with the sandalled-footed, prophecy-whispering King of Talaven?”
“Well, he’s not my king, is he? I’ll call him whatever I damn well want.” He shrugged. “You coming? He sounded kind of frantic.”
“Wonderful, a frantic king. Just what we need.” Sighing, I stood, leaving the cards forgotten on the table. Val joined us, and we headed down into the bowels of the ship, where the king’s cabin was located at the end of a cramped corridor. Cramped for Alastair, anyway. His shoulders brushed the walls as we walked.
I raised my hand to knock, but the door swung wide before my knuckles made contact. The king motioned us inside in a distinctly frantic manner. His emerald robe was wrinkled, and his eyes were spiderwebbed with red. It looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks, though I could have sworn he’d been fine only a few hours before.
“None of this should be happening,” he said seconds after he’d slammed the door behind us. He paced across the wood panelled floor, from one end of his luxurious cabin to the next, passing a sleek oak desk, a table holding glass jars of various spirits, and a four-poster bed draped in silks. It was a far cry from my cabin two doors down, with its cots, scratchy wool sheets, and steel floors.
The king stopped beside the spirits, poured himself a shot, and tossed it back. Smacking his lips together, he slammed down the glass.
“Whatissupposed to happen, then?” I asked carefully. Duncan Hinde needed to be treated with the utmost caution. He looked seconds away from losing his grip. If he’d ever had it.
“We were to leave on time without any casualties.” His white-knuckled fists trembled by his sides. “No creatures were to be in the waters. Something’s gone wrong. None of this is as it should be.”
I exchanged an uneasy glance with Alastair. Ever my blunt companion, he twisted his earring and said, “Looks like you were wrong.”
When the king looked at Alastair, his expression sent a shudder down my spine. He’d been nothing but strange since we’d first arrived in Talaven, but he’d carried a certain harmlessness about him, like he was nothing more than words and thoughts and visions. All his power came from that comet and the prophecies left behind by his ancestors. There was no violence in him, no fight.
But now he looked fucking mad.
“I did not see you three coming, either.” He pointed at the collection of papers on his desk. There were several on top in perfect condition. The ink was bright and shining, as if it had been added to the page only recently. But there were others here with flaking edges and words so pale I couldn’t read them from where I stood. These were his visions and the visions of those who had lived centuries before.
“You’re trying to blame this madness on us?” Alastair chuckled, though there was a darkness in the sound. These humans were our allies for now, but my old friend would never back down from a confrontation. In fact, he was probably itching for it. I was, too. But I wouldn’t do anything that might put Val in danger. If we pushed too hard, the king might retaliate.
King Duncan Hinde sighed and closed his eyes. “I forgot how quick to anger you fae can be. Insulting you was not my intention.”
“Then what was your intention?” I asked.
“I am merely pointing out,” King Duncan Hinde said, “that things started shifting from their predetermined path after you three unexpectedly arrived in my kingdom. I can’t help but wonder if you’ve set off a chain of events that cannot be undone. One that will lead to the very end of us.”
“The end of us?” Val asked, alarmed. “But Tessa got her wings. They’re tipped in sapphire, like you said they needed to be. Isn’t that the most important thing?”
“Yes, yes.” He fisted his hands against the table and stared down at the pile of visions.
I stepped toward his desk and reached for the top sheet. “What does it say happens next?”
He snatched the parchment away from me and clutched it to his chest. I narrowed my eyes.
“No.” The king shook his head. “No, no, no. You cannot read these. Only I can. I just…I have one question for you.” He blew out a breath. “Have any of you ever wielded an axe?”
Beside me, Val went still. I wanted to press my hand to her back, to hold her steady, to let her know I was here. But I fought the urge. Val had told me about the axe. She’d never wielded one herself, but her parents had tried to during a brief rebellion against Oberon. His soldiers had slaughtered them both in retaliation. It was not my place to speak about any of that to this secretive king.
“An axe?” Alastair cocked his head. “No, can’t say I have. Got one I can use against the gods?”
“Hmm.” The king’s eyes slid my way.
“I tend to stick to arrows,” I said.
“I haven’t swung one, either,” Val said. “Why are you asking us this?”
The king audibly sighed. Was that relief? “No matter. This must be nothing more than a small ripple. That can happen, especially if the visions weren’t written down quickly enough. The details can begin to fade once you walk away from the comet. There’s nothing more to it than that. Everything will proceed according to plan.”
