It was difficult to be in Fear’s presence and not wish to impress him, however else one felt about the man.
Fear led the way down to the common room, putting his armor on along the way. Maura followed me, and knowing she was at my back was already surprisingly comforting.
There were already a few members of Bismyth gathering. Kiegan nodded when he saw me, and I was grateful to see him.
By the time we moved outside, a dozen of Bismyth clustered around us, bristling with weapons and protectiveness. If I hadn’t been afraid for Tay, I would have felt awe-struck to be at their center.
Ander and Tesa joined us. Tesa understood the Nightwalkers. If the Fae contingent somehow concealed the threat from the Nightwalkers, Tesa would see it coming. I always felt safer with Ander at my side.
“They’re at the gates,” Asrael told Fear and me, falling in alongside us. “Do we bring them inside or meet them out there?”
“Bring them inside. But I want Bismyth already set up, waiting for them. Clear lines of sight.” Fear nodded toward the amphitheater. “Over there, with the open ceiling. We can have dragons raining fire down on them as soon as we need to.”
Asrael looked troubled. “And then we’ll have war with the queen.”
“Only if she starts it,” Fear agreed.
“We’ll be ready,” Asrael promised.
Then, to me, Fear said, “I need to get a look at them. Do you need to see Tay before you meet him at the negotiation table?”
“Yes.” My voice came out too soft.
But it didn’t matter. Fear had his arms around me. The city dropped away beneath us as we rose toward the stars. The wind sharpened.
“There,” Fear said. I followed his gaze and could barely see the Fae contingent, looking small as pins from here.
Then my gaze sharpened, that snap of a change as Lightbringer lent me her sight. Suddenly the night was clear; I could see everything.
“Thank you,”I told Lightbringer, but she did not answer. Perhaps she had wanted to see for herself, not to be merciful.
Eight Fae. My brother at their center, looking as if he belonged there. Dressed in finery that he never could have owned in Stonehaven.
Flanking them, a dozen nightwalkers. They moved through the shadows; they would normally have been invisible to me.
The first of them caught sight of us, and Fear dropped us down, his wings folding. The wind rushed around us as we shot toward the Earth.
Dully, I realized my terror of heights had faded. It was subsumed by all the other things I was terrified of, such as my brother being a servant of the queen, a willing hostage of the Fae.
“What are they going to do to him?” I sounded breathless as he set me down on my feet.
“I’m not sure what the queen has in store for us exactly,” he said. “But I will do what I can to protect your brother. And I will do everything to protect you.”
His priorities were clear in how he phrased it. He knew I would hate it, but he said it anyway. Because it was the truth.
I wanted him to know that I didn’t intend to do anything stupid today. “I won’t sacrifice myself.”
“Is it possible you’re not merely a selfless sack of misery?”Lightbringer’s voice was acerbic. She had certainly come close at some point since Maura raced in; I hadn’t even had to ask for the gift of her greater sight.“Time will tell.”
I wanted to know what had happened to Lightbringer’s past mortals. Or, given her obvious trauma around heroines, perhaps I did not.
“Good,” he said, but I wasn’t sure if he believed that promise.
I lied a lot less than he did, but I lied to myself far more often.
Once we were ready, Fear and I walked down the stairs of the amphitheater toward the hastily set up table. Tesa and Ander came behind. Maura was already down at the bottom of the amphitheater, looking around in dissatisfaction. Just beyond was the sound of the relentless, uncaring sea.
I trusted Maura and Fear and the rest of Bismyth to look after me. Shifters perched at the top of the amphitheater walls, ready to shift and fly.
