She beams at me as her eyes roam over me.
I drag my attention back to the throne, needing to finish this Yelling business so I can return to Wren. “Wren specifically asked me not to get involved,” I say, forcing my voice back into something steady. “He wanted to handle it himself. But I can’t stand by and let this continue. Not when Lord Yelling is torturing him.”
His Majesty’s expression doesn’t change, but his eyes sharpen. “What exactly do you wish for me to do about him?” He gestures lazily toward the Fae currently trying to bite one of the guards.
“Cut him off from the human realm.” I don’t hesitate. “He’s either walking between veils on his own or he’s got someonehelping him. Either way, put a stop to it. He shouldn’t be able to get anywhere near Hex again.”
Lord Yelling thrashes harder. “You can’t just cut me off like that! I control the goblin market. You’ll never?—”
His Majesty lifts a hand.
The entire room goes still.
“Silence.”
The word isn’t loud, but it quiets the entire room.
Lord Yelling’s mouth snaps shut.
“How,” the king asks, “have you been getting into Hex? Do you possess the ability to walk between the veils?”
Lord Yelling refuses to answer. He goes rigid between the guards and stares at the floor, jaw clenched.
The king’s expression goes colder.
“Get the truth serum.”
Thatdoes it.
“No, wait.” Lord Yelling lurches forward, eyes wild. “I’ll tell you.”
He spills everything in a rush, like once the first secret is loose, he can’t hold any of them back. A disgraced griffin has been teleporting him between realms for payment. They knew what Lord Yelling intended. They knew Wren wanted nothing to do with him. They did it anyway for coin and whatever other promises Lord Yelling made.
The confession hits me like a slap. A griffin.
I don’t know the male. I don’t know if I’ve ever met him. The Fae lands are full of griffins who never looked twice at me unless it was to sneer at my flour-dusted hands or tell me I belonged in a kitchen and nowhere else. Still, shame prickles beneath my skin. Some part of me hates that one of my kind helped do this to Wren.
His Majesty doesn’t look surprised, only disgusted. “Bring him to me,” he says.
The guards march Lord Yelling up the dais. He resists every step, digging in his heels, wings flaring uselessly from his back.
“What are you doing?” Yelling demands, fear finally cracking through his arrogance.
The king rises from his throne. The room feels colder with every step he takes down the dais. Frost blooms over the polished floor beneath his boots. Even the guards look uneasy.
“You won’t be able to go between realms,” His Majesty says, “even with help.”
Lord Yelling goes pale. “No.”
The king takes Lord Yelling’s right hand before the Fae can yank away and drags one finger over his palm. Magic flashes white blue and vicious. An X carves itself into the skin like living frostbite, glowing for one awful second before sinking deep.
Lord Yelling screams. The sound tears through the throne room. “No!” He fights hard enough now that the guards have to wrench his arms behind his back. “No, you can’t do this, please?—”
“You’re banished from the Winter Courtandthe human realm,” His Majesty says, voice carrying over the screams with effortless authority. “If you attempt to enter the human realm again, the veils will rip you apart.”
The room falls into silence after that. Even Lord Yelling stops fighting. He just stares at the mark on his palm like it’s a death sentence. Maybe it is.
His breathing turns ragged. When he finally speaks, his voice is wrecked. “I loved him.”
