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“What about the other knights?” Mairead asked. “Are they still alive?”
“Yes.”
Warwick’s head snapped around and he stared at me. Lightning crashed and burned in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything.
“When I saw the vision of the Dauphine accepting the iron maiden, the other woman told her they’d been healed by Queen Panega’s blood, which is also how we were healed today. Her blood contained the Elixir of Life.”
He held my gaze, his jaw flexed, his shoulders braced for impact. Then he closed his eyes. His bond rippled through my mind like a brilliant flash of electricity. :If the other Knights of the Apocalypse still live, and you care about your sibling at all, do not allow her to go to Houska Castle. They will not escape with their lives. I don’t care how much fae blood she may carry from Guinevere.:
Then his bond when silent, shut down and so dark it might as well not even exist. I couldn’t feel his bond, even though I knew it was there.
“Who was the woman?” Someone asked.
I started, dragging myself back to the conversation. “I’m sorry?”
“You said there was a woman with the Dauphine,” she repeated, though I wasn’t sure of her name. “When she claimed the iron maiden.”
:Inès Deschanel,: Daire provided.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know who she was, Inès. She wore all black, covering even her face, like a veil.”
Even more troubling…
The Dauphine hadn’t known who she was either.
I made it through the rest of the courses without bumbling too much. As good food and wine flowed with conversation, the mood at the table mellowed. I wouldn’t say we were all best of friends after the meal, but I could place names with faces without Daire’s prompting and knew a little about each queen’s house and personality.
The French siblings left through the front door this time, and then I walked with Gwen and her Blood outside to the fountain. Leonie and Mayte trailed behind us, also chatting easily as Mayte told tails of Xochitl’s latest escapades. Several of our Blood mingled around the fountain, but they rose as we approached, making way for Gwen to return to Camelot.
“Sir Warwick warned me not to let you go to Houska Castle. Not if the other Knights of the Apocalypse are still alive.”
“We’ll be careful,” Gwen said. “But I must go. If there’s any chance at all that my knights are still alive…”
“I know.” I hugged her. “I would go too. If I can help in any way, please reach out. Send me details of what you find so I can jump to you quickly if need be.”
“We’ll do some preliminary research first, but I expect to go in the next twenty-four hours.”
I watched her step through the fountain with her Blood, and then I pierced my thumb so I could add a drop of my blood to the water, setting my intention to lock the fountain. Just to be safe.
I’d shown my new siblings how to work a portal—but that didn’t mean I trusted them to enter my nest whenever they wished without at least knocking first.
38
LEONIE
Icould see why my queen loved Mayte. There was a gentle sweetness in her nature, especially as she talked about her young daughter. Her brown eyes glowed with love and pride and yes, a touch of exasperation. The little four-year-old princess was evidently quite the handful.
“I’m so impressed that you were able to conceive.” I watched as Shara said goodbye to Gwen. “Did our queen have any role in your ability to breed?”
“Not exactly,” Mayte said slowly. “I didn’t even know about our queen until just before this past Christmas. But I suspect I may have met her mother, at least in a dream. Oh, it must have been at least twenty or thirty years ago now. But she told me I needed to find a god to help me sire an heir.”
“A living god? Who did you choose?”
“Since I only call jaguars, I chose to seek the Mexica jaguar god, Tepeyollotl. Though my people’s gods often have many other names and aspects. He’s also known as Tezcatlipoca, or Smoking Mirror, because of the polished obsidian discs his priests used to speak to him.”
“Hmm, I don’t think that will help me conceive, since I’m the Queen of the Undead. My power mainly lies with conversing with spirits in the beyond.” Or creating goules, which absolutely would not help me conceive an heir.
“I’m sure there are other gods you might be able to Call. Or you may not need a god at all now that you carry Isador blood.” Mayte stared at Shara, her voice quavering ever so slightly. “She’s so very strong.”
