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I didn’t respond, just touched my fingers to my mouth, stared at the blood they came away with.

‘Here,’ she said.She crossed the room, offered me a handkerchief.I took it, wiped the blood from my nose.‘Are you alright?’

‘Is she still here?’I managed to ask.

‘The queen?No.And she’s expecting me to follow, so I don’t have long.I heard some of your conversation.’

‘You should stop lurking at doors.’

‘You’re not the first person to tell me that.And you probably won’t be the last.’She flinched as a clump of rubble dropped nearby.‘Don’t listen to her, Tarian.’

‘What?’I still felt a little light-headed, a little dazed.It was hard to focus on what she was saying.Magic always took a toll, whether I’d intended to use it or not.

‘About your mate.’

That did cut through the daze.I flashed her a hard stare.It was bad enough that she would bear witness to this fucking mess.I didn’t need her knowing the truth about Imogen as well.‘It’s not really any of your business, Briyala.’

She laughed and shook her head.‘Only you would be arrogant enough to say something like that to your intended wife.I’m not going to force you to confide in me, but the fact that the queen would expect you to do something as terrible as break a mate bond...I just can’t stand by and say nothing.’

Another piece of ceiling crashed to the ground, and I started to head for the door on unsteady legs.No doubt there’d be a group of others here in a moment, drawn by the noise, and I was too drained to explain what had happened and endure the wariness that would follow.

Briyala trailed behind me, picking her way carefully around the debris.

‘Tell me you won’t do it,’ she said, pausing as soon as we passed through the doorway.

I turned on her.‘If I don’t do it, what sort of life do you think she is going to have?’I demanded.‘She’d get to contend with that.’I jabbed a finger in the direction of the destroyed room.‘And would you want to be pitted against Moriana without even getting a choice?’

‘I don’t know her, but from what I’ve seen, I’d say that she doesn’t seem like a shrinking violet,’ Briyala replied.‘She might surprise you.’

‘You’re right, you don’t know her.So how you think you can tell me what is best for either of us is beyond me.Just because you are a zealot who thinks mate bonds are sacred doesn’t mean I’m going to ruin Imogen’s life for one.’

‘And what does she have to say in all this?’she shot back.She sighed when she seemed to realise I didn’t have an answer.‘You haven’t even asked her, have you?’

Hadn’t I?I thought back, trying to remember.I’d told her I’d find a way to break the bond and she’d saidgood.And she clearly wanted to go home, or she wouldn’t have tried to escape.And after the way she’d stormed out of the dining room, I could make a pretty clear assumption that she wanted nothing to do with all of this.I didn’t need to ask her.‘There is also the fact that I’m supposed to marry you one of these days,’ I said instead of answering.

She waved the comment away.‘It hasn’t happened yet.There are ways to make sure it never does, if we really set ourselves against it.’She smiled and gave a shrug.‘Maybe I’m just a romantic and like the idea of having a mate fated just for me.But all I can say is that, no matter how many reasons you think she should have for wanting to be rid of you, I would want the choice.And I’d want to actually beasked.’

‘Thanks for the perspective,’ I muttered.

She rolled her eyes.‘I’ll pretend that was genuine.I have to go.You can keep the handkerchief.’

I shook rubble out of my hair as she walked away and I thought about what she’d said, wondered if she would have given the same advice if she knew the queen had my fiorainm.

There was a reason human myth warned against giving your name over to fae.There were fae like my mother who could take a true name, a fiorainm, and use it to amplify their powers of compulsion, to make them virtually impossible to deny.The queen was already strong in the magic of manipulation; knowing my fiorainm had rendered me all but powerless against her for most of my life.As a rule, true names were bestowed by fate and told by the star reader, never to be revealed to any other, and we went by given names.

But I had been a very stupid, very desperate child.

And my mother was manipulative even without magic.

By the time I’d reached the roof, I’d shaken off the dizziness and was much steadier on my feet.All I wanted to do was find Imogen, though what for I couldn’t have said.To make sure she was alright?To apologise for letting her be ridiculed right in front of me without doing a damn thing to stop it?To just be near her and let the sight of her wash away the bitterness and shame that seemed to be coating my skin along with the dust?I thought of the night before, let the memory wash over me and scorned myself for ever thinking it could be as simple as it had seemed to be for those few hours.

The best thing I could do for her was send her home.I’d find a way around the Unseelie Queen and make sure she got there.

Melaie greeted me with a trill, standing still as I saddled her, as ready as I was to take to the air.It would be a relief to fly, it always was.Up there, I was far away from all the shit I was mired in down here.It would also be the fastest way to reach the portal.

I mounted and Melaie took off eagerly.Soon I would have an answer to my problem, and then I would have to let Imogen go.

Melaie landed gracefully on the grass and I dismounted, staring at the flat plane before me.There were trees on the horizon but nothing came close to the huge, still lake before me.The water was dark, as if it was mirroring the night sky, though the sun was high now, and deep in the reflection I could catch glimpses of leaves and branches and twinkling lights, though it wasn’t reflecting anything in this realm.