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On the other side of the table, Agenor blissfully continued, ‘Do you want me here to discuss the bindings, or would you prefer for me to vanish?

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Tared said sourly as he shoved back his chair, rose to his feet, and sauntered to the high windows with his hands deep in his pockets. ‘I have the odd feeling we might be in agreement for once. Em—’

‘You really think he’d kill me?’ I managed to force out, the politest thing I could find it in myself to utter. ‘After the way he saved my life at the Golden Court, you still think he’d sit by and let the plague burn me to death?’

‘No.’ Tared settled himself on the windowsill, the flickers of light around him intensifying in the near-daylight of the fields. ‘He’ll protect you adequately enough from everything else, I don’t necessarily doubt that.’

Oh, hell. I glanced at Lyn, who looked tiny and torn, and forced myself to say, ‘You’re worried about protecting me fromhim?’

Tared shrugged. ‘Someone needs to do it.’

‘And you don’t believe I could do it?’

He didn’t respond to that.

Agenor was busying himself with the cuffs of his sleeves, his jaw harder than usual, even though the nimble motions of his fingers looked as calm as ever. His silence had the air of tacit agreement. Lyn’s eyes shot back and forth between the three of us as she worried her bottom lip, looking frantically for a way out of this conversation.

Save me. FromCreon.

I sunk back into my chair and tried to see what Tared saw – what Agenor saw. A twenty-one-year-old near-human, considering herself a friend of the male who didn’t do friendship or affection, who could barely bring himself to cooperate with his closest allies when his life depended on it. A male showing them nothing but haughty arrogance, not a trace of the vulnerability I knew from him, and who appeared, for some reason, to be making an effort to charm me.

I had hoped, in these past months of tense mutual tolerance, that him being pleasant to me might slowly convince the rest of the world that he may not be all rotten at heart. Only now did I realise it may well have convinced them of something far worse: that hewasrotten at heart and had an agenda when it came to me.

And that the presence of sensible family members was all that had kept me from throwing myself at him like the innocent young girl they assumed me to be.

It wasn’t just the public opinion carving those lines of concern around Tared’s lips. It was the fear that I would, unexperienced and starry-eyed, give in to Creon’s ruthless games the moment we were left alone for a few days too long.

Gods help me.

‘I do think,’ Lyn finally said, ‘that the two of you might be underestimating Em a little.’

Underestimating both my common sense and my ability to hide a full-fledged relationship from them for months – but it would be hard to convince them of the first point without revealing the latter, and telling them about my nights in Creon’s bed would not improve anyone’s eagerness to send us out into the wilderness alone. By the look on Agenor’s face, he’d sooner drag me off to the Golden Court to separate me from the Silent Death’s wiles.

‘I’m touched you’re all so concerned about my unspoiled innocence,’ I said testily, ‘but I can assure you this is nothing but a matter of strategy to me. I’m not looking for an occasion to worm my way into his bed, and it’s frankly a little insulting that you—’

‘No insult intended,’ Tared said, resting his head against the window frame. ‘Not to you, that is.’

I snorted. ‘But you’re convinced he must have lecherous intentions? Odd as it may seem tosomeof you, not every fae male in the world is determined to spring himself on any young woman crossing his path.’

‘That,’ Agenor said icily, ‘is below the belt.’

Lyn sniggered, a sound containing little mercy. Tared allowed himself a quick grin but said, ‘The more you try to convince me of his good intentions, the more you worry me, Em. You’re not usually that dewy-eyed about people.’

‘Well, fine – I’ll be on guard and make sure not to get myself drawn into any cruel games with my heart. Or whatever other part of me. Happy?’

Agenor winced. ‘That still leaves the matter of the rather relevant public opinion.’

‘And why doIhave to be responsible for the public opinion?’ My voice rose; I swung a hand at Lyn, who looked far too inclined to agree with him. ‘Why can’t you go visit those bloody nymphs and tell them you’re merely using Creon for his powers and that you wouldn’t dream of letting him anywhere near a throne? Why can’t the Council issue an official statement that our aim is to disband the entire empire, meaning it doesn’t evenmatterto the other magical peoples who ends up ruling the fae? Why—’

‘In the end,’ Agenor said, closing his eyes, ‘I’ve found war is all about symbols.’

‘I’m not asymbol,’ I snapped.

‘You’re an unbound mage.’

‘I’m a living, breathing individual. Currently a rather furious individual.’

‘I’m grateful for the warning,’ he said dryly, looking up. ‘Em, I know none of this is pleasant, but winning the right hearts is half of the battle, and people are going to be looking at what you do whether you want them to or not. You blinded the Mother. That’s a poor start if you hoped to fade into obscurity, I’m afraid.’