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She could feel her shoulders sag as fight left her bones, her fury receding.

Rydekar might have been unbearably cruel in coming to her, but he didn’t know that. The only thing he knew was that she was next in line to bear the crown. To be rid of him, she had to explain herself.

The words were hard to say. Even after all this time, they were hard to swallow, to accept. She forced them out. “I live here because I’m not wanted in the Court of Sunlight. And I would certainly not be wanted anywhere near a high throne, if we had one.”

“Not wanted?” Rydekar pushed.

Of course he wouldn’t leave it alone. This king was a dog with a bone. He had probably never left anything alone in his entire life.

“In case it escaped your notice, I’m not exactly what one would consider the typical fair fairy princess.” Her tone was clipped.

Rydekar truly seemed confused, as though he hadn’t seen the feathers and bark, the fangs and claws. The wildness. “You must be joking.”

He didn’t believe her, that much was clear.

Rissa laughed. This man, this king, was pure perfection from head to toe. The seelie courts would have worshipped the ground he walked on, even if he had no crown to lord over them. And yet he couldn’t see why they’d reject her.

A few moments ago, she would have been happy to set him on fire. Now she could have kissed him.

“The seelie court doesn’t do well with anything unconventional,” she proffered in explanation.

Though her attention remained fixed on the king, she didn’t fail to notice the two warriors, still mounted on their horses, exchanging a glance. They got it.

Her jaw set when she recognized their expressions. She didn’t need any pity.

His mouth thinned. “They’ll bow to you. They don’t have a choice. The crown belongs to you.”

In what universe did he live? “No, they won’t. They’re great lords, with greater armies, and no one has made them do anything for thousands of years. They like it that way.”

Rydekar glanced back to his men. The pale warrior trotted to join him, needing no further prompting. “From what I know of seelie law, the lords can vote an unsuitable monarch off the throne, if they’re unanimous. The reason doesn’t matter. So long as they agree, they could cast her out.”

Rissa hadn’t known that.

She couldn’t say she liked realizing how little she knew about her own lands, to be entirely honest. The fact that she had no interest in claiming a crown didn’t mean that she shouldn’t be aware of how the seelie land functioned.

And she should also have known that they were under attack. She couldn’t do much about it, but hearing the news from a stranger was a blow. No one had thought it necessary to keep her informed. Not even the few she counted as friends.

“How do you know that?” Rissa questioned.

He wasn’t seelie, and they were known to guard their secrets jealously.

The stranger looked to the king first. Rydekar gave a subtle nod. Now that he was permitted to speak, he explained, “I’m of the Sea Land.” He gallantly inclined his head. “We’re taught laws of every fae court as children.”

A custom the rest of the folk should adhere to.“I see. Well, then that’s sorted.” She could return to her treehouse, and her peace. “Take care on your way back.”

“You can’t mean that.” The second warrior approached, frowning. “They need unanimity. Surely you have allies who—”

“I don’t.” Not among the high lords. Not among the gentry. Not among anyone who mattered.

Which was a moot point, because Rissa had no desire or intention of claiming any crown.

“The one thing they’ll all agree on is that I’m an unsuitable ruler. I doubt they’d accept anyone at all, save Tharsen himself.” Rissa had thrown the name out thoughtlessly, but now she paused. “Wait. You need someone to unite the seelie kingdom…”

Like any child of the folk, she’d been nursed to rhymes of the cursed prince, alone in the depths of the Wilderness, awaiting his deliverance.

Rissa looked straight at Rydekar, who stared, silent and foreboding. “That’s who you need. Prince Tharsen.”

Children’s tales weren’t always fabricated.