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“Parsley will miss you,” Wistal says to me. “We’ll keep him ready for you, if the time comes for us to join you again in battle.” The cow-horned fae sounds almost hopeful.

I look up at Ruskin, a hopeful thought occurring to me too. “Are you sure we have to take the horses?” I ask.

“Yes,” he says, a smile twitching at his lips. “The idea is to be as inconspicuous as possible. Something tells me riding into the kingdom on a bear might defeat that object.”

I try to hide my disappointment, looking away, only to see Elias still squinting at the Sunshards.

“Is something wrong, Elias?” I ask.

“I’m just wondering how you can be sure you’re doing the right thing, going back with them alone.”

“The Sunshards have sworn their fealty to me, Lord Elias,” Ruskin says. “It would be hard for them to hide deception in that vow.”

“I cannot argue with that, but are you certain they know what they’re doing? A mission like this is no easy undertaking.”

Ruskin’s expression turns cool. “General Sunshard received an Order of the Realm for her service at the Battle of Amethyn, and I can assure you that Seelie military honors are worth every much as Unseelie ones.”

Elias’s eyebrows shoot up. “She did, did she?”

He crosses the courtyard, making a beeline for the Seelie couple.

“What is he doing?” I ask Jasand sharply, but don’t wait for an answer. Terrified the idiot is about to start a fight over a centuries-old grudge, I rush after him.

Elias reaches them before I can catch up. I’m opening my mouth to pre-empt his words when he extends his hand to General Sunshard.

I gape, pulling my intervention up short.

“I hear you are a fellow veteran of Amethyn Valley, General,” Elias says gruffly.

Halima’s mother is obviously wary, but slowly takes his hand to shake it.

“I am. A terrible day for us all. I shall never forget it.”

Elias nods. “Me neither. It is hard to explain to anyone who was not there that day, but I can still hear the sounds of it and smell the flowers.”

I shudder, having caught a glimpse of that very battle via General Sunshard’s sword. Just the short moment I spent in the memory is still burned into my mind.

“Yes, the smell has stayed with me also,” General Sunshard says.

“From that day it was clear to me that there was no winning the war for anyone.”

“If only more had come to the same realization,” Lord Sunshard says sincerely.

Elias nods to him in acknowledgement.

“It is why we mustn’t allow that kind of destruction to return to our lands again,” says General Sunshard, lifting her chin to indicate where I and Ruskin stand behind Elias. He turns and takes us in.

“Yes, I hope you have all you need for the task ahead of you. I have seen the Seelie queen’s work firsthand, and admire your bravery in trying to stop her,” says Elias.

“She may target your kingdom again, if she believes that Eleanor Thorn and King Ruskin are still here,” the General points out.

Elias doesn’t question the General referring to Ruskin as king, perhaps assuming it’s a personal choice on her part, but he coughs at her use of my name. “We call her Lady Thorn around these parts.”

I tense and start to open my mouth to wave it off, but the Sunshards look slightly embarrassed.

“Apologies, my Lady,” says the General, meeting my eye and bowing slightly to me before her eyes slide to Ruskin, perhaps wondering exactly how official our relationship is for me to merit such a title.

“No problem,” I mutter weakly.