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“Can we have them quietly accommodated somewhere until we’re ready to deal with them?” Even as he said it, he knew it was a bad idea.

The elementals and terrestrials alike would be roiling by the time the competition was over. Many of them would kill a human on sight and ask questions later. The worse ones would let the humans live… for a while.

The crowd was murmuring in the background—the next match had started. Parys didn’t even glance down. He was smiling, holding his wine glass, and staring into nothingness as his mind worked through the possible calculations.

“Take them down to the servants’ quarters under palace guard. I can break off the competition after this round and say it is to build anticipation.” The murmuring was getting louder. Yells interspersed the conversation.

Then hisses. Parys’ wind swirled around him, bringing one fateful word—humans.

“Too late,” Elora said in time with his thoughts.

The attention of the spectators was no longer on the fighting ring. It had turned to the entrance of the throne room, where angry elementals were dragging in humans by their necks.

* * *

Humans were too easy to scent. And so many of them…

Parys noted three things about the human delegation instantly. They were prepared for this encounter; as prepared as humans could be against fae. Heavily armed, every single one of them. Their leader was obvious—she was old, tiny, and held a bright gold bangle in her outstretched hand above her head like it was a torch. Lastly, every single one of the dozen or so humans, of varying ages, complexions and sizes, was female.

Guinevere took care of the rest.

She crossed the throne room faster than should have been possible on two legs. Planted her feet slightly wider than hip distance, and lifted her dark eyebrows in silent command. She didn’t even twitch in the direction of the sword sheathed at her waist.

“Step away.”

Parys recognized the elemental courtiers holding the humans—four males, all less than a hundred years old, from noble families. Males that were bristling for a fight, who hadn’t been selected for the spectacle of competition.

A mistake—Parys hadn’t calculated for their disappointment.

And he certainly hadn’t anticipated a group of humans.

The elemental at the front, holding the elderly human female by the upper arm, sneered at Guinevere with open contempt.Brennar—the name came to Parys in a flash.

“This is not how we welcome guests,” Guinevere said. Her voice was deceptively even.

But Brennar was too foolish to notice. The woman he held flinched, a small sheen of ice coating her arm.

Brennar was able to control his magic. Any elemental who made it to the age of fifty ought to have a grasp on their magic and their temper. Which meant he was choosing to hurt the human.

His companions weren’t much better, their holds brutal enough that the humans gritted their teeth. But at least none of them were leaving freeze burns on their victims’ skin.

“They are humans,” Brennar said, shrugging his shoulders.

The woman in his grip was not so easily dismissed. She tried to wrench her arm away, failed, and speared him with a glare. She might even be older than him, by the look of her thin skin and wispy gray braid.

He didn’t release her. She didn’t bother to address him.

She turned to Guinevere, though Parys saw her eyes dart to Elora as well. Clever, battle-ready Elora, who was slowly and carefully positioning herself to dispatch the other elementals Brennar had brought with him.

“We come at the invitation of Veyka Pendragon,” the human said sharply. Her voice didn’t quiver, and neither did her arm—the free one, which she stretched overhead.

The gold bangle she held—Veyka’s. He’d spent enough time lounging around in her bedroom to recognize it.

Parys glanced to Guinevere, found her eyes waiting for confirmation. He nodded.

“You shall refer to her as Her Majesty, the High Queen of Annwyn,” Guinevere said, taking another step forward. A couple of yards separated them. Scant—nothing, really.

The competition had halted, Parys noted. All eyes were on them—elemental, terrestrial, and human.