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“Yet another one of my father’s men that cannot see our new way. Please, excuse yourself from this room.”

He couldn’t walk, though. Two guards from the door dragged him out.

I knew my father’s remaining men would be the ones to threaten me.

I came ready to tear them all down.

Jade stood from her chair, the wooden pegs scratching the floor as she shoved it backward. “The Paragon will come,” she repeated. Her voice was so strong, it echoed off the stone walls around us. “They want to use me for my power and kill me. You don’t know me. You have no reason to believe in me. But I will tell you this…” She glanced at me before continuing, a sparkle of life twinkling in her eye. “If you stand by me—if you are willing to fight for me in the face of the Paragon—I will stop at nothing to make this the most powerful kingdom in history. How would you all feel to have a power like Malachi’s? Like my own?”

The others said nothing, but I knew she had hit a soft spot. I saw the longing in their eyes.

They were men. Of course, they wanted power.

“Then it seems we are on the same page,” I added. “Let’s eat.”

CHAPTER18

Jade

Iate until I was sure the stitching on my corset would burst open. After the initial discussion, nobody seemed to question what I was doing in court. For the most part, a few suspicious glances were the only sign of questioning coming from the other members.

Malachi explained the process of the sacrifice and the details of what the Paragon wanted to do with me. It took a while to convince everyone of the prophecy, but once Malachi had explained it fully, they didn’t question it. I wasn’t sure they were willing to jump in front of an arrow for me, but at least they were listening.

That was a start.

We stayed there for hours. Discussions of politics turned into old memories of battle and war. Bickering turned to friends reliving decades of life together.

Malachi leaned across the table, arguing to Eli about who could shoot an arrow further.

I took the moment to sneak away, out of the dwindling crowd of the ballroom and into the halls of the castle.

Somehow, the night had actually been enjoyable. Watching Malachi command the room as King of Rewyth warmed a place in my soul that I didn’t know had chilled over.

I walked through the dark castle, turning the hall to my bedroom.

“Miss me?” a voice rang out in the darkness.

I spun around to find Kara walking toward me. “Not really, no. Although by the looks of you stalking me, it seems as though you certainly missed me.”

“That’s too bad,” she spat. “Because I’ve been waiting to see you again. I wasn’t so sure I ever would after you left the first time.”

“You mean after you conspired with Esther to kill me?”

She only shrugged. I never found out how much she actually knew about Malachi’s brothers working with Esther, but Kara meant nothing to me. She was an annoying fly that needed to get out of my way.

I turned to walk away from her, but she was in front of me in an instant. Even as a woman, her fae speed was shocking.

“What do you want, Kara?”

She smiled. “The peacemaker, huh?” she teased. “It must feel nice knowing you’re not just a stupid little human anymore.”

I tried to push past her. She blocked me.

“Trust me,” I warned her. “You don’t want to do this. And I’m not just a peacemaker, I’m your queen, in case you forgot.”

A growl of anger escaped her, and before I knew what was happening, she had me pinned to the wall.

My power flared.