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“Everyone?” he said. His dark eyes moved from me to Jade, who was now holding my arm.

My blood ran hot in my veins. “Yes,” I barked.

“Fine,” he said. “I suppose there is no harm in speaking of this here, then.”

“Go on,” I pushed.

“We heard word that you may have broken a treaty with the humans.”

I waited for him to say more, but when nothing came, my jaw nearly dropped. That’s what they came all this way for? “We broke no treaty.”

“Well, we’ve heard otherwise. We’ve also heard whispers of something else happening over here in Rewyth.”

There it was. The truth behind it all. “Really?” I asked, keeping my voice as flat as possible. “And what could that possibly be?”

Say it.I thought.Say it right now, and let’s get it over with.

The other two visitors slowly removed the hoods from their own heads.

My power rumbled within my veins. I was ready for a fight.

Jade tensed at my side. I knew she was ready, too.

“Why don’t you tell us?” the leader asked. “Something on your conscience, King?”

I watched as Serefin’s hand moved to his sword.

Him and each of the other guards.

“Have you heard of the peacemaker?” the leader asked when I said nothing. I knew he saw the threat against him. Part of me wanted to test him, to see if he had any power that matched my own.

Or that matched Jade’s.

Would the Paragon send ungifted messengers? Knowing that they were going to pose a threat to us?

Maybe they wanted to push us. Maybe they wanted to keep pushing and pushing until they saw what Jade was really made of.

“Peacemaker?” I repeated. “Hmm, I can’t really say that I have.”

“Interesting,” the leader stepped forward, only half a step. “Because we have resources telling us that the peacemaker is alive, and that she looks terribly similar to your human wife.”

My jaw tightened. “That’s quite a statement.”

“It is, indeed.”

“Is that the reason you came all the way here?” I asked, “To inquire on the similarities between my wife and this said peacemaker?”

The leader smiled. “Not quite. You see, the Paragon, as you may know, is in charge of many things. One of these things is maintaining the power balance amongst fae, witches, and humans.”

I could feel Jade’s anger rising beside me.

The man continued, “If the rumors we have been hearing are true, your wife could greatly upset this balance.”

“Weird,” I chirped. “I wasn’t aware that the mighty Paragon was in the business of listening to petty gossip.”

“When that gossip involves the possible downfall of our system, we listen.”

Their words lingered in the air, landing the final blow to the real reason they showed up.