Page 122 of A Cursed Son

“For your ears only. Let’s go outside, and leave the lady with her refreshments.”

Marlak yanks my head. I swear I’m going to yank his hair after all this is done. To make it worse, he sneers. “This? No lady. Are you going to refuse to talk in front of furniture as well?”

The blond fae glances at me, then focuses on Marlak. “Your brother has a proposal. I’d like to talk to you alone.”

Marlak lets me go, then grunts, “Go fetch me a drink.”

I guess I’m supposed to pretend this is all quite normal, so I walk away. It’s annoying because I wanted to hear what the fae had to say. Actually, I can still hear it.

I rush to the table with all the fae juices, get the green drink, and then rush back to the column near where they are standing. I can hear Marlak’s voice from here.

“That’s a shit proposal. I already come and go as I wish in the Crystal Court.”

“You’ll have safe passage.” It’s the blond fae’s voice. “You and the people who support you.”

“As long as I don’t threaten Renel.” Marlak scoffs. “I might look human, but I am a fae, Azur, and as such, I despise deals with ambiguous wording.”

“But what Renel is asking is of little value.” The fae, Azur, says.

“For me, there’s value in depriving Renel of something pretty.”

“Perhaps you’ve come to care for the human wench?” Even from here, I can hear the malice in the fae’s voice. There’s a threat there.

“I care for all my property. That should be obvious. I won’t even part with a worthless earring for empty words. Now get Renel to come and negotiate, and give me proper terms, and perhaps we can have a deal.”

“Show me some good will, then. Let me get a taste of your whore.”

Suddenly it makes sense. Azur is testing Marlak, and what he does now will determine the opinion he gets.

21

Iwant to do something, but I don’t know what. My heart is knocking on my chest, as if to remind me we might be in danger, as if I didn’t know that already.

If Marlak does to him what he did to the Queen of the Misty Court, then they’ll know I can be a target.

Marlak chuckles, though, then says, “Renel should let me use his castle while we’re at it.”

“You borrow his carriages from time to time, don’t you? It’s the same.”

“The deal is between me and Renel.” Marlak hisses. “A worthless pig like you isn’t getting anything. Get him to find me and deal with me.”

“Then make it easier for him to find you, Marlak. You’re the one who’s hiding.”

A thin layer of ice is forming on the floor and the columns. I decide to intervene and approach them quickly.

“My husband, the drink you asked.” It’s the green juice, for endurance, and I had meant it as a joke, but now I fear it will only make things worse.

He takes the cup and turns it over. “I don’t drink this crap.”

Nothing falls on the floor. Of course. It’s frozen.

Azur sneers. “Losing control of your magic again, Marlak? We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

“Why not?” Marlak shrugs. “Maybe I could kill you by accident.”

The blond fae holds his arms behind his back. “You know well that the truce magic laws?—”

“Prevent any aggression.” Marlak has an amused expression. “We’d need to see what happens when it’s an accident.”