Page 64 of A Promise of Lies (Shadows of the Tenebris Court #3)

63

Bastian

T he fog was dissipating, and in the distance the faint light before dawn painted the horizon.

But I stared at the fae before us. The sharp angles of his face could’ve cut diamonds as effectively as his ravens had cut through Braea. His only visible flaw was the spreading darkness marking his cheek.

He brushed off his sleeves, raising an eyebrow at Kat, then me. “We never did get to introductions. Drystan, King of Death… amongst other things.”

At my side, Kat stiffened and disentangled herself from my grasp. “It’s a night for finally doing things that are long overdue. Meet your son, Bastian.”

The cool stiffness of his face dropped for an instant. It had to mirror the shock registering on my own.

Your son . This was… He was…

“You… weren’t lying. I thought you were just trying to save your life.” He blinked, glowing eyes locked on me. “My Hunt—they told me they’d scented you in the world above… I thought they were mistaken.” He huffed and shook his head. “I should’ve known their hounds wouldn’t get such a thing wrong. Bastian, eh?” He made a thoughtful sound. “She told me she’d always liked that name and wanted it for our child. Of course, I agreed. She could get me to agree to anything.”

My father. Nyx’s lover. The one she’d died trying to reach. The one who’d sired me.

I could barely breathe. This was too much. For one night. For one lifetime.

“I thought there was nothing left of the woman I loved, but your smile is hers—I saw the one you gave her as you apologised. And your frown—your frown is hers.” He touched his thumb to my brow.

“And there is a lot of you in him, too.” Kat squeezed my hand, waking me from my stupor.

“I see it.” I studied him, marking all the ways my own features suddenly made sense—not strange and unseelie, but his. “The eyes, the shadows, the ability to split in two.”

His head cocked as he frowned. “In two? Many ravens, yes, but that I can’t do. At least not that I’m aware.”

“Then where?—?”

He doubled over with a grunt, clutching his stomach. “Unfortunately, it looks like our acquaintance will be brief. Your beloved has poisoned me.”

“Katherine!”

She winced. “I can explain. One moment.” She picked across the ground between the Great Trees, then ducked to scoop something up. “Here.” She returned with her necklace, the chain broken, and held it out to… my father. “The antidote.”

Still bent over, he peered up. An unpleasant flush marked his face, the strain of agony unmistakeable. He eyed the little bottle gleaming under the cold light, mistrust in the flat line of his mouth.

“She speaks the truth.”

With a huff, he snatched the vial. “I thought it was all a lie. I wasn’t expecting to survive, but at least I’d get to kill her . And you…” He pursed his lips at Kat. “I had to admire your cunning, so I gave you a chance.”

“So, let me get this straight.” I raised an eyebrow at Kat. “You poisoned my father?”

“I had to. He wasn’t going to let me come back from the Underworld.”

I rounded on him as he flipped open the bottle and downed its contents. “You were going to keep the woman I love?”

He spread his hands as the poison creeping over his skin ceased and faded. “It’s a long story. But the sun’s coming up and I can’t stay past dawn.”

“How are you even here at all?” I glanced back towards the gorge surrounding the palace. “I thought you couldn’t cross the river.”

“I didn’t have to. I followed the tether between her soul and body. I intended to bring the Crown up here and ensure the person of her choosing received it, but a certain tiny human had other ideas.” He narrowed his eyes at her sidelong. “Keep an eye on this one.”

The fading mist swirled as the Wild Hunt emerged. Kat gasped, her magic humming as she instinctively called upon it. I caught her hand and gave a reassuring squeeze.

“My Lord.” Their leader bowed his head. “We served your son this night, but our people…” A dozen Horrors followed from the mist.

Drystan’s face crumpled, the pain so sharp I could feel it. “What has been done to them? I thought they were missing not… this .” He swallowed and dragged himself straight, shoulders back. “The veil is thin enough to get them home. Retribution can wait until another night.”

I recognised that desire, and I suspected the feral smile that accompanied my reassurance was one he’d recognise. “The ones who did this are dead. You just took the last of them.”

Sure enough, his expression mirrored mine. My father . I felt a little less alien, a little less like I didn’t belong in this land of seelie folk.

“Then I wish I could do it twice over. Come”—he motioned to the Wild Hunt—“let us take these wanderers home.”

“Wait.” Kat stepped forward. “The Crown—how do we use it? Otherwise as soon as the sun rises, Bastian will be forced to Sleep. Does he just… wear it?”

“Him? No. You retrieved it and survived. By rights, I suppose it’s yours.” He took it from her grasp and raised it as if about to crown her. “Hmm. There should be a little grandeur to the event—after all, this wasn’t been worn in millennia.” He raised his chin, drawing a long breath as energy pulsed from him, a deep reverberation beneath the earth. “Come to us. Witness us.”

The last of the fog melted away, revealing faint shapes that rose and consolidated into forms. Fae, humans, even a young sabrecat and a stag.

I squinted at the stag. The same one who’d fallen in the city streets after carrying me and a poisoned Kat here from Faolán’s camp.

“Fant?me,” Kat breathed, fingers pressing to her lips.

And there were others I recognised. Fae who’d fallen in the Solstice attack. Others I’d helped Elthea shroud beneath the Hall of Healing. Lara, her blond hair pale and luminous in this ghostly form. Another blond human I didn’t recognise stood between her and the sabrecat cub.

Drystan surveyed the audience as he led Kat to the central point between the Great Trees. “Those you’ve known and those who’ve known this place.”

The next familiar faces stole my breath. My fathers. Together again after so long. Sylen wore his armour, but it bore no sign of the terrible wound I’d inflicted upon him. And Kaliban was whole, his smile wide as he whispered to his beloved and pointed Kat out to him.

My eyes burned. There were so many things I needed to say to them both, but nothing would come out.

They inclined their heads, though, like they knew, and nodded over towards another figure.

I’d never seen her face, not in person, but I’d seen portraits in Braea’s personal quarters. So like Sura in a lot of ways, but softer. In fact, Sura stood at her side, an unreadable look on her face.

“You’re here.” Drystan’s cool, regal facade cracked along with his voice. As though he didn’t realise he was doing it, he pulled the crown closer to his chest as he stalked closer. “Where have you been? I searched my realm for your soul passing through. I had my Hunt search this one in case you were stuck.”

“I was right here. With our son.” She came to me, steps floating half a foot in the air, gown flowing in a breeze even though the night was still. “I was so determined to keep you safe from her , my strength became bound to yours in that tiny little body. I am so sorry I could not stay alive for you or tell you I was here. It seems wrong that I could only give you a name.”

I stared. In battle, I’d heard grown fae cry out for their mothers when they fell. I never understood it.

But here I was now, face-to-face with my mother. The one who’d carried me as long as she could and had fallen in her attempt to save me. Who’d kept on carrying me, even in death. Who’d given me a name—the start of an identity.

Her voice was every soothing sound I’d ever heard. Every caress of the cheek. Every time someone had mopped my feverish brow. Every flip of a too-hot pillow at night.

My chest filled with so many words I could never speak them all, but I managed to get out a handful of them. “You have nothing to apologise for. It’s because of you, I had a chance.”

She reached for me, but her hand clasped as though she realised even though I saw her now, we still could not touch, just as her feet didn’t touch the ground. “My boy.” She glanced up at Drystan. “ Our boy.”

Tears glimmered in his eyes as he searched her gaze with a longing I understood. “Will you pass over now?”

“My mother is gone, so I may go. I will leave with you, but you know it’s only temporary—I will continue on to the beyond.”

He clenched his jaw and bowed his head.

“Now”—she flashed a grin that I’d seen in the mirror a hundred times—“weren’t you about to do something?” She nudged him before coming to my side.

“You always could distract me.” Shoulders pulling back, he became regal once more, cold like marble, even though he carried a crown made of ashes.

And there, before an audience of the dead, the Wild Hunt, the bound Horrors, and me, Drystan crowned Katherine.