Page 101 of Boundless

They were all men, there of them soldiers wearing armor the color of rust that matched that of their hair perfectly. The man who’d spoken, who stood before us now with a smile on his face, wore a deep earthy brown jacket made of velvet,notold-looking or worn in the least, but brand new. His hair was a fieryauburn, long enough that he’d tied it behind his head with a thin brown velvet ribbon, and his boots were shiny and looked soft, and his fingers were clean, perfectly manicured. No hollows on his cheeks, and no bags under his eyes, and though he did look skinny, he didn’t seemsicklike the rest of the Unseelies we’d seen so far. He looked…okay.

And that brought all my thoughts and all my fear to a halt, the morvekai who stood far behind the men nearly forgotten.

“That’s impressive, Your Highness. I’ve always liked the color of Midnight light.” Every inch of my skin rose in goose bumps. I looked at Rune, and back at the man, still smiling.

He knew who Rune was.

“It’s special, indeed,” Rune said, his voice perfectly controlled, even, like he’d been expecting this very thing to happen all along. His self-control really was to be envied.

“As is your entourage, I see. Quite special,” said the man, eyeing Maera curiously, who was showing her teeth at him but not moving at the moment.

And then the guy looked at me, and his dull eyes sparkled like jewels.

My magic reacted as if he’d pushed a button on me. Ice-cold and relentless, itexplodedin my center and spread over my entire torso in a second.

“We don’t mean to intrude. We were only curious about this settlement,” Rune said, and I could tell he was tense in the way he held his shoulders and his head up, his hands open and ready. His magic must have been buzzing the same way mine did, right under his skin.

“Of course, Your Highness. King Lox and Queen Codessa will most certainly welcome you to the Unseelie Court. I’m glad I recognized you before we made clowns out of ourselves trying to apprehend you.” A laugh, bitter and short, and full of malice.

I did not like this man at all.

“Just as I was glad to recognize the Seelie King mere hours ago. Our king and queen had no knowledge how…famous this settlement was among the other courts.”

There went my heart, skipping way too many beats at once again.

Lyall had been here. Lyall had been in this very place, searching for the heir. We were too late.

I was moving before I realized it. “Where is he?” I demanded, and had Maera not been standing there between us, I’d have gotten close and personal with the guy by now purely on instinct.

Rune’s hand fell over my shoulder gently—he was right behind me.

The man raised his brows at me, as if he were genuinely surprised that I’d spoken.

“I’m afraid I don’t know where the Seelie King goes when he is not in our court. Please, allow me to introduce myself and to formally invite you and your friends to our kingdom this fine evening.” With a hand to his chest, he bowed his head. “Chancellor Ryat, at your service. You would honor us with your presence at the Fire Palace, King Rune of the Midnights.”

Rune turned to look at me for a moment, and I read the same question in his eyes. He was wondering whether it was a good idea to go meet with the king and queen right now—but it wasn’t. Even if there was a fight and we won, or even if a miracle happened and we managed totalkto these people about stepping down from the throne—the heir was still missing. The heir wasnothere. And most importantly, Lyall wasn’t, either.

I shook my head just a little, just to tell him what I was thinking, and Rune seemed to agree.

When he turned to the chancellor again, he said, “I’m afraid we’re short on time tonight so I must decline. Respectfully, of course. I do look forward to meeting the king and queen—perhaps in the coming days?”

The way his voice sounded sounlikehimself was honestly impressive. It was like he was a completely different person to the world around him. So much different from the man he was with me.

“Certainly,” the chancellor said, and for a split second, I could have sworn he was relieved. “We’d like but a message of your arrival, so we can better prepare to expect you as is appropriate.” A deep nod—yes, definitely relieved.

“Of course,” Rune said. “But before I leave, I will ask you this and hope it stays between us.” He moved to the side, and Maera did the same, as if they were connected somehow and she knew Rune wanted to get closer.

He did. He was a good head taller than the chancellor and his soldiers, who were visibly tense as they slowly reached for the handles of their swords, but the morvekai monster behind them didn’t move.

Would Rune be able to kill it if a fight broke out? Because I certainly would try.

“I do hope I can answer, Your Highness,” the chancellor said. He tried to act like he wasn’t affected by Rune’s proximity, by the weight of his magic that he no doubt felt against his skin, but his shaking voice betrayed him.

“The Seelie King. I’d hoped to meet him here before he left. Did he say why he was here, and where he was going, perhaps?” Rune’s voice was a whisper, soothing to the ear. Or maybe it was just me.

The chancellor took half a step back as casually as he could. “He said he was here to sight-see, just like yourself, Your Highness,” said the chancellor.

“Where was he going?” Rune insisted.