Page 117 of Boundless

They’d expected him. Just like we’d thought, word had traveled during the day, faster than our horses, and so the Chancellor of the Unseelie Court knew to expect us. That’s why he was standing right inside the gates with four soldiers at his back—and a morvekai creature several feet to the side.

My stomach fell at the sight of that plastic skin and those dead eyes, still chest andmassivebody. But the inside of the walls of the Fire Palace distracted me soon enough.

The building itself was massive, just as big as all the other fae palaces, but it was in an even worse condition than the one in the Frozen Court. The crystals it had been made of had been covered in rot, layered with something dark and disgusting,consumedby the lack of magic, and a ruler—but here, it was worse. Almost every single tree around us was naked, the stone walls that looked to have had an orange tint to them now washedand pale and broken in most places. There’d been seven towers here once, but four of them were only half now, just the bottom still standing before they broke off in the middle like something had attacked the building. Fae with their magic—or a fucking dragon with bat wings and fire in its breath.

The reminder made my skin crawl, and the animal statues all around us didn’t make me feel any better at all. There were so many of them here, all made of something that could have once been white, but I wasn’t sure if it was marble. It looked different, and there were statues every few feet, on the ground and atop windows, in the corners, over these benches that were built right off the main road that led to the doors of the palace. They were everywhere, and they were half ruined, too, just like the towers. Foxes, deers, wolves, large cats, ravens, stags, owls—so fucking unusual, and they were full of cracks and holes. They truly looked beyond repair.

The windows were dark, the gates almost lifeless, and tattered banners in all shades of rust hung limply from high rafters. The emblems sown on them had faded so much I couldn’t make them out, but I thought it could be half a tree, and half the face of a bird with a sharp beak. This smell hung in the air, like smoke from fire that had died out a long time ago, and itwas strangely fitting with the visual of this place. With thesoundof it.

“Your Highness, a pleasure to see you again so soon,” the Chancellor said when our horses were just inside the outer wall of the palace. His fake smile hadn’t changed a bit, but he did look a bit more alive under sunlight than he had that night at the settlement.

“Thank you, Chancellor. I hope it’s not too late to accept your invitation, but I would very much like to meet the king and queen today—if they’re available, of course,” Rune said, his voice as calm and as composed as ever.

“Certainly. You are welcome to the Unseelie Court, Sire,” said the Chancellor. “Please, allow us to take care of your horses. Let me escort you to the king and queen. They are eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

Just like that.

I turned to look at Maera, and at Hil, but they were both focused ahead on Rune as he dismounted his horse and offered the chancellor the reins.

“My servants will take care of our horses. Take them to the stables,” Rune said, and the chancellor’s eyes fell on my face.

I remembered how he’d looked at me that night when he saw my hand in Rune’s. I remembered it, and heat crawled up to my cheeks instantly, because I thought he would recognize me.

But Rune’s shadows were no joke, and whatever face he’d given me with his illusion magic worked because the chancellor didn’t seem to recognize me at all. He also didn’t seem to mind that a werewolf was with us, and he definitely didn’t even look at Hil twice before he put the reins of Rune’s horse in the hands of a waiting soldier.

“Certainly, Your Highness. May I ask where you’re coming from?”

Rune had already started walking ahead toward the doors, his every step precise, sure, like he ownedthisplace, too. Like he truly was a king.

I don’t know why it struck me thathe was.He was an actual king now, and he was made for it. Fucking hell, he fit right into the title, and my heart was so heavy I feared I might explode.

He was king, and I was supposed to go claim a throne myself soon.Ifeverything went right and we got lucky—I was supposed to claim a fucking fae throne.

Me.Nilah Dune from Earth, a girl who had been relentlessly bullied her whole life, who spent most of said life in survival mode, running, never walking, never stopping to fucking breathe.

Now I had no choice but to stop and to sit.

Ona throne.

Really, the universe had a twisted sense of humor—or maybe it just loved to mockmein particular any chance it got.

My mind was in pieces as I jumped off the saddle, too, and with the reins in my hand still, I followed after Maera. Hil was guiding his horse ahead, following the soldier, while another two followed us, but the morvekai didn’t. It didn’t even turn its head or those dead eyes to look at us as we moved toward the left of the building, away from the gates behind which Rune disappeared without a glance our way. He did his part perfectly, and I was sure he was going to keep the fake king and queen distracted, as per the plan. We’d have time, hopefully, to sneak into the Fire Palace and find the throne room.

Even so, the voices in the back of my head were relentless. I couldn’t exactly focus on my surroundings or remember the way we’d come through as I led the horse forward, trying to squash that awful doubt.

The stables weren’t far off the main entrance, built close to the side of the palace. The smell hit us first—damp hay andsmoke, the air heavy with the musk of restless horses. There were plenty of them there, too, their hooves shuffling against the straw as Hil went ahead and led his mare to an empty stall. His every movement was calm and careful at the same time. The soldiers who’d led us here stopped by the doors, closed them, but there were two others at the far end. They didn’t ask questions, only watched us with hands resting on their sword handles as if to say they were ready if trouble came their way.

I could feel the tension prickling under my skin as Maera padded silently beside me, her wolf form smaller than any other werewolf I’d seen so far, but no less impressive because of the way she moved.

“Hello there, fellas! Good to see a familiar face—it’s been a while since I was home,” Hil suddenly said, and my skin rose in goose bumps at the same time.

What the hell was he doing?!We weren’t supposed to be talking to anyone, damn it.

Then again, we’d planned on therenotbeing guards in the stable at all, only workers.

Hil left his horse in the stable and continued ahead, his hands up to put the guards at ease, I guessed, and he continued to talk to them like they were his old buddies.

Meanwhile, Maera nudged my leg to tell me to keep moving, leave my horse in the next empty stall, so I did. Magic buzzed in my hands, and I was trying to think of the best way to get us out of here unnoticed and into the palace—but by the time I closed the stall door, Hil was already moving.