Page 139 of Boundless

“I was told it worked,” she then said, raising her chin and looking down at me like a mother chiding her child for misbehaving—and I did wish in those moments that that’s all there was to this whole exchange.

“It did. The Unseelie King sits on his throne and I’ve walked him through all the safety measures you walked me through when I first took the crown,” I told her.

Light flashed in her eyes—and I could just tell that she was proud when she said, “Good.”

“I sent the soldiers you sent for me with Nilah, too, to make sure she would sit on her throne.” Which made perfect sense to me, when I thought about it now. It fit perfectly with the world as I knew it. She really was a queen. She was made for it.

“And you’ve come back.” Raja closed her eyes to show her relief, if only for a second. “In one piece, thank Emer.”

I smiled. “Where is Jasewine, Raja?”

“In the throne room,” she said and turned around to walk right toward it. “She’s had a conversation with the seer, which I wasnotaware of nor allowed to hear whatever reading she did, mind you.” Perfectly clear how much this bothered Raja, but she continued. “She won’t leave the throne room before your return, she said, and she’s stayed true to her word so far.” The doors to the throne room were right there, just footsteps away from us now. “You’ve given her a taste of power, I’m afraid, and I’m not sure what that will look like in the future.”

If she only knew…

The time, I stopped her, turned her toward me, and put my hands on her shoulders.

The others who’d followed, together with a few of the royal guard that had stepped away from their positions near the walls to bow, pretended they couldn’t even see us.

“Raja, please breathe. Can you do that?”

She raised her thin brows. “What doesbreathinghave to do with anything?”

“You’re not going to like my talk with Jasewine, but I need you to do one thing for me. Just one.” The way her face changed right before my eyes wasn’t funny at all. “Try to understand that what will come tomorrow is for the best of all.”

I rested my forehead to hers, closed my eyes, allowed myself to breathe, too. Raja was my family. The closest thing I’d had to a mother since my own died. I hardly remembered her face, but I remember Raja. She’d always been there, and I didn’t doubt that she would remain my rock forever. I would be hers, too.

But for now, I straightened up and turned to the other council members and the guards.

“Please, join us in the throne room.”

The doors opened even before I’d finished speaking, and my half-sister stood there in the middle of the room with her hands to her side, pale cheeks and dark eyes full of fear and panic on me.

Almost likeshe knew.

It was easy, easier than I expected to walk up to her and smile. She didn’t wear the crown on her head—instead a tall thin table had appeared near the throne chair atop the dais, which was also a little different,widerif I was remembering correctly. But the crown stood atop the table made of black glass, not on her head.

“Finally,” Jasewine breathed a sigh of relief to see me but arched a brow at the brown and dark red velvets I wore. Hil had insisted, and I didn’t want to seem rude.

I could hardly believe it myself, but I did like him. I thought he’d make a good king despite his past. His heart was in the right place.

Of course, I’dneverbe caught saying that out loud—to anyone but Nilah—and I was also aware of how quickly things changed in the faelands of Verenthia, but right now Hil was where he was supposed to be.

“How have you been, Jasewine?” I said as she continued to curiously analyze the others who’d followed us into the throne room. “I invited them to join us,” I added.

She grabbed me by the wrist the second I stopped in front of her and pulled me toward the tall table near the open windows from where we could see the waterfall pouring down the mountain and the glass-like surface of the Eternal Water. She sat me down at the head of the table, pushed me in place with all her strength, then moved to the other side.

Meanwhile, I watched her, a little stunned, a little amused.

“Well? Tell me—what happened?! How did it go?” she demanded, and I had to force the urge to smile down with all my strength.

But I did tell her everything that happened. Raja came to stand on my other side to hear the story better. I told them about the moon’s eye, and Ashfall, told them about the dragon that Lyall had hoped would do his dirty work for him and wipe the three of us out when he lured us into Santra. And I told them about the death of the Unseelie usurpers, too.

They listened intently, together with the council members and soldiers who were slowly but surely moving closer as I spoke. Even though I hardly stopped to take a breath, it still took me longer than I thought to get to the end of the story.

“And where is he now?” Jasewine asked when I finished. “The Seelie King—where is he?”

“I don’t know, but I assume he’s back home, plotting his revenge. Nilah is safe. She’s with Maera and the soldiers.” The thought of Lyall being so close to her did make me uneasy, but I trusted she could handle herself, and I trusted he would not try anything, at least not tonight.