Page 97 of Boundless

But the carriage took us forward.

Raja had insisted that we ride in one of the heavier protected carriages of the palace, with thick bars that had been painted over with silver and black to match the design of the walls, as if the designer had hoped to fool people into thinking they weren’t there. Four big black horses were carrying us steadily, and three soldiers were sitting outside, too. I was sure Raja had handpicked them herself. I was sure they could fight the same as a small army if it came to it, though it wouldn’t. We were still in the Midnight Court, and from what Rune had told me so far, the people were mostly curious about him, not opposed to him being chosen king. There had been those inside the palace—advisors and generals and the like—who’dtriedto find ways to rule his claim of the throne illegal, but he said Raja had taken care of them. He trusted her just as much as he trusted himself. There had been witnesses—thank God—who’d seen Rune kill King Helem with their own eyes, and that came before any laws people could make up about bastard offspring ruling kingdoms.

So, yes, the Midnight fae weren’t a threat, but the Unseelie ones would be.

“There will be morvekai guarding the front gates,” Maera said, possibly an hour into our journey. The seats were wide and made of soft cushions and velvets, but the three of us still managed to look like we were sitting on needles all the same.

“Yep. Right by the ruined wall,” I said, the memory fresh in my mind.

“They’ve broken the law. I haven’t been able to find out why Helem didn’t intervene. Or the Seelies,” Rune said. “Nobody seems to know anything about the relationship between those in power at the Unseelie Court and my father.”

My father.The way he said it sounded so empty.

Incredible how feelings gave meaning to a word and could take it away just as easily.

“If I were to guess,” said Maera, who sat alone across from us, and looked out the barred window of the door on her right. “I would say a deal. I would say he had hopes of taking control of the Unseelie army, too. King Helem was notorious for his politics. He trapped enemies and forced them to become allies. At least from what I’ve heard in The Vale.”

“That’s notpolitics,” Rune said. “That’s abuse of power.”

“Which the fae are known to do,” Maera countered.

“Things might change at any time, though,” Rune said, but he didn’t exactly sound like he believed his own words.

“We need a plan,” I said, because it didn’t really matter what King Helem did when he was alive, did it? “Lyall is smart. He’s powerful. There will most likely be a fight.”

“There will. Even if we find the heir before him, he is likely to follow us,” Maera said.

“And we cannot kill him,” Rune said, sending shivers down my back.

Not just because he was right, but because, for a second there, the fact was such a fuckinginconvenience.For a second, it seemed so easy to just kill Lyall and be done with it—and when the hell had I gotten so comfortable with the idea of somebody dying? With the idea ofkillingsomeone?

“We won’t. But we will need to distract him,” I reluctantly said. “We can do that with illusions.” I looked at Rune, and he knew whom I meant already. “Where is she?”

Hessa had been Lyall’s lover once, and then when he’d grown tired of her, she’d fallen in love with Helid, his uncle. The man who’d come to Earth to find me, convince me to come save Lyall—but he’d never really intended to let me wake him up. Helid had been part of the Broken Crown, a group of fae who’d planned to stop Lyall from trying to take over. They’d failed.

Now it was our turn, and Hessa could help. She’d created the perfect illusion of me dying at Rune’s hand at the feast, and Lyallhad believed it. The sound of his laughter that night still rang in my ears any time I thought of it.

“She’s hiding out in the Mercove with Merenith,” Rune said. “I haven’t heard from her in a few days, but she refuses to come to the Midnight Court.”

“Can we find her? Can we send word?”

He nodded. “The soldiers will when they drop us off.”

That was certainly a relief. “We’re going to need all the help we can get.” And something told me that was still not going to be enough.

“What happens when we find the heir?” Maera asked after a moment. “How are we going to simply…take down the people in charge now?”

The question raised the tension in the air so quickly it could have been funny.

“What if we don’t?” I wondered. “The thrones know who the legitimate heir is. The Unseelie one won’t be any different. You said it locked itself down when the royal family was killed, right?” I asked Rune.Just like the Ice Palace.

“Yes. Nobody has been able to get through the doors in years.”

“But it will open for the heir. The throne will probably come out, too, the way it does. We will be there as witnesses—why wouldn’t that work?” The way it looked in my mind, it was easy—take the heir to the throne room, knock on the door, have him or her sit on the throne chair, and it’s game over. Verenthia will live.

Except Rune flinched, and Maera said, “It won’t be so simple. The ones in charge control the army, and the people who are left. Remember what I told you before, Nilah?”

“About the werewolves who took Thornevale, yes.” The same ones who’d convinced her whole pack to sell her to the sorcerers, even though she had always been the alpha.