Page 117

The man was Lord Ainsley Enix of House Myridan, still counted among the great and noble Houses even though their chief contributions to the Imperium had been war, war profiteering, and the occasional well-funded coup.

It was the same House that only a year ago had sent a group of assassins to kill the newest son of Ghislain, still a babe in his crib, and, indeed, Kato and Skye both sat up straighter.

Ainsley’s winds whipped at his fine suit and thick black hair as he glided down over the heads of the still-seated nobility towards the central stage.

His face was striking—elegant and smooth with a soft, full mouth.

But there was something too slick about him.

Too eager. His eyes were the color of cinnamon, filled with Highborn light and arrogance.

They remained fixed on Ivain as he took an easy step onto the stage.

One corner of Ivain’s mouth lifted, his head tilting—like a fox humoring a viper’s hiss.

Ainsley smiled, undaunted. “Do you actually have a plan?” His voice boomed loud enough to make the room hush. Another little trick of air magic—projection. “Because from where I’m standing, you’re driving this city into the ground.”

Taly’s fists clenched in her lap as Sarina let out a low growl of warning.

Ivain remained silent, hands clasped behind his back as he paced a slow circle. He moved with the measured grace of a seasoned predator, eyes never leaving the viper poised to strike.

Ainsley matched him step for step. “We’ve been stranded on this island for months, sitting idly by as our supplies dwindle.

Dead roam the forests, attacking our walls and killing our people on the roads and in their homes.

We’re dying,” he said, looking to the crowd.

“Every day, we’re dying. Killed by shades, by disease, by some nameless, faceless enemy.

And still, you ask us for patience. For loyalty .

Yet you offer us no escape. Nothing but the Aion Gate, a distant, unknowable point in the future that under your leadership many of us may never live to see. ”

Ivain chuckled under his breath. “If my leadership has doomed us all, then tell me this—how is it that you stand here, not buried among the dead, but rallying the living?” he replied coolly.

“I must say, Ainsley, you’ve regained your color since I found you cowering outside of Della.

I’m so glad that after I sheltered you, fed you, and tended to your wounds—after I made sure that you arrived safely back into Ryme and were able to be reunited with the members of your House thanks to the census records that I compiled—that you finally seem to have taken an interest in the running of this city.

Perhaps next time, when I come to you asking for aid, you’ll be more generous with your mages’ time. ”

Ainsley’s expression turned calculating, his eyes lifting to address the people on the terraces.

“It is true,” he said. “I am lucky to have those loyal to me and my own. Courageous mages who have vowed to protect us where he will not.” He pointed a damning finger at Ivain.

“How many attacks have we weathered? How many Fey lives have been sacrificed? How many thousands of years of expertise and training have we lost? How much of that wealth of eternity is now never to be experienced?”

A few scattered “hear, hears” sounded from the crowd. House Tira was nodding.

“And now a Curse,” Ainsley went on, voice swelling. “Another attack, another problem that we will pay for with Fey blood .”

Ainsley whipped back to Ivain. “I would fight for you,” he declared from across the stage.

“I would order my people to battle if I thought you were the man to lead them, that you would prioritize the welfare of your own kind. But I will not throw away their lives defending a Gate to a human world. Not when I have seen the way that you spend our blood. Kalahad Brenin already made that mistake and look what it cost him. Three mages, three lives, three families that will never again be whole—and for what?”

He turned to Taly, his lips curling into a sneer. “All so you could retrieve your prized pet .”

Taly raised her chin as she felt the weight of the room, of all those eyes, slide to her.

Ivain’s smile was anything but kind. “I would be very careful of the way you address my daughter,” he said, pleasant but with a hidden, lethal edge. “She is, after all, the reason you’re still alive to test my patience.”

But Ainsley didn’t heed the warning. “Given your history, your talent, Castaro, one could forgive a few… idiosyncrasies. But to call a mortal ‘ daughter .’” Disgust filled his face. “You’re showing your age, old man. You need to rest and let those with sharper minds take over.”

“I’ll rest when I’m dead.”

“And when will that be? Soon, by my account. And you’ll drag this city with you.

” Ainsley turned to the assembly, his voice cutting.

“How much more proof do you need that the old man has lost his mind? He allowed the heir of Ghislain—arguably their great nation’s most priceless treasure—to publicly crown his Shardless whore ! ”

Skye’s rage ripped through her like a flashbang, scorching down the bond and leaving her breathless, nearly bleaching her vision to white.

By the time the world righted, he was already on his feet, one hand on his sword, fury carved into every line of his face.

And then, behind him, Kato also stood in silent solidarity of her honor and their own.

Surprise flashed in Ainsley’s eyes. Maybe even fear. He’d expected Skye’s anger, but not Kato standing with him.

The other son of Ghislain. The fallen prince. A demi-Fey, but one whose wealth of aether still outweighed nearly everyone in the room. Ainsley had been counting on the malice that had always existed between the brothers so publicly to serve as a dividing line.

Now that line had vanished.

Sarina snarled, low, lovely, and just shy of combustion, “Careful, Ainsley.” Her fingers dug into the arm of her throne, smoke blooming where skin met wood. “Keep spewing filth like that, and I’ll show you what it feels like to burn from the inside out.”

The crowd was riveted, tension thick enough to choke on. People watched, yes, but they also leaned subtly back, hands twitching towards charms, eyes clocking exits.

Ainsley only scoffed. “They’re all crazy.”

Ivain turned his head, eyes flicking between the brothers. Then to Sarina, smoldering on the front row. Behind her, Aiden and Aimee glared daggers.

Finally, his gaze landed on Taly, still seated. Her back was starting to hurt from keeping it so straight.

Ivain smiled, all malice and sharp edges. Even the aether in the air shivered as the man they called Shadeslayer, White Fox, Warden of the Worlds, took a few easy steps across the room.

Strolling towards Ainsley.

Backing him up one step, then another.

Until the lordling finally found some speck of courage and planted his feet.

Ivain leaned in close. “The next time you insult my family,” he said softly, yet the words carried, “I will cut out your tongue. Then if you still do not remember your place, I will cut off your cock, and that human , the one that you so stupidly call my pet … I will allow her to feed it to you with a golden fork and a golden knife. Bite by bite .”

Oh, yes. Ainsley was definitely afraid now, though he wore it well, only allowing a single bob of his throat.

When Ivain glanced back at Taly, she played her part, tilting her head and grinning in vicious, feline delight at the prospect.

Ivain said to the room, “As I was saying, there is a plan in place.”

A dismissal. The lordling quietly seethed at the edge of the stage.

“Everyone here,” Ivain went on, “Fey and mortal alike, was scanned upon entry, so rest assured there is no danger of infection for any of those who have gathered here tonight.”

“For now,” Ainsley cut in. “But it has already taken root in the Fey population. Even now, Kalahad Brenin, one of our own, lay dying.”

Gasps from the crowd, some murmuring. That was not public knowledge yet.

Ainsley saw an opportunity and grabbed onto it. “How long until it begins to spread unchecked?”

A few voices echoed yeah , how long? in a ripple around the room.

“Given your particular tastes…” He glanced at Taly. “How can we be assured that you will lead with our interests in mind? That you will prioritize Fey lives. That you can be counted on to make the hard decisions to isolate the contagion.”

Ivain stood firm. “Every life has value.”

“Humans die,” the lordling countered, and he had them now.

In his eyes, he knew he had the people’s fear and that fear properly wielded could burn just as hot as loyalty.

“But you seem to have forgotten that. And would waste valuable time trying to prolong their mayfly lives, all so they can fuck and breed and produce more mouths to strain our resources.

More bodies that will spread sickness through our ranks.

“Every life has value,” Ainsley boomed, now mocking Ivain’s own words, “but there is a natural order.”

There were more rumblings from the Fey as the Shardless above them grew restless.

Some started to push while others moved towards the stairs as they felt the tide of opinion begin to shift.

Fear was spreading, panic taking hold, and the crowd was standing shoulder to shoulder with barely any room to move.

This could get dangerous. Fast.

“The only solution here,” Ainsley declared to the nobility, to the restless crowd, “the only way to keep more Fey from dying, is exactly what you’re not willing to do, Castaro.

The Shardless belong in camps. They need to be confined, not dressed in silk and lace and paraded through town as a distraction for your incompetence.

So that you can stand here and try to justify the insult to us all by allowing your pet a seat of honor. ”

“This pet has a name.” The words leapt off Taly’s tongue before she could rein them back in.