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18

FROM AFAR

Ryther

"I see congratulations are in order," the goblin who heads the court of stone grunts, eyes on my marks.

"Likewise. I hear you're now on the council, Tenith."

His court is mighty in its own right, but on the seelie shores, the main powers are to the north and south: the bright court and the court of wings. They always claimed the two major seats. The third used to belong to the court of gold, because their value is in their trade and wealth. But for Darina's pronouncement, stone would never have had a chance, even if bone had managed to usurp gold's seat.

"That was clever of your little queen," he admits with a dry laugh. "And I'm grateful."

"You ought to tell her so.” My mouth quirks. “She's very fond of praise."

"Hm." He's noncommittal as he inclines his head and joins the line of folk waiting for an introduction.

Loch is handling them, saying a word about each lord as he gives her their name and titles.

I hate that it's him at her side, but it's necessary. Tenith's reaction is shared by many. The seelie don't like this bond of ours. The unseelie like it a little too much.

Spotting Rachel as she gets bored and leaves the relative safety of the dais, I wait until they're a distance away, close to one of the refreshment tables, and approach Caenan, who has remained with her.

The moral’s stacking up bread and cured meats and cheese on a plate, cutting up pieces, and making lewd noises as she eat it all. "I'm starved! I haven't eaten in ages."

I'm sure that's true for her. Mortals do need constant sustenance.

I ignore her and lower my voice."Any sign of him?"

I am not surprised to see Caenan shake his head. I've been scanning the crowd for Junis myself.

"I wish he had been stupid enough to show his face," Caenan says with a regretful sigh.

"That was always unlikely. He didn't get to his position by being careless. And Valdred?"

I mislike the absence of our seelie ally. What could possibly be more important than being here at Darina's very first revel, to show his support?

Caenan tilts his chin, and I turn.

The blond prince is close to one of the many entrances, clad in red and gold as usual, though his doublet is richer than any I've seen him wear in the past, the golden leaves shining with diamonds.

He chats with a few of his peers as he makes his way to the dais, and walks directly to Darina, bypassing the line.

So, he got Loch’s notes, it seems, as he’s behaving as planned.

He bows low, and she greets him with her brightest grin.

I tell myself it's a good thing that Valdred can join Loch by Darina's side, smiling at her, joking, teasing familiarly. Her biase toward the unseelie courts will be assumed because of our bond; showing an outright affinity to the bone prince is one of the many ways she'll have to prove otherwise.

I am not jealous. This is strategy. My strategy, to boot.

I am not jealous.

I try to form the words out loud, just to prove they’re true.

Not a single sound crosses my lips.

"How much do you hate that?" Caenan wonders.

"Do feel free to shut your mouth any time," I snap.

He grimaces. "That's what I thought. A lot, huh."

By chance, Rachel is then approached by two ladies—one from silver, one from the sea court, by their clothing—and he moves to stand closer, so I'm spared his mocking, and he's spared getting punched in the face.

I snag another glass of wine and make myself turn away from Valdred and Darina, who now laugh like good old friends.

That thing inside me is stirring again. Anger. Not directed at Valdred, strangely, but at Darina. Or rather, at the goddess inside her.

Not this again.

It's not like I can screw her into oblivion right here to appease it; though I can imagine it in my mind's eyes. Stride right there, grab her by the throat, lead her to her knees, and take her mouth as they all watch, claiming her as mine before the eyes of every court.

Never mind the fact that the mark currently on my hand is saying all this. And it's exactly the problem.

"You've trained your pet quite well," I hear as Rena approaches.

I grunt. "What do you want?"

We both know she wouldn't come anywhere close to me without a specific reason.Rena has loathed me for nine hundred years. To hear her talk, you'd think I'd single handedly caused all her unhappiness. In actual fact, she was the one actively working to ruin what she had, and I merely pointed it out.

My twin pursued and wed Rena shortly afterMarun revealed those glimpses of our futures. He saw himself mated and content and believed it was with Rena. I had my doubts, based on the fact that he'd never shown her more interest than he did to any pretty girl happy to lift her skirts; if they truly had been destined for each other, surely he'd have sensed it?

We were both too young to be sure what to expect, but after a hundred years of gloom, whereby Rena proceeded to stifle any ambition, any desire in him, cutting him off from all his friends, and even attempting to come between us, I was the one to point out to Calreth that they hadn't bonded. And sure enough, the girl in the seer's vision bore his mark. He concluded he'd been mistaken; the girl only looked like Rena. Exactly like, which was peculiar, but it didn't change the fact that it quite simply couldn't be the bright queen. A simple conclusion, after spending so much time in complete misery. And so, he left her and built his own court.

True bonds like the one linking Darina and I are so rare, many don't bother to look for their soul mate, and form an attachment based on feelings less instinctive, yet just as precious: trust, loyalty, affection. Out of a thousand fae, only one might have met the other part to their soul. There are plenty of contented couples, though. They could have been perfectly happy if they'd been remotely suited for each other, or perhaps if Rena had been less of a bitch. But despite all that, she blames me.I can't say I mind. Incurring her disfavor means I seldom have to suffer her presence.

"You can't think the courts will stand for this farce," she snarls. "A high queen is meant to be our anchor, centering all of us. No amount of posturing will change the marks upon your skins."

I wish she were wrong. What we are to each other is wrong for a high queen and one of the lower court lords. But fate has dictated our hands; now we can only live with it.

As things stand, the best Rina and I can hope for is preventing a complete bloodbath.