Page 69 of Reign of Stars and Fire

“Ari’s traitor!” he shouted. “Where is my ambassador?”

“You must listen to me, I beg of you,” I called back. “There is something happening that you do not know, and—”

I let out a scream when a force knocked me to the ground. My cheek slammed into the rough dirt. Small bits of stone and twigs dug into my skin. The silver edge of a dagger dug into my throat.

“Everyone always keeps their eyes on the king.” Her lips were close to my ear, what felt like a knee jabbed into my spine. The unmanaged anger on her tongue quivered in every word. “Fine with me. It leaves room for the queen.”

She gripped my hair, yanking my braid so my neck arched. I flung myself to one side. It gave me the room to roll onto my back, but she was swifter. In one breath, she managed to straddle my hips, that damn dagger still at my throat.

Only now, I held her gaze.

Rage burned in the blue of her eyes. A seething anger befitting a woman on the brink of battle.

Elise.

I was at the mercy of a woman who’d lost too much, a woman who valued my husband more than Ari would ever admit, a woman who would gladly kill for those she loved.

Starting with her beloved ambassador’s traitorous thrall.

“Queen Elise,” I began, but sucked in sharp air when she pressed the blade firmer against my throat. “Please, listen to me.”

Elise pressed her brow to mine. “What have you done to Ari? Where ismy friend?”

The queen moved one knee over my heart. She pressed all her weight onto my chest, forcing the air from my lungs.

“It . . . it isn’t safe for you here,” I rasped.

“A fact we learned when you attacked.” A desperate kind of madness lived in her gaze. “Tell us what you’ve done to Ari and my nephew, and we’ll make this quick.”

“You’re wrong.” I pounded my fist into her ribs. Elise cursed me as she stumbled to the side. I had my dagger in hand in time to guard her strike. The ground shook under me. I fell, while the queen held steady on her feet.

She chuckled. “I’ll enjoy watching my husband swallow you up in the earth.”

My lip curled. “Hard to do when this land only listens to me.”

I slammed my palms on the soil. Thick vines shaped from broken twigs and boughs on the soil. Earthy serpents wrapped around Elise’s ankles and thighs. A cry of surprise slid from her throat.

“Elise!” Valen roared.

Beneath my feet the earth rolled, but it faded the moment I hummed a slow, somber tune. Trees bent, shielding blood fae from the Northern attack. Earth split and opened crevices, much like Valen’s magic, only gentler.

Elise’s eyes widened. “What is this?”

My glamour burned in my blood as the earth shifted and answered my song. I opened my palms to call for more aid from the isles, to trap every Night Folk fae with a tangle of boughs or grass, anything to end an unnecessary fight.

Until cold, bitter shadows blanketed me in horrid thoughts.

“I want to know where you’ve taken my Kryv.” A low, dangerous rasp lifted the hair on my arms. “You play games with the earth, but everyone can break under the pressure of fear.”

Sharp, bitter cold dug into my bones; it stole my breath. The blade dropped from my hand; I doubled over, only half aware my command on the vines around Elise had fallen away. Darkness tightened around my throat and the thought struck me—I choked on a sob.

No. No. No. Ari was gone.

As though some voice whispered in my ear, I knew Ari had slipped into the Otherworld. I pressed a hand over my heart, desperate to keep the pieces from spilling onto the ground. I couldn’t draw in a deep enough breath. He . . . he couldn’t be gone. He couldn’t be.

Tears fell onto my cheeks.

“What are you waiting for?” Elise hissed.