Page 145 of A War of Three Kings

My vision blurs and the voices around us rise and fall in volume unnaturally. I shake as true fear blooms in the pit of my stomach. He will do it. He wants an excuse.

“Nothing to say?” Finan whispers. “I find myself disappointed.” He lets me go and saunters back to his seat, like he didn’t just threaten me with rape.

When my gaze returns to the crowd, there are too many eyes on me, instead of Lord Desmond, who is speaking. I finally register his words.

“We are getting off track here. We need to crush this war in the North with an iron fist. To utterly destroy what fae are already in Strathia, before they summon reinforcements. We could have entire fae armies flooding this kingdom.” He bangs his fist against the arm of his throne.

“I am finding it rather difficult to keep up, Lord Desmond.” An elderly countess stands in the pews. The Lady Endeara. “Ithought we already had entire fae armies in Strathia. Which are we to believe? We do talk to each other.” She spreads her arms out to indicate the nobility around her. “And there have been a few official royal narratives. They are so very different from the accounts of the priestesses. I am interested in hearing of the fae trade they speak of. I would ask the queen if she didn’t have her voice taken away on pain of her pretty brother’s death.”

Lord Desmond glares her down, his teeth audibly grinding. Murmurs rise around her, and I collect them with my air wields.

“The Northern lords will be rolling in wealth if they are the only ones to do trade with the fae.”

“It is an unfair division of opportunity. We also have portals to the Otherworld.”

These people aredefinitelyinterested in fae trade. I have to hold in the manic laughter that wants to boil out of me at the irony.My nerves are a mess.

“There will be no trade with the fae!” Lord Desmond growls. “Are we truly naive enough to trust them again? Have you not questioned whether the tales in the scrolls and books you have seen were not skewed? Perhaps there were hundreds of accounts of fae kidnappings and enslavements of our people, but they only had the priestesses distribute those that set them in a favorable light.”

“That is a lot of texts to be skewed,” Lord Tiernay calls out over the rising complaints from the crowd.

“And why would the priestesses work with the fae, if it were against the best interests of Strathia?” Lady Endeara calls back.

“I don’t know. Perhaps the fae have kidnapped many of their number and extorted them with violence. We are getting off topic again.” Lord Desmond waves a hand to dismiss her.

“The only priestess I have witnessed being kidnapped and extorted with violence is the one sitting on that throne before us. I want to hear from the Mother of Magic Keira.” An angryscowl twists Lady Endeara’s aged features. I remember that her daughter is a priestess.

I stare straight into the countess’ eyes as I nod discreetly at the accusation. It is everything I can do to keep my mouth shut.

“The next person to refer tomy wifeas a priestess will be hanged!” Finan explodes. He whips his head around to me, bringing his face so close our noses almost touch. “If you even think of answering that, I will have your brother beaten within an inch of his life.”

Lord Desmond stands before the crowd of nobility, each one of them on their feet and yelling over the top of each other. His hands are raised in the air as he tries to calm the room, promising no one will be executed.

Finan turns his attention to the chaos and actually smiles. He leans back in his seat, crosses an ankle over the opposite knee and takes in the scene with amusement. He clicks at a servant to bring him more wine, like all of this is for his personal entertainment.

My eyes lock with Lady Endeara’s. “Are the fae kidnapping women?” she yells over the crowd at me. “Are they stealing consorts?”

I make sure Finan isn’t looking at me, then pull my wisps of air tightly around myself and whisper into them, hiding my lips behind a hand. Some risks are worth taking. “The fae are true allies, working under the command of the Lord Protector. They came to this realm peacefully to negotiate a trade agreement. No women have been harmed.”

I send that tendril right into her ear, and her eyes widen. She immediately moves through the crowd and whispers in Lord Tiernay’s ear. His eyes flick up to mine.

“Where did you find the scrolls? Are they biased?” he says in a low voice, but one I collect easily with my breeze and carry back to my ears alone.

“Prince Niall personally led us to the king’s secret collection of authentic fae histories. I joined the expedition myself. We took almost everything, and shared it all with the South. They were not misrepresentations.”

As I send those words back at him, Finan catches the tail end of my lips moving. Icy claws of terror rake down my spine and sudden images of being strapped to his bed, utterly helpless, flash within my mind.

He narrows his eyes on me. “What are you muttering about?”

I take the small lace fan out of my pocket and wave it before my face, turning wide, innocent eyes on Finan. I look at him with true fear, tears threatening. I don’t have to force them.

He waves a hand aggressively. “You can talk tome.I meant my threat, but only if you talk tothem.”

“I find all this confrontation upsetting.” My voice is small and high-pitched, and it is enough to make his features soften.“I have to remind myself to breathe.”

“Not much longer. Sit back and let them rip each other apart.” He motions for his chalice of wine to be filled again.

“Why should we ally with you in a war of your creation?” a young lord yells at Lord Desmond. From the sigil on his doublet, he resides over one of the island provinces. “King Finan has already lost half his army and many of the provinces are already in full revolt, declaring for Niall as king. Then there are whispers of slaughter at priestesses’ sanctuaries, right around the time Queen Keira arrived in the palace, clearly against her will.”

---