Page 107 of Lady of the Lake

Mordred turns to me, his eyes gleaming. “And then…the banquet.”

He rises and saunters to the door.

My heart thunders in my chest. So, that’s it.

I’m going back to Talan’s kingdom after all.

CHAPTER 49

Istep through the portal to Brocéliande before dawn’s light, half-expecting to be skewered. Even though Mordred said there’d be no guards around the portal, it’s hard to imagine that Talan let it drop.

He saidyou really know your way through a portal, don’t you?And here I am. Popping back into Brocéliande, an enemy of the kingdom.

But there are no guards waiting for me, only courtyard shadows and jagged rocks. Lights twinkle from the castle’s seven towers and the crisscrossing bridges between them. My heart clenches. Is Talan in one of those towers right now?

The double moons cast rosy-silver light over the night bramble that clings to the portal stones and the fortress walls. A steady drizzle dampens my cloak, and it smells of damp soil around me. I pull my hood up to keep my head dry.

The smart thing would be to make a beeline for the Messenger Gate. It’s the least guarded, and I’d probably be able to leave through it and make my way toward The Shadowed Thicket. I could try to track Brados from there.

But I find myself hesitating. The virus is an imminent danger to all Fey. Even if I inform the resistance, they can’t protect the entire populace of Brocéliande.

What if Talan could do something…

Obviously, I can’t meet him. That would be suicide, but I could send him a message. Who could I trust to pass it on?

Aisling. I trust her. She’s probably around the kitchens at this hour. I can give her the message to deliver to Talan.

I creep through the courtyard, watching out for patrols and keeping my distance as I skulk through the shadows. As I pass the central tower, my gaze flicks over the symbols carved into the stone—the raven and moon symbol of Queen Morgan. Silently, I sneak past the fountain with the stone ravens and make my way to the kitchen entrance.

Peering around the corner, I see an armed soldier guarding the door. No surprise. Security measures were tightened after the assassination attempt.

I tug at my powers, prepared to mind control him. Stomach clenched, I walk closer, ready for a fight, my fingers twitching on the hilt of my dagger.

I hope I don’t need to kill him.

But to my astonishment, his expression brightens as draw near. He leaves his sword sheathed and smiles. He actuallygrins at me.

“It’s good to have you back with us, Princess,” he says, bowing.

I stare at him, stunned. “Right. I am, like you said…back. Um. As you were, soldier.”

My heart races. What’s going on? Is this some sort of trap? As I walk past him, I brush the back of my hand against his arm, tugging at my telepathy powers, and plunge into his mind.

His name is Donal, and his shift is nearly at an end. He can’t wait for it to be over so he can go back to the book he wasreading, a thrilling story about a Fey guard tracking a demi-Fey murderer.

He doesn’t know what to make of the princess’s sudden appearance. Like the rest of the palace staff, he’d heard endless rumors. Some say Tarasque ate her. One guard by Talan’s tree insisted that she overpowered them and disappeared into thin air, but the other guards denied it. Donal wasn’t surewhatwas true. It would, after all, be utterly humiliating and career-ending for four trained soldiers to be overpowered by a diminutive princess. And disappearing into thin air…that didn’t make sense.

Another rumor is the Dream Stalker is keeping her safe from Auberon. But Donal thinks Talan probably got bored of his bride. The prince has fucked every beautiful woman in the kingdom, and everyone knows he is easily bored. It’s why he tortures people so much. He probably killed her and buried the body. He’s probably already moved on to a new lover.

But now, here she is, healthy as a lamb.

Of course, some of the rumors are absurd—that the princess was, in fact, a dream the prince conjured into reality. That she disappeared when everyone woke up. And the ridiculous story that she turned out to be a demi-Fey spy working for humans, that she killed a countess and travels in and out through portals. Absurd.

But when it comes down to it, how can anyone know the truth about royals?

The only thing he knows for sure is that she wasn’t killed, because she’s standing here.

But as for the other stories—only Talan knows the truth.

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