Page 113 of Destined for the Fae King

I feel it in my bones. Hear it in the discordant whispers of the ancient spear in my hands.

The Unseelie King tosses the helm toward us. It bounces once and rolls to a few feet away. I try not to look too closely at the blood smearing the metal or to speculate at its source. Though somewhere inside me, I know.

A cry of alarm rings out behind us. I twist to see figures in gold and red advancing. Our allies. But I feel no relief at the sight of backup.

“Your king is dead.” The resonate voice of the Unseelie King snares my full attention. “Killed for the atrocities against my people. Cede this city to us to compensate for the loss of our innocent, and I shall let you take your people and leave, new Fire King.”

I clutch the spear a little tighter, my fingertips digging into the shaft.

“You killed my brother!” Lysandir snarls. “You think I’ll walk away?”

Lysandir…I bite my wobbling lip as I stare up at him. I ache to reach for him, to hold him close, but I won’t compromise him in this moment.

“If you know what’s good for you,” the Unseelie King replies, his deep voice even and calm. “Your brother started this by attacking my people. You can stop it or continue the bloodshed.”

A humorless laugh spills from Lysandir. “You starting this by killing a human in our territory. One of my brother’s potential brides, no less! You think he wouldn’t retaliate?”

The Unseelie King shifts his stance and takes a half step back. “Killing a human?” he echoes. “My people know I forbid violence against humans.”

“Then you don’t have the control of them that you think,” Lysandir snaps. “Only days ago, your people entered our land, killed a human woman, and injured one of our court’s chief advisors. Do you deny it?”

“I do deny it. Why would we harm a human?” He gestures to those behind him looming among the trees.

Human. Human. Human. Each use of it grates against me, boiling the emotions I’ve tried so hard to hold in check, until I can’t stay silent.

“Bailey!” I shout, stepping to Lysandir’s side. “Her name was Bailey. And she was innocent and kind. She deserved better!”

“Mira.” Lysandir throws an arm out in front of me, trying to block me from view, to no avail.

The full weight of the Unseelie King’s regard falls on me, and it takes everything I have not to shrink back in fear. The world seems to hold his breath as the Unseelie King looks from me to Lysandir.

“Last chance, Fire King. Cede and flee or stay and atone for your crimes,” he says. I catch the barest hint of a smirk as he glances back at me. “I’ll even see that your human remains unharmed in my court.”

Lysandir erupts, sending a blast of flames straight at the Unseelie King. His roar of fury follows with it. The blast of heat blows my hair back and rolls across my skin. I wince, pinching my eyes shut until it passes. When I open them again, Lysandir has rushedforward and meets the Unseelie King in a clash of swords that rings out like a gong. And suddenly both sides are racing toward each other, the Court of Fire coming up from behind us and the Unseelie slipping out of the forest. Tharin steps into the spot Lysandir vacated, his sword up to protect me, but it doesn’t change the fact that we’re in the middle of a battlefield.

Sweat breaks out on the back of my neck as I glance around. Panic has my breaths coming short and quick. Lysandir leaps back, then clashes with the Unseelie King once more. He moves with swiftness and grace that would be the envy of the best human swordsman, but even I can see he’s unmatched against the power of the Unseelie King.

From out of nowhere, a sudden quiet surrounds me, and then I hear the whispers I missed amid the chaos. The words are strange, a language I do not know and could not begin to recite, but I know what they ask of me all the same.

Use the spear. Protect your people.

With a hard shove, I plant the butt of the spear on the ground and call to the voice with all of my soul,Shield them. Protect them.

The moment I think it, a burst of magic rolls out from me in a shimmering wave. It flows over the members of the Court of Fire, enclosing them in a dome of pale, glittering light. The nearby Unseelie are shoved back, even the Unseelie King.

Lysandir shifts back to stand just in front of me and glances over one shoulder.I swear there’s pride in his gaze, clouding out his worry.

“I’m with you,” I promise.

Beyond the shimmering wall, the Unseelie King has let his sword dip and lays an open palm against my shield. Ifeelas he pushes against it. Not pain but a soft pressure, an awareness, reaches me through the shaft of the spear.

And that’s not all the spear tells me. It lets me know something else too, an advantage I don’t think the Unseelie have grasped.

“Light them up, Lysandir,” I say.

His eyes widen ever so slightly before a vicious grin spreads across his face. He turns back toward the Unseelie King. “With pleasure.”

Lysandir unleashes a fireball that soars through the air straight at the Unseelie King. It slips through the barrier without incident. The king barely raises his sword in time, holding it blade out in front of himself. The ball of fire strikes it and splits into a rain of sparks that the Unseelie King ignores.

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