Page 131 of A Game of Monsters

“No–” Ailon was cut off as Erix took three strides toward him.

My blood fizzed in my veins, making my skin feel as though I was burning from the inside out. “We mustnotadvance,” I repeated. “No army is marching. No fey is going to engage in a fight. Withdraw our numbers, send word out to those who’ve already been sent. Do anything and everything you can to stop this. Attacking now will only cement that we are the demons Cassial is trying to paint us as. If we attack, it will not only ruin any hope of turning the tides, but any relations between our neighbouring realms. The future will not survive this… and nor will Wychwood once Cassial releases the power he holds.”

“Cassial and his army are no match for us.” Ailon was enjoying this, I read it in every smile line that spoiled his ugly face. “Every day reports show that they advance closer to our borders, they test us daily. We have the power to stop him.”

“You may be right.” An odd calm raced over me. “Hisarmyis nothing but innocent humans. You will lay them to waste in a matter of moments with the power you hold. But what happens after that, or do you not care?”

“As long as Cassial dies,” Ailon said, gaze flickering down to the floor. “That is all that matters.”

He was lying, I could read it in his lack of eye contact, the way his worn hands wrung together.

“I find it interesting that both you and Cassial actually want those humans to suffer,” I said, narrowing my eyes on him. “You are only feeding our enemy what he wants. Then again, I suppose your brother petitioned for war no different to this before, what would make your desires so different?”

Ailon’s silence confirmed that he knew. They all knew.

“Children, Kelsey.” I fixed my eyes on her, pleading for her to see sense. “Cassial is using fucking children as a shield. You can give a person a sword and spear, that doesn’t make them a fighter. And if my understanding is correct, Cassial hasn’t provided even that to the humans. He is baiting you – using Althea as a means to start a conflict which he will end in seconds.”

“You are quite wrong, Robin.” Ailon grinned further at me, and for a moment I thought I was looking into the eyes of Doran Oakstorm again. “It is the hate within a person that makes them a weapon. And it is clear what the humans see us as. Monsters. Demons, as you put it.”

“Ailon is not wrong, Robin,” Kelsey said, eyes downcast. “They have taken my niece and use her as a pawn in this game. I will –wewill – do anything to ensure another fey royal is not taken from us.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You can’t begin to understand what is happening.”

“Gyah has updated us on Cassial’s use of Duwar,” Kelsey said. “We are prepared for force. But one man is no match compared to an army of us.”

“Heisno man,” I whispered, finding myself suddenly weak against this resistance.

“Nor is he a god,” Ailon added, stepping around the table, coming to stop before me. “What matters is that we save Althea Cedarfall, and thus save the fey realms from Cassial. I will soon be following with Oakstorm warriors, once we know that Althea is no longer in Cassial’s grasp.”

My mind whirled like a maelstrom, but something in Ailon’s words sparked a thought. “You would willingly put yourself in Cassial’s line of sight, when he will be without a fey to host Duwar.”

Again, Ailon looked away sharply. Before I could read further into his reaction, he seethed in his response. “This is an issue created by your hands, Robin. It was your names written in ink across the treaty between the humans. You signed Wychwood over to Cassial. We are simply trying to right the wrongs you have all–”

Ailon swallowed his next words as a bout of frozen winds shot through the tent. At my back, my power gathered, building into a force that would rival even the wings of a Nephilim.

“You want to offer yourself to Cassial, don’t you?” I asked.

Ailon’s sky-blue eyes flared wide. “How dare you. How very dare you, Robin Icethorn.”

“Perhaps, but you have not told me I am wrong,” I said, oddly calm, whilst the cold winds picked up my words and amplified them. “Duwar, the source of life and power, chaos and destruction. What an incredible tool for a man as weak and desperate as you.”

I was no longer Robin Icethorn. I was a bundle of fury in flesh, ready to unleash it upon someone.

“You know, Elinor warned me about her advisors. She warned me about men likeyou. If you think for a moment that your presence is required, then you are wrong. I have returned, and as the final remaining fey royal this side of Wychwood,Iwill decide how we move. You can either listen peacefully in your chairs or face the wrath that has been building inside of me. So, Ailon, what will it be?”

“There is no need for this. Ailon will never give himself willingly to Cassial–” Kelsey stopped in her tracks as I snapped my eyes to her. “Fighting amongst ourselves when the enemy is outside these tent walls.”

“No, not to Cassial. But he would willingly give himself to Duwar, which is exactly what the power requires for the transference.”

Kelsey was shocked to silence. As was Ailon. The difference between them both, was Ailon simmered in his disdain for me, whereas I recognised hesitation in Kelsey.

Ailon’s silence was incriminating.

Eroan spoke up, the gentle lilt of his voice a comfort. “Now, more so than ever, we must keep our fey relations aligned. Arguing will not solve the danger before us.”

My voice darkened as magic still swirled around me. “Recall Gyah Eldrae. I will not ask again, nor is it up for a vote. It will be done.”

Ailon glowered, taking an unsteady step closer to me. “No.”

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