Page 104 of Court of Lies and Deceit

Orion slides his gaze to me for a second before locking eyes with Isera again. A sharp smile, full of approval, lurks on his lips. “Oh, you really are an interesting one, aren’t you, little viper?”

“The bargain,” Isera repeats. “Do you accept it?”

My heart pounds against my ribs as silence falls for an uncomfortably long time.

Then Orion chuckles. “No.”

Relief crashes over me.

Lightning flashes in Isera’s eyes.

“Why would I agree to something as dangerous and futile as trying to take down the Iceheart Dynasty just for a little bit of extra entertainment from you?” the Unseelie King asks, arching a haughty brow.

“Because it’s not just entertainment,” Isera retorts. “You can see it yourself. Everyone in here is crawling up the walls with restlessness. You and your entire court are bored in here behind your wards. If we take down the Icehearts, you could open your borders again and play with humans and dragon shifters and whoever you want to your hearts content.”

“If that was something I wanted badly enough to risk my court, I would have taken action against the Icehearts long ago.”

“You’re not fooling anyone.” She stabs a hand towards where the crowd is still waiting in the stands on the other side of the thick blue drapes. “Your city is on the brink of rebellion. One more push, and all of their restless energy will explode into civil war.”

Something incredibly dangerous flickers in Orion’s eyes. “Careful with that tongue, little viper.”

“The only thing distracting them right now is these games. You know it as well as I do. But one wrong word from the wrong person to the wrong crowd, and this whole city will erupt. It’s why you were so desperate for us to take out that Wolfstalker guy.”

“Watch your?—”

“Admit it. You need these borders open just as badly as we do.” She spreads her arms wide in challenge. “So take this bargain. And in exchange, we will give you the distraction of a century.”

“I will not risk my court for a little entertainment.”

“I wasn’t finished.” Her expression is dead serious as she holds his gaze. “The extra game we play for your people is just the staging ground for the bargain. I’ve told you what we get if we win, but I haven’t said what you will get if we lose.”

He opens his mouth as if to refuse yet again, but there is a hint of interest in his eyes now. It sends a bolt of panic through my spine. Yanking against the ice trapping me, I try desperately to get free. But it doesn’t let up for even one second. I push my tongue up at the ice in my mouth, trying to force it to move. But that doesn’t work either.

Frustrated, I consider using my new power of creating emotions on Isera. But the terrifying knowledge that I won’t be able to remove it afterwards stops me. I’ll just have to hope that the Unseelie King keeps refusing her.

“If we lose, you won’t just get to keep us from leaving the Unseelie Court,” Isera says, her intense eyes burning holes through Orion as she holds his gaze. “If we lose, you can haveme. And the Seelie Court.”

His eyes widen in surprise for a fraction of a second before he composes himself again. Then he flicks a dismissive hand. “The Seelie Court isn’t yours to give.”

“Ah.” She lets out a mocking chuckle and shakes her head at him. “You truly haven’t figured it out yet, have you?”

“Figured what out?”

“Who I really am.”

Confusion pulses inside me as I stare at her. Orion watches her in silence as well, his eyes slightly narrowed. Then sudden realization seems to flicker in his eyes for a moment before he manages to hide it.

“The Seelie Queen was publicly executed by the Icehearts at the end of the war,” Orion says. “And both of her daughters had died fighting in the battles before that.”

“But…?” Isera prompts.

My heart starts pounding in my chest. She can’t possibly mean…?

“But,” Orion begins slowly. “There were always rumors that the Seelie Queen’s second daughter survived, because her body was never recovered.”

“The rumors were true.”

Shock and disbelief thrum inside my chest like a violent storm. It’s not possible. It can’t be. Is she actually?—

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