Page 125 of The Shadow Path
“You are,” Cadell said.
Laura shot him an annoyed look.
“Youare,” Cadell repeated. “Why are the fae here? Naida, if you want to return to Cymru, I will take you.”
Naida nodded at him. “Your honor will never be in question, Lord Dragon.”
“Stop!” Godrik said. “I am trying…” He sighed. “I am trying to be… diplomatic.”
A knock came at the door, which cracked open. Lachlan and Winnie were on the other side. “Godrik, it worked. Partly.”
Carys blinked. “What worked?”
Winnie spoke. “We asked a group of sprites in the Kingswood to open a mound. It took some bribery, but they did it.”
“Excellent.” Dru rose. “Then you’ve found a way to thwart my brother and his wife. I’ll be going now.”
“I said partly,” Winnie jumped in. “They were able to open the new mound that had formed in the Kingswood. The old fae fort near Lud’s Hill is still locked up tight.”
Carys waited for Dru to sit, but she could tell the fae was reluctant to stay.
“Dru.” Naida spoke to him. “If you help, I’ll stay.”
Dru immediately sat and turned to Godrik. “What do you want me to do? Ride around to every warded fae fort in Anglia and open them? There are probably a hundred of them. It will take some time.”
“No,” Winnie said. “King Harold has instructed me and Godrik to lend you our official support in your assumption of fae leadership in Briton.”
The entire library sat in stunned silence until Lachlan spoke. “My father, Robb of Sgain, high chief of the clans of Alba, also lends you the support of the Alban throne.”
Dru’s face was carefully blank.
He doesn’t want it,Cadell said into her mind.
And I didn’t want to eat my vegetables as a kid, but I did it.
Vegetables are horrible.
This is really not the time to discuss vegetables.
“I haven’t spoken to my uncle,” Carys said softly. “But you know that if Harold and Robb are both throwing their support behind you, he probably will too.”
Carys looked at Naida, who was staring at the fire. Her expression could only be described as desolate.
She knows that their relationship has no future, Cadell said into her mind.
That doesn’t mean it hurts any less.
Dru took a long time to speak. When he did, it wasn’t what Carys was expecting.
“Crown Princess Finola has taken a fae consort,” Dru said. “I have no desire to usurp him.”
Godrik immediately responded with a growl.
“There’s no reason the fae leadership should be linked to the Éiren throne,” Lachlan said smoothly. “That was something that Queen Orla brought in, and there is no historical precedent for it. By its very nature, the fae having such a close alliance with one throne causes an imbalance in the Queens’ Pact.”
Naida added, “None of the other thrones are so close to the fae in their lands. The ellyllon hold no particular special status in Cymru.”
“The fae in Alba are honored residents with their own leadership,” Lachlan added, “but they have the same status of any regional lord.”
