Page 25 of Tangled Power
He didn’t see much point in lying. He was sure that Rose would tell Carter, too, soon enough. “Yes.”
Juliette shook her head in frustration. “Why would she do that?” she muttered to herself.
“I’m not sure you’ve been paying attention,” Luc replied as they rode. The shops were closed, and a few bodies lay spread across the ground. He guessed that made sense. It had been late when Rose heard the scream. Most of the villagers would have already been in their beds.
“What do you mean by that?” Juliette interrupted his assessment.
“It’s confusing because you appear to understand her in most things.”
“Don’t condescend; it’s unbecoming.”
She was infuriating. “I mean that Rose doesn’t want secrets among the fae courts. She wants the Compass Points to trust each other and work together. I’m not telling you anything she hasn’t told you herself.”
Juliette tilted her head to the side. “She doesn’t understand the position we’re in. The Osten need every advantage we can get.”
“Did you tell her that? Did you tell her why that is?”
Juliette gave Luc an appraising gaze.
“She wasn’t raised Osten. Whatever you think is understood by the Osten fae, I assure you, it’s new to her. You’ll need to trust her with more than simply answering her questions. You’ll have to tell her things she doesn’t know to ask,” Luc said.
“Have you been thinking about what she doesn’t know to ask in your history?” Juliette’s smile radiated excitement, but the kind you experienced when your enemy just sprung their own trap.
“I—”
Juliette cut him off, uninterested in his response, simply enjoying toying with him. “And why would you point out how to better communicate with Rose—how to gain her trust? You have her exactly where you want her. She’s loyal to you above all of us, no matter her lineage.”
Luc rubbed his hand down his face. He was happy to let Rose try to have these conversations after the last eight years of Juliette, Carter, and Aiden ignoring or outvoting him. He wasn’t sure why he was trying now, except that he wanted to support Rose’s efforts. He believed in her ability to win these two to her side. If it were up to him, though, after every time theysupported Aiden and blocked Luc’s efforts, he’d take more of an I told you so approach.
He let out a deep breath. Rose was right. Throwing Juliette’s past in her face wouldn’t solve the problem. It had to be all of them together or not at all. He tried again. “I’m not trying to control Rose. I care about her. I care about the humans and fae of this continent that we are sworn to protect.”
“Oh, lay off.” Juliette flipped her hair over her shoulder. “We all know you have no reason to save the Suden. They’ve done nothing for you since you came into your power.”
Luc shook his head. He was controlling Rose? He hated his court? No wonder everyone thought he was responsible for the mist plague. He was an easy target and did nothing to defend himself from those opinions. He guessed he’d need to start now. “You, more than most, know what I’ve fought for since taking my position. I argued for a balanced continent, for more magical cooperation between fae and humans. I was in favor of policies that had no material gains for the Suden, and I accepted the duty given to me to investigate the mist plague, putting Suden lives in harm’s way because I knew we were best equipped to deal with it.”
“I fail to see what this rant proves,” Juliette replied.
“I am not the enemy here.”
“So, what? I am?” There was a twinkle in Juliette’s eyes as she taunted him.
“I’m not above pointing out that you supported Aiden for the last eight years, maybe longer. You can’t tell me you didn’t know that there was something off about him.” So much for not throwing it in her face. He shook his head.
“Knowing something was off and knowing that the Suden god controlled him are two different things. No one could have expected that.”
“You didn’t need to know that Aterra controlled him to know what he was proposing was wrong!” Luc’s temper flared. He was sure his pupils flashed red. He grabbed hold of his magic as it strained on its fraying leash. “You didn’t need to know he was a god striving for imbalance to oppose policies and plans that were bad for the continent.”
Juliette leveled her gaze at him. “So, what? You’re mad that we were mean to you for the last few years?” Her tone was wry. Insulting.
He gritted his teeth. “Don’t be difficult. You were complacent in Aiden’s stolen reign as Norden Point. You enabled his agenda, knowing it was wrong. I’m trying to point out that I have as much reason to mistrust you as you do me—but I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt instead. Why is that so hard to believe?”
“It’s hard to believe because it’s not done among the fae. Rose may be too newly returned to the courts as an adult to realize that, but you have no such excuse. You can’t change five hundred years of history overnight.”
“What if history doesn’t reflect what we want for the future? Why were the courts so dead set on separation and secrecy to begin with?” Luc didn’t even realize the depths of the question. He’d always accepted the behavior as the way things were—never questioning how it came to be that way.
Juliette narrowed her eyes at him. “Power, Luc. Plain and simple. Some courts had it.” She gestured with one hand. “And some didn’t.” She gestured with the other. “Those without wanted it, and those with it wanted more, even at the expense of others.”
Luc tilted his head. Here she was, blaming him again for the actions of another fae, hundreds of years ago. The way she explained it, though…had the Ostenbeenweaker? Did their god being gone mean that they had less power? Was that true for anyof the courts? Rose’s power didn’t seem diminished even though her goddess was a captive. But Rose was a special case, wasn’t she? In fact, why did he assume that Aurora would be her only patron? Did she also draw power from the Lost God? They knew so little about her dual lines.
