Page 57 of Throne of Dreams
“Then perhaps you should be more precise in your words, my lord.”
A deep, rumbling chuckle echoed in her mind, and Tiernan’s voice slipped into her thoughts.“Good girl.”
Maeve didn’t falter.
Shay adjusted the lapel of his garnet coat and the obsidian stones lining the border reminded her of the Black Lake. “I’ve come to warn you that Garvan is aware of your existence.”
“How thoughtful of you.”
Tension simmered between them, stifling and dense. He straightened and when he spoke again, his voice was strained. “Would you prefer I let him attempt to kill you?”
Thunder rumbled, the threat of Tiernan’s might, but Maeve didn’t need him to come to her rescue. Not this time. She met Shay’s icy glare with one of her own. “You didn’t seem too interested in stopping him the first time he tried.”
Much to her surprise, the ballroom erupted in a swell of strangled gasps and hushed whispers.
“I caught you before you fell,” he ground out, his hands coiling into fists at his sides.
“Then consider me grateful,” she countered smoothly.
Shay opened his mouth, likely to offend her with a caustic retort, when she noticed a shimmer in the back of the ballroom near the ivory palace walls. She stormed forward. “What’s that?” she demanded.
He balked. “What?”
She pointed to the glamour, to where the world seemed too bright, too purposeful. “Whatis that? What have you glamoured?”
Tiernan was on his feet a moment later, and Shay’s mouth fell open. He stared at her, eyes wide.
“You see through glamour,” he breathed.
From somewhere behind her, she heard Brynn mutter the words, “Oh, shit.”
Shay swiveled to face Tiernan, his eyes accusing. “Are you honestly going to tell me you didn’t know she possessed such an ability?”
Tiernan shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back onto his heels. “I wasn’t aware.”
She took a step forward, ready to defend herself, but Merrick snared her by the arm and held her back.
“Easy tiger,” he mumbled.
“I can’t seethroughglamour.” Maeve faced them, nodded once to Merrick, in a silent promise to be on her best behavior. He flashed his dimples in a wide smile and let her go. “But I can sense it. I can see it. I know when it’s being used to deceive. Reveal it at once.”
Shay’s back snapped straight like she’d slapped him. Tendrils of smoke curled around him, and his eyes burned with irritation.
Tiernan idly fiddled with the ring on his pinky. “Be very careful in your next choice of words, High Prince.”
The warning was clear. He would tolerate no disrespect.
“It was meant to be a gift,” Shay muttered.
Maeve showed him no sympathy. “Reveal it.”
Shay waved a hand, and the shimmering object was brought forward. Whatever it was, it was massive, and the other fae moved out of the way, stepping aside to make room for it. In an instant, the glamour fell away to reveal a stunning wardrobe. The dark oak door was carved with a crescent moon and beneath it, a tree with spiraling roots and branches that extended past its hinges. Inlaid rubies and yellow diamonds outlined the intricate leaves, and when Shay pulled the door open, a rack hanging with at least a dozen ball gowns sparkled in the faerie light. Satin and velvet. Silk and chiffon. There were shelves with glittering crowns and tiaras, and drawers filled with jewels in rich Autumn colors.
“What…” Maeve’s voice cracked. “What is this?”
Shay didn’t look at her, instead running his fingers along one of the purple velvet cushions holding at least half a dozen rings. His voice was low and tinged with remorse when he said, “It belonged to our mother, the High Queen Fianna. Garvan wanted it destroyed but I…I refused. So, I kept it out of sight.” He faced her then, his expression solemn and unreadable. “She would have wanted you to have it.”
Silence fell around them. A surge of pain struck her chest, and she absently rubbed the area with her palm. She’d been expecting a number of things—blackmail to get her back to Autumn, promises of vengeance and war, maybe even hurtling insults. But she hadn’t been prepared at all to have Shay stand before her and give her something that belonged to their mother.
