Page 9 of House of the Raven
The closed study doors are made of solid, dense fae blackwood, bearing an intricately carved depiction of a raven’s nest resting on the branches of a tree. A vigilant mother raven stands watch over her chicks, silhouetted against the backdrop of broad leaves and a waning moon.
“So they are right then?” I hear Amira say on the other side of the closed doors. Her voice is raised, upset.
“Of course, they aren’t right,” Father responds.
I press my ear to the door.
“Why did you decide to tell me this now?” Amira demands.
“You will be queen sooner or later. You need to know.”
“And what about Valeria? Are you going to tell her?”
“Saints no!” Father exclaims. “With that bleeding heart of hers, who knows what she would do.”
“But—”
He cuts her off. “You know I’m right.”
“It isn’t fair to her.”
“Yes, but I’m protecting her.”
Protecting me from what?
“When I’m gone,” he continues, “it’ll be your job to protect her.”
“She is not a child, and you need to stop treating her as such. I think you cling to the idea that she is your little girl, and you’re not allowing her to grow up, at least in your mind, but if you haven’t noticed, she is a woman now.”
He grunts in displeasure.
I want Amira to keep going, to tell him he can’t keep treating me this way, but I also want to burst in and demand what secrets they’re keeping from me. Except if I do, I know they won’t tell me anything. Father will chide me for eavesdropping and send me on my way, without supper…if he still could. My best bet is to keep listening, and afterward… accost Amira for all the answers.
“Perhaps I will tell her one day,” he says. “You know she sympathizes with the fae.”
What? This has to do with the fae? Now I’m really confused.
“Not with the veilfallen, Father. Some live in peace among us. She feels for them as I do.”
“Not as you do. You understand thatourpeople are the priority. She does not.”
Of course, we are the priority, but that is because we are the majority. We make the rules and control everything. But the fae have voices too, and they need to be heard. I wish he was as just to them as he is to humans, but there is no equality between us.
“Perhaps she’s not so wrong, Father,” Amira says.
I nearly gasp. Did she really just say that?
“Offering them a seat in the council may alleviate tensions,” she adds.
“You know well we have attempted that already.”
“But that was ten years ago. Maybe it’s time for another try. Maybe a reasonable leader will emerge and—”
“There is no reasoning with outlaws, Amira. Have you learned nothing from what I’ve been trying to teach you?”
She says nothing in response.
Father has tried to make peace with the fae. It’s true, but one should never give up on peace. There are plenty of fae who only want to live their quiet lives, even if that means doing so in our realm. Pointing fingers at us for the disappearance of the veil solves nothing, and a big majority of them understand that. Even if there is a group of bloodthirsty fae who don’t. Father should keep trying, but maybe he’s too stubborn for that.
