Seven Black Diamonds (Seven Black Diamonds #1)(79)
“I am—” Violet’s voice broke. She swallowed visibly, and then she tried again, “I am undecided, my queen.” She curtsied again. “I was born to be your weapon, but Lily is a fae worth following.”
Zephyr’s muffled gasp was soft enough that none standing farther from the throne heard it. Lily could see Rhys tense, however. Eilidh and Torquil did as well.
The queen merely told Lily, “My grandson will stay here”—Endellion spared a glance for Zephyr—“but you may keep the other two Black Diamonds at your side.”
Lily nodded. She didn’t know the queen’s stance on the use of words of gratitude. According to the book Lily’s mother had left for her, some of the older fae were uncomfortable with such words.
“Torquil will escort you to meet Leith,” Endellion continued in a slightly louder voice. “It is right that he should do so, to protect his own.”
Lily had been long enough around Daidí and his associates to know that the queen was sharing another secret. Whether Violet or Creed caught the import of the queen’s words, Lily didn’t know. Several of the assembled fae undoubtedly did though, and she was certain Torquil did.
Lily already knew that Torquil had been present the night the fae-blood were conceived, and the queen’s words intimated that he had family that would be present. Nothing about him seemed similar to Creed, but . . . Lily glanced at Violet. They didn’t truly look alike either, but the queen had asked about Violet by name, according to Zephyr. Was Violet Torquil’s daughter? There was something to the shape of their faces that made Lily suspect so now that the queen had hinted so boldly.
“Maybe Rhys could come?” Lily prompted.
Endellion’s voice turned cold as she explained, “Although my spouse treats my son with respect, there are those within our joint court who aren’t always embracing of the children the king and I had separately. He will stay here.”
“As you wish,” Rhys murmured.
There was nothing else for Lily to say, except . . . “Might I ask a small favor then?”
Endellion inclined her head.
“I’d like my things returned first,” Lily said. “I’d feel safer entering unfamiliar places if I had my weapons.”
The queen rewarded her with an undeniably genuine smile. “You are my blood, indeed.” The queen raised her voice slightly as she added, “My granddaughter is neither prisoner, nor intruder, so there is no reason she cannot defend herself should the need arise.”
Then, Endellion stood. She withdrew a sword from her own side and walked toward Lily. It suddenly felt so quiet that Lily could almost swear that they were alone.
The queen stopped in front of Lily and held out the sword that she had worn at her left side. She was still very visibly armed, but the act of handing her own sword to Lily was both generous and politic.
Lily accepted the blade.
Endellion spoke as if they were alone. “I trust that you can use it?”
“My father was insistent that I learn any manner of things that suddenly make far more sense than they used to,” Lily said in a lower volume than the queen had used.
The queen’s expression hardened briefly, and Lily opted not to stress her human upbringing just then. She wasn’t about to deny that her father had been integral to preparing her for this moment though. Instead, Lily bowed her head and murmured, “I appreciate the use of your blade, Grandmother.”
“You may not have a gun here, and I suspect you might find a sword more useful than daggers.” Endellion’s lips curved in a smile that was more frightening than comforting. Her hand lifted, and Lily wasn’t sure if the gesture was intended to be threatening or the start of a caress. Suddenly, though, the queen extended her arm to the side instead. “Rhys? A replacement. I do not like to be unarmed.”
Then, the queen turned and walked away. Rhys, Eilidh, and Zephyr trailed after her. The rest of the assembled fae dispersed as if a command had been uttered, and in mere moments, it was only Lily and her escorts who remained.
thirty-one
LILY
As they walked in silence, Lily wished she had the opportunity to admire the beauty of the Hidden Lands, but for now, she followed Torquil as he led the three of them away from the queen and her assembled fae. There was no planning, no discussion, simply a brusque, “Tarrying is unwise.”
He remained silent but for the commands necessary to direct them to a tunnel system that would, apparently, spill them out in the part of the Hidden Lands where the king and the Seelie-born fae resided. His only revelation was when he said, “The queen used to swim across, but after the day of the incident”—he met Lily’s eyes briefly—“tunnels were created. These are the only way to travel between the two courts or to travel from the Hidden Lands into the world where you have lived thus far.”
Lily heard the things packed into that, the hint on how to escape, the implication that returning home might be forbidden, the useful fact that there was a second route between the courts. She nodded her gratitude at her soon-to-be-uncle and left anything else unspoken.
“What is your affinity?” he asked Violet in a kind voice as they exited the tunnels into the Seelie’s domain.
“Why?” Violet returned. She wasn’t as prickly as she’d been when Lily had first met her, but she was far from friendly. She studied him with such a thorough assessment that Lily wanted to blurt out the truth of why he had asked.