Seven Black Diamonds (Seven Black Diamonds #1)(88)

For a moment, Endellion tensed, and then she looked past her husband to take in the faces of the fae. Lily could already see the hope on their faces, and she knew her grandmother could too.

“We could discuss it,” Lily said cautiously. “If you’d end the war and spare the rest of the Sleepers . . .” Her words faded as the Queen of Blood and Rage met her gaze.

But Endellion gestured for her to continue. “What else is it that you want?”

“I will not be married against my wishes or live here full-time,” Lily bartered.

“Royal marriages, as with any marriage of high-ranking fae, require my approval,” Endellion said levelly, glancing pointedly at Creed. “It is not a decision you can make without my approval.”

“Our approval,” Leith added.

Endellion ignored him.

“Fine,” Lily said. “But it cannot be decided without my approval either—and you can’t gain that through coercion. No blackmail, no threats, no tricks. What they just tried—”

“Was not something I authorized or will authorize.” Endellion met Lily’s gaze. “Those two . . . wretches will never be approved to marry my granddaughter.”

At that, Lily smiled. “Thank you.”

The queen nodded once. “Queens, however, live with their subjects.”

“The Hidden Lands still have a queen and a king on the throne.” Lily didn’t look away from the queen’s face as she spoke. “I have a father, duties in the other world, and school.”

“Divided time then,” Leith said, loud enough to be heard by all assembled. “You would split your time between the worlds, Lilywhite.”

“LilyDark,” Lily corrected, deciding in that moment that Violet’s renaming of her was fitting. She met first her grandfather and then her grandmother’s gaze and said firmly, “I am neither Seelie nor Unseelie. We might as well be very clear that I am of neither court solely. I am of the light and the dark.”

Both of her grandparents smiled—Leith widely, and Endellion slightly.

Leith nodded. “Agreed, LilyDark.”

She added, “And I belong to neither world solely while there is no need to assume the throne.”

Leith looked at Endellion, who gave a curt nod.

“Are those all of your terms, LilyDark?” Leith asked.

She hesitated. There were more than a few reasons not to make deals with the fae, but the idea of stopping the war was too tempting to ignore. Her friends would be safe. The reality was that now there was nowhere she could truly hide forever, not since she was being claimed as the heir to the Hidden Throne. She hadn’t meant to be declared heir, or to impress the regents, or to fight the Seelie princes. She’d simply hoped that talking to the queen, telling her that Iana wasn’t killed by the humans that day long ago, might appease her. She’d had a vague hope that the queen would see reason to end her attacks. She’d hoped to spare Zephyr and the rest of the Black Diamonds from the queen’s wrath.

Abernathy Commandment #4: Weigh the consequences before beginning a course of action.

She had weighed them, but even being raised as the daughter of Nick Abernathy hadn’t prepared her for this situation. There was manipulation and machination, and then there was fae manipulation and machination.

“I won’t be wed without my consent. I will not be engaged to someone not of my choosing. I will not favor one court over the other or reside solely in the Hidden Lands, nor will I stop being Nicolas Abernathy’s daughter,” Lily said, reviewing the terms. She paused, thinking over any other terms she might be forgetting.

Abernathy Commandment #15: Always have a way out, more than one if possible.

“And,” she added quickly, “if a more suiting heir to the Hidden Throne can be agreed upon by Endellion, Queen of Blood and Rage, and Leith, King of Fire and Truth, I will have the right to return to a normal life.”

“But you will not cut your family out of your life,” Endellion inserted firmly.

“Agreed,” Lily said, feeling—despite everything—touched that her grandmother wanted to know her. The queen was far from an embracing woman, but she obviously cared for her family in her way.

“I accept your offer,” she vowed.

“Your terms are accepted, LilyDark, daughter of Iana and the Abernathy, granddaughter of Endellion and Leith,” both regents said.

Endellion took Lily’s hand in hers and gazed around at the assembled fae. “I present to you your future queen, LilyDark.”

Every fae knelt, including Creed and Violet. Her grandparents were the only ones still standing, and Lily felt the weight of the vow settle on her skin. She had stopped the war that her mother’s birth had started, but at what cost?





thirty-five


LILY

Returning from the Hidden Lands to a world where the air was thick with pollution shouldn’t have felt soothing, but right now it did.

“How are we going to explain this?” Violet gestured at Creed.

He shrugged, still leaning on Zephyr heavily as they walked. “Bar fight.”

Zephyr sighed, as if the idea was ludicrous, but he didn’t object.

“I’ll be fine within a week,” Creed reminded them. The queen herself had given him strength that would speed his healing—“to protect my granddaughter,” she’d said—so he was already beginning to look as though the fight had been weeks ago.