Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(21)

Dinner had been an event. We’d been seated at the royal table, Dev on one side of me and Daniel on the other. Both of my men had been almost immediately engaged in political talk—Dev by his brother and mother and Daniel by a duke. I’d sat there eating some sort of salad and wishing that vodka was a staple in the Fae diet. It’s not. I hadn’t even been offered a glass of wine, not that I could have enjoyed it. I had found myself pushing food around on my plate since my appetite was gone again. The rest of the meal was a lot of me looking out over the banquet hall at people staring. I was surprised I wasn’t feeling light-headed since I tended to crash when I ate as little as I had today.

When the meal ended and the dancing began, I found myself answering many somewhat invasive questions. There’s no such thing as shame in the Fae world. They will ask all sorts of things you wouldn’t expect to be asked about your private life.

The hardest part had been speaking with Braden, Gilliana’s father. He was a duke or something and had apologized for his daughter’s behavior. There was nothing at all sincere about it and he made sure both my husband and the queen heard him do it. There was something I didn’t like about the duke.

I heard a sound at the end of the hall and turned. I wasn’t alone, but then I never had been. Lee had followed me the whole time. Lee nodded at me as he leaned against the wall. He wasn’t going to intrude but neither would he allow me to be alone.

“That is my father,” Miria, who was going to intrude, said quietly. She stared up at the portrait we were standing under. The man in the portrait looked every bit the royal, but the artist had caught the slightest hint of mischief in his eyes.

I turned to my mother-in-law, who had Padric in tow.

“Yes, I see where Dev gets his looks.” I measured my words carefully. This was what I’d been dreading. The time had come to decide how to deal with Dev’s mother. It was obvious she loved her son, but she had also been behind the plot to force him into marriage with Gilliana. I didn’t know whether to condemn her or thank her because it was that betrayal that sent Dev to my plane. If Miria hadn’t tried that desperate ploy, I would never have met him.

“Yes, the twins look much like my father,” she murmured, her eyes on the portrait. “Devinshea is the one who took after him in temperament, however. My father was a stubborn man and not so quick to forgive.”

I turned to face her, not quite able to stop the words from coming out of my mouth. “Well, I’ve been with Dev for several years now and I find him forgiving when one deserves it.”

“Zoey,” Padric warned sharply.

Miria shook her head. “Stay out of this, Padric. I want the girl to speak her mind. She is my only conduit to Devinshea. She is my only hope for repairing the relationship.”

“Do you want to make up with Dev because he ascended?” I wondered if that was the case. She hadn’t invited us back to Faery until after his ascension.

“I want my son back because I love him,” she spat back at me, her mouth tightening. It must be frustrating for a queen to deal with not getting what she wanted. She’d had hundreds of years of pure obedience from her subjects.

I wasn’t her subject.

“You should have thought of that, Your Highness, when you chose to betray him.” There was nothing for it now. I’d started this. I should just go all in. “I would warn you not to try it again. I wouldn’t take kindly to those types of manipulations. Ask Gilliana. You try some witchcraft on my husband and you’ll get the same treatment.”

Miria’s eyes narrowed as she looked at me, and I heard Lee move in behind me. He wouldn’t care that she was a queen. He would pounce if he thought she was coming after me. “I could have you thrown in the dungeons for even threatening me.”

“You could try. You might get me in your dungeons, but I doubt you could keep me there. Execution is your only choice, and I don’t think that would win you points with your son.” I had a sudden thought. “Unless you chose assassination. I did have an attempt on my life earlier today. You could have me killed and throw the suspicion on some poor scapegoat. I’m sure you have subjects who would throw themselves on the fire for you.”

“Zoey, you go too far.” Just as my bodyguard had moved in close, Padric staked his place now. He stood to Miria’s side, towering over me. “You cannot accuse the queen.”

Lee growled Padric’s way, and his hand was on my arm, ready to yank me back at the merest hint of aggression.

Miria sighed and the anger left her body. “Stand down, Padric. If you could please have your guard do the same, daughter?”

I nodded at Lee, who took a step back. I was more than willing to allow the tension to dissolve now that I’d made a stand.

“You aren’t like the others,” Miria said, regarding me seriously.

“So I’ve been told.” It was far better for her to understand that now.

“I was not behind the archer this morning,” the queen stated. “The men seem to think Gilliana is, but I doubt it. It is not her way.” She gave me a sly smile. “And after this day’s events, I doubt she will try anything again. No, I rather think this is a plot of the Unseelies to attempt to create chaos. Our relations are not good. It is one of the things Devinshea can help us with. He always got along better than the rest of us with the dark court.”