Ambrosia (Frost and Nectar, #2)(24)

She smirked. “The king of the Seelie declares that he does not care for you at all. And yet, he took great care to help you escape. I think someone must be lying.”

“If you let us return home, you won’t ever need to worry about us again.”

“Alan.” She huffed a laugh. “You are a mendacious one. How disappointing. In the Unseelie kingdom, we do not lie. If you’d been raised here, you would have learned the value of honesty.”

I wanted to ask what she thought about the value of kindness, but I had no power in this situation and kept my mouth shut .

She stepped closer to me and lifted my chin, examining my face. She was nearly a foot taller than me, radiating light and power that thrummed over my skin. I could almost see the shimmering magic twisting around her, electrifying the air.

She dropped my chin.

“If you were raised here, you’d feel pain every time a lie fell from your lips. Though if you loved him, perhaps you would do it anyway. Love burns us, doesn’t it? And that fire makes us strong.” She let out a long sigh. “Do you know how a sword is made strong? Like the Sword of Whispers, for example, that your king once possessed.”

I stared at her. Once possessed?

“Here in my kingdom, we worship the ash goddess,” she went on. “They say the ash goddess Briga has only one eye, her body covered in soot. She sacrifices for us. They say that she’s a giant in that mountain you climbed, Mount Tienen. The Veiled One made her home there.”

My heart raced faster. We’d been in the right place, then. Was it possible that Torin already had an answer?”

Mab smiled. “Briga’s flames make us strong and purify us. In her sacred forge, a sword must endure the heat, the pressure, and the hammer as the steel is tempered. Only then can it become strong enough to fulfill its purpose. Love is a forge, too, as the ash goddess teaches us. And that is where Unseelie magic comes from, Lost One. From the pain of love and loss. So, perhaps you’d lie for your king, even if it hurt. Perhaps you’d endure the flames, or sacrifice yourself, as she does. Perhaps you’d come out stronger and truly live as an Unseelie.”

Her words had an entrancing quality that made me wonder if she was putting me under a spell.

She arched an eyebrow. “But the question is, would he do the same for you?”





15





AVA




Achill rippled through me. She was trying to get under my skin, but I wasn’t going to give her a single detail about him. “Don’t really know him.”

“And who, exactly, are you?” she murmured.

There was that question again. “Ava Jones.”

“A human name.”

I shrugged. “I was raised among them.”

“Why? How did you end up leaving this kingdom?”

I shrugged again. “I have no idea. Someone brought me to the human realm and left me there. I thought you knew who I was.”

She stared into my eyes, and I felt as if she was examining my soul. Reading me. “I see the humans taught you to be weak and lazy, as they are, that they raised you to bury your own great Unseelie power, so you don’t even know it exists.” She turned her head back to Morgant. “You can relax. She’s hardly a threat. This wretch has been thoroughly defanged. I’m surprised you couldn’t see that right away. Maybe that’s what happens when an Unseelie can’t even speak her own language.”

Curiosity sparked. What was this Unseelie power I allegedly possessed?

My mind whirled, and I rubbed my wrists where I’d been bound with rope. The skin was chafed and raw.

She gestured to the table. “Join me for dinner. We do not get many foreign guests here.”

Weird. Maybe people didn’t like being beaten in a dungeon or something.

Morgant pulled out her chair at the head of the table, and she gestured for me to sit next to her.

I took a seat. My stomach rumbled, and hunger ripped through me. The pheasant had been delicious, but I’d hardly eaten a thing today.

She raised one of her hands. “Morgant, have the servants bring us food and ambrosia.” She turned back to me and rested her elbows on the table, her chin propped in her hands.

It seemed a very casual posture for a brutal queen.

I licked my lips. I had no idea what ambrosia was, but my mouth was already watering. The only thing ruining the moment was the knot of guilt in my chest. Wherever Torin was now, I doubted he was about to eat.

The queen narrowed her eyes at me. “I imagine King Torin is still upset that I killed his parents. It was a slow and nasty curse.” She smiled at me and fluttered her eyelashes. “And perhaps he’s angry about his curse. Did he tell you how it works? ”

I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to answer a single question about him. My strategy right now was simple: say as little as possible.

Mab lifted her eyes to the moon, and they darkened to a deep forest green. “It was fated, though. All of this is written in the stars. For a while, I had lost faith in my destiny. Now, I can see it written once more.” The corners of her lips curled, and she dragged her gaze back to me. “And when I am through with the Seelie king, I will have what I want. My heirs will sit on the throne of Faerie for the rest of time, turning it into the realm of the Unseelie once more. It was our land from the start, you know. At least we shared it.”