What Lurks Between the Fates (Of Flesh & Bone, #3)(72)

“Mostly dying, I think,” I said, making him sputter into his goblet. Amusement tipped my lips up despite the tension surrounding the table as Sidhe delivered food to the center of it.

Rheaghan studied me carefully, a smile making his lips spread as he nodded his head and carefully placed his wine goblet upon the table. “I like her.”

“I’m so pleased,” Mab said, a subtle roll of her eyes giving her away as she leaned back from the table and sipped her wine. “I do so love it when you grow fond of my playthings and want me to treat them properly.”

“Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt you to treat your equals with respect rather than torment, Mother. Just a thought,” Fallon said, staring down at her plate as Rheaghan took it upon himself to fill it with food for her.

“She is not the equal to the Queen of Air and Darkness,” Malachi said with a snort, condemning the thought that I was worth more than dirt beneath his shoe.

“Politically, she stands to inherit the Winter Court alongside her mate. I should think that would make her an equal, or near enough, under any normal circumstances. The courts once coexisted peacefully from my understanding, before the wars broke out,” Fallon said, taking a sip of her wine.

Even in her protest of the status quo, she somehow managed to do it more diplomatically than I.

Mab was saved from needing to respond to her daughter’s unwanted suggestion when another Fae at the table spoke up.

“I would like to ask when you intend to release my son from his servitude so that he may take over his rightful place as the heir to Catancia. Not all of us wish to rule eternally, my Queen,” a woman said, the pale, silvery color of her hair being the only similarity between her and Caldris.

Her eyes fell upon Caldris, and the two of them shared a brief, silent exchange. Her skin was darker than his, brown whereas his was golden. Her lips were painted with red, her eyes more angular than her son’s.

“You may take him with you when you depart for Catancia after the Tithe,” Mab acquiesced with a cunning smile, turning her stare away from Twyla until it fell upon me. “But Estrella stays with me.”

“Sister,” Rheaghan said, interjecting before Caldris grasped his hand in mine and raised them, resting our bound hands upon the surface.

“You cannot expect me to leave her here,” he said, gritting his teeth as he stared at the woman who was determined to ruin everything.

“Caldris…” I said, my voice trailing off. He’d suffered for centuries, been a prisoner for his entire life. If the opportunity for freedom was within his grasp…

“No,” he said, the one word shutting down any protest I might have shown.

“Of course, I don’t,” Mab said with a laugh, leaning forward to take a piece of cheese off her plate and take a bite from it. “But it is nice to taunt you with the possibility of freedom. There was a time when you would have done anything for it.”

“Not this.”

“You overstep, Mab. These games cross a line,” Rheaghan said, scolding his sister as he glanced over at us.

“That seems to be the norm for her, does it not?” I asked, glaring at her.

“You are a prisoner. Remember your place and, for once, remain silent,” Mab ordered, spearing me with a glare.

“Funny. Even as a prisoner, she has more queenly tact than you ever did, dear sister,” Rheaghan said, slicing through the meat he’d placed upon his plate and taking a bite. The rest of the table sipped their wine, remaining silent as the two siblings had a stare-down.

However Mab had become the Queen of Air and Darkness, I suspected she’d stepped upon her family to do it.





23


Caldris


I tucked Estrella tightly against my side, keeping her close as we walked out of the dining hall with the rest of the court royals, Mab, and her guards. Estrella hadn’t had the chance to interact with most of them, the mood of the dinner dropping even lower after Rheaghan shunned his sister.

I liked it when Rheagan stood up to Mab. He was the only person she would occasionally tolerate an insult from aside from Estrella, but when she didn’t retaliate straight away it usually meant violence was on the horizon.

I’d do whatever I could to not let Estrella be the victim of Mab’s rage, even knowing that it was often outside of my control. I’d shield her from harm, but even I knew I could do nothing if Mab truly wanted to hurt her.

I had to hope she wouldn’t be the convenient outlet for her rage. She’d already suffered enough and would continue to suffer throughout our time spent in the Court of Shadows. Mab had shown how cruel she could be when made me choose between the only two things I’d ever wanted in my life.

But if I had to choose between Estrella and my freedom, I would always choose her.

“Where are we going?” Estrella asked, looking up at me as we walked in a procession toward the doors that led outside the palace.

The doors to the mountain took six Fae to operate, turning locking mechanisms and gears until they wound open. They towered over us as we approached, the creaking of the gears echoing loudly through the foyer to the palace as we paused before them.

“Outside,” I said, grimacing as I glanced down at Estrella’s bare arms.

While Tar Mesa wasn’t as cold as the Winter Court and the land outside the rolling hills was characterized by barren landscape and salt-filled deserts, it was still far too cold for her to be exposed to the harsh winds.