These Twisted Bonds (These Hollow Vows, #2)(45)

“It’s true that the throne has been unoccupied since my father was locked in the mortal realm,”

Finn says, his gaze focused on some distant point. “But there was less than a year between the time when Mordeus took over the rule and the golden queen cursed the Unseelie. During that time our court withered and weakened and scores of children fell into the Long Sleep, but then the queen’s curse ironically reversed our course. That curse made her weak, and that weakness brought a sick sort of balance between the courts.”

I shake my head. “I don’t understand what one has to do with the other.”

Misha lifts a hand and summons an hourglass filled with sparkling grains of sand, turning it on its side and balancing it on his palm. The grains settle to the new bottom of each half. “Imagine this hourglass as the Seelie and Unseelie courts. The grains on each side represent the courts’ power.

There is most peace and calm when the two sides are balanced.” He shifts his hand from side to side, and as the glass moves, the sand shifts from one side to the other. “There’s room for some temporary imbalance, but if the imbalance is too great”—he tilts the glass to a more dramatic angle and the sand starts flowing to the other side—“one side can end up with everything and the other with nothing.”

“When you broke the curse,” Finn says, “the queen’s power returned. Her court is no longer weakened, but since no one can take the Unseelie throne, we’ve been thrown into a power imbalance again. The longer it remains this way, the more children will fall and the greater chance there is that they won’t wake again. If we don’t act quickly, the whole court will die.”

“So we kill the queen,” Kane says. Finn flashes him a look, and Kane shrugs. “It’s worth a shot.

Assuming Prince Ronan doesn’t take her crown and her place, a vacant golden throne would buy us time.”

“That’s a big assumption,” Finn says. “Besides, if we couldn’t kill her for the two decades that she was weakened by the curse, what makes you think we can kill her now?”

“A male can dream,” Kane mutters.

“The bottom line,” Finn says solemnly, “is that the Throne of Shadows cannot remain unoccupied.

We need to find a way to reunite the power with the crown so that someone can take the throne.”

Kane waves toward me. “The princess has the power and is bonded to Prince Ronan. He hasn’t declared an heir, so perhaps, if we could manage a way for him to meet an untimely end, the crown will shift back to her.”

I flinch. “You can’t kill him.” I find Misha’s eyes. “Right? Because the magic of the crown prevents anyone from killing for it?”

“We’d be more clever than that,” Kane says before Misha can answer.

“First of all,” Finn says, “we can’t risk it.”

“Even if it worked, Brie can’t take the throne,” Pretha says. “She’s not Unseelie.”

Misha smirks and holds my gaze for a beat before swiveling to Finn. “And yet she sat on the throne and it didn’t reject her.”

“Impossible,” Kane says.

Pretha shakes her head. “You sat on the throne?” she asks.

I roll my eyes. Of course they hate the idea of a lowly human sitting on their precious throne.

Kane shakes his head. “No way. The magic is as old as Mab and stronger, too. It wouldn’t have allowed that.”

I shrug. “I was wearing the crown, so I was able to sit.”

Finn’s face pales, but he remains quiet.

“What do you mean by sat?” Kane asks. “Just stepped close or—”

“No. I sat. I had to put the crown back where it belonged to fulfill my part of the bargain and save my sister. So that’s what I did.”

“And what did the throne do when you sat on it?” Pretha asks.

I laugh. “What do you mean?”

“Perhaps she wasn’t there long,” Finn says, studying me now as if he’s never really seen me before. “Or never fully sat.”

My mind latches onto the memories of that day. The woman Mordeus killed to punish me, to show me he could control me even once the bargain was fulfilled and Jas was back home. “I didn’t stay long,” I say. “Just long enough to save my sister.”

“The throne must’ve sensed that she didn’t intend to claim it,” Kane says.

Finn is still watching me, still so quiet, those eyes calculating. “That’s one explanation. But regardless, it doesn’t solve the matter at hand.”

Everyone’s silent for a long time. Misha studies his wine, Pretha toys with an orange in her hand, and Kane examines the edge of his blade.

Finn watches them all and is the one to finally break the silence. “If anyone will know how to fix this mess, it’s Mab. She created the Throne of Shadows, and she’s our best hope of finding a solution.”

Kane grunts. “Good luck with that.”

“I’m not joking,” Finn says.

Pretha curses. “Do you have a death wish?”

“Of course not. But I won’t watch Arya destroy my court or my people,” Finn says. “Even if it means I need to visit the Underworld.” He turns to Misha. “In the meantime, we need to return the sleeping children to Unseelie land. They have their best chance of a full recovery if they’re on native soil. I presume you’ll help make the arrangements, Misha?”