“Guendolyn,” Luther persists in my ear.
I face him. “Please, let me try one more time. Give me that.”
There's no hesitation. He nods, and I have to resist the urge to hug him. I need to be strong and appear in control, even though inside I’m filled with turmoil.
Luther addresses the royals and council. “Now that our initial trial is complete, we will proceed with the actual test.”
Jasion groans loudly. “She is a traitor, and you are openly allowing her to betray you.” Why the hell isn’t he in the dungeon like Ahren ordered? Several others in the crowd start echoing his words, which was exactly his intention.
“Luther,” the queen warns.
The prince addresses everyone in the room. “I don't know about the rest of you, but when someone claims to be a lost heir, it is our duty to give them every chance to prove their stake. If King Tibout were alive, he'd agree, and everyone here knows it.” He turns to a guard.
“She’s bewitched the prince. You all can see she failed the test. We don’t need more proof. She killed the king and now she’s trying to take the throne.”
“Gag and tie up Jasion now!” he roars.
A guard snatches Jasion and forces him to a seat, tying him up and gagging him.
“My Queen, this has gone on long enough. Please, I implore we push ahead with the ceremonies,” a male intones from behind me. It's one of the councilmen, an old, stuffy fae. The others around him nod their heads.
Voices from all around start to rise as everyone chats amongst themselves. Sweat drips down my back, and I swallow hard. The councilmen break into an argument, and the realization of how horrible this is going sinks through me.
I look back to the fairy and reach over to stroke its wing inside the cage. It doesn't look crazed any longer but more like a fairy who's lost, and I'm left wondering if feeding it my blood has had this effect.
"Let it out," I say to Ramond, but he doesn't hear me and is staring wide eyed at something at the entrance to the hall.
An explosion of panicked voices booms from the crowd as attendees scramble away from their seats and spread outward in the room.
Emerging through the doorway is my mother. My mouth drops open. She’s wearing a pale blue gown glinting with diamonds, her hair pinned off her face with a glittery crown, lips rosy and bright. She's beautiful. Stunned is an understatement on how I feel. What is she doing here?
Behind her, half a dozen guards in the dark uniform of the Ash Court march in tight formation.
“Mother!” I call out, gaining everyone’s stare. The way Ahren looks at me in shock resembles his brothers’ expressions as they tried to comprehend who exactly I am, reminding me that Ahren hasn’t heard this part of my story yet.
In fact, everyone glares at me that way, disbelief and confusion about how I could be both the daughter of a Seelie and an Unseelie running rampant.
She smiles at me, but before she can speak, someone else steps forward.
“Son,” Ahren’s father emerges from the cowering masses. “I can’t sit back any longer and watch this embarrassment. You are in over your head. It’s clear that witch has invited the enemy into our court, and yet you still haven’t summoned her arrest?! Has she bespelled you, or is her cunt truly made of gold!”
Deimos throws himself off the stage to lunge at his father, roaring like a beast, face contorted with fury. Luther and Ahren on his heels, seizing him by the arms to hold him back. But by the raging anger twisting their expressions, at first I can’t tell if they are stopping Deimos so they can get to their father first and beat the hell out of him.
“Fuck you!” Luther spits, gaining gasping shock from the guests.
This is turning into a spectacle, and their fucking asshole father has to make a show, doesn’t he? I steel myself and glare at him, my hands curling into fists. I’m furious at his words, but at the same time panicked at the mounting tension in the room.
“Apprehend the queen!” Ahren’s mom bellows, rising from her throne, drawing away from the explosive thickness in the air.
“No!” I cry out, lunging for the steps to reach my mother’s side.
“Is that the welcome I get after I had my mage end the curse on your kingdom, under duress mind you? The creatures are no longer lured to your kingdom. They’re still around eradicating them completely is a lot more complicated, but the mage with his dying breath was able to stop their bites from transforming anyone into a Bloodcursed.” My mother’s eyebrow arches, and the whole room gasps. These creatures have plagued these lands for a long time from what the princes had told me, so this is amazing news. “I did it for my daughter, for your kingdom to embrace her, and I risked everything for this to work.”
Someone claps in the crowd, then more follow, standing up because she has eradicated a huge problem.
But when a sudden spark booms in the room from our right, everyone flinches with fright. I smell electricity in the air. Magic, to be more precise.
The Shadow Court guards draw their swords in unison and I flinch from the abrupt, ringing sound. They appear stiff, their eyes pale, glazed over like zombies… like they are being controlled.
“Ahren, son, you must be able to see through their ploy to take your throne from you. King Tibout is dead so he can’t dispute this. But even I can see it clearly what is happening here.”
“This has nothing to do with you, Father,” Ahren growls.
One of the guards slashes the cords binding Jasion’s wrists and gag, and he’s up on his feet, joining
