It was an impossibly sharp peak of vertical slopes and jagged edges that looked impossible to climb on foot. At its summit stood the Apex Palace, its tall towers and spires blending with its flint exterior.
For the first time since Drayce had brought me to the realm of the fae, I no longer looked at the building with dread. It was now the seat of my power, my sanctuary, my shelter. As much as I wanted to devote time to developing my faerie power, I still needed to fix the Dagda’s staff and defeat the Fear Dorcha.
Daylight flooded the carriage’s interior and warmed my face. I clung to the edge of the window and exhaled the trepidation and tension that had knotted through my insides the entire night. We were finally out of the Summer Court, out of the realm of the Fear Dorcha, who was probably working out another way to attack.
A flock of capall flew out from the mountain, their riders’ silver armor glinting in the morning sun. I turned from the window to where Drayce lay on his side under the sheets. I threaded my fingers through his hair, and smiled. He must have shifted in the night—a sign that his soul was either occupying his body or it was close.
“Are you in there?” I murmured.
The guards accompanied us back to the palace, to a courtyard of glittering moonstone buildings that glowed like pearls in the sun. When we reached the palace’s front steps, Enbarr’s hoofs clinked on the stones, and the carriage landed with a hard thud.
Two rows of servants lined the entrance, each clad in silver livery. Osmos rushed forward with a pair of guards on his heels and entered the royal suite. The tip of his horn caught the sunlight, which also colored his platinum hair blond.
“Your Majesty.” Osmos took in the wrecked carriage with wide, azure eyes. “What happened? Did you awaken King Drayce?”
My gaze darted to my slumbering mate, whose curtain of blue-black hair covered most of his face. “It’s hard to tell.”
Osmos stepped forward and frowned.
I walked to the end of the bed, flipped up the coverlet, exposing the frightened doe. “Can you sense anything from this animal?”
Osmos knelt at the foot of the bed and held out his hand. The doe shrank away from him, which was a peculiar reaction to an aon-beannach. From what I learned about Osmos’ kind, they were supposed to be the most benevolent creatures in existence.
He glanced up at me and frowned. “This is not a doe, but a powerful being under the influence of dark magic. Would you like me to heal her?”
Disappointment shoved my heart down to my stomach. Why had I seen the doe in the dreamscape if it wasn’t connected to Drayce’s curse? Maybe the doe’s eyes had been a coincidence and it was a member of the Autumn Court who had been cursed to become a beast.
Osmos rocked forward on his feet, his brows raised with expectation. I rubbed the back of my neck and cringed. He was waiting for me to answer his question.
“After you’ve checked on King Drayce and settled him in my room.” I turned to address the guards hovering by the door. “Please place the doe in a comfortable room close to the queen’s quarters.”
I stepped aside to let four guards coax the hissing doe out from under the bed with their magic. My brows drew together. She ran toward us for shelter when the cú sídhe emerged from the dark. Why didn’t she want to enter the palace?
Osmos walked past the retreating guards and stopped at Drayce’s bedside. “The humans’ representative has been making more demands.”
“What does he want, now?” I asked.
“They would like passage on one of the boats to Hibernia.” He raised both hands above Drayce’s chest, moved his fingers like a puppeteer, removing red and green wisps of magic.
“Did you tell them about the mist surrounding the island?” I asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Osmos cringed. “I took great pains to explain that no ships can leave or enter Bresail apart from a single day every seven years. A cartographer and historian also came to explain the situation with the Fomorians and the creatures that dwelled along our coast.”
“What did they say?”
Osmos turned his gaze away from mine and raised Drayce off the mattress. “They wish to be placed in an enchanted sleep to make the next seven years pass quickly.”
I ground my teeth. The Summer Court was suffering under a cursed sleep, the oak sprite was willing to risk her life to break the curse over her people, and Drayce had nearly lost everything from being cursed. Now these people wanted the same?
“Do these people know what they’re asking?” I asked.
“The druid, Cathbad, tried to reason with the other humans, but they don’t want to spend another waking hour among faeries.” He raised a hand, and the sheets around Drayce wrapped around his body like a cocoon.
The muscles of my jaw tightened and throbbed. Father and I had wanted a new start in a new country. I was happy to give it to them, but if I refused their request, it would make me no better than the faeries who had tricked them into slavery.
I could understand their desire not to return to their old villages. By now, their families would be generations gone. Those of them who had been taken as infants and replaced with changelings had nothing—not even a name.
“Is there somewhere safe to keep them?” I asked.
Osmos inclined his head. “There are multiple chambers within the mountain. With your help, we can secure them for the duration of their wait.”
A weary breath heaved from my lungs. “Do it.”
Another set of guards entered to help Aengus and the coach driver out through the doors, and Rosalind and Nessa stepped out after them. Osmos floated a cocooned Drayce out of the carriage. I picked up the broken pieces of the Dagda’s staff
