The door opened, and a violet-haired faerie wearing the silver uniform of a soldier stepped inside and bowed low with a flourish.
“I am Maith, the new captain of the royal guard.” He rose and met my gaze with eyes as violet as his hair. “Permission to open the doors, Your Majesty.”
My insides twisted into tangled knots, and a surge of nerves made me feel as though King Balor himself had tipped my throne sideways and I would fall onto the floor. I grabbed Drayce’s hand and squeezed.
“Permission granted,” said Drayce.
The doors opened, letting in the faceless gancanagh, whose unlit clay pipe dangled from a slit of a mouth, and Coleen, the blonde-haired human who had been Drayce’s servant. She stared at the gancanagh, her lips parted, her eyes deep in his thrall.
Behind them, hundreds of humans crowded the hallway. Some wore rags underneath skin caked with dirt, with matted ropes where there should be hair. Others still sported the transparent and revealing outfits from serving as pleasure slaves to the generals. Every single one of them looked weary and miserable.
A quartet of guards wearing silver armor stood at the doorway, acting as a barrier between us and the enslaved humans. As Drayce didn’t move to attack the guards, I assumed they weren’t leftover members of Queen Melusina’s Shadow Court.
Osmos strode across the room and stood on the steps a few paces down from Rosalind.
I raised a hand. “Let them in.”
The guards stepped aside, and the humans scuttled across the room and knelt in formation with their heads bowed to the marble floor. Seeing them tightened the knots in my stomach.
Only one of them remained standing, a bearded man with hair so filthy that it formed clumps around his face. He straightened and stared at me through eyes as sharp and as amber as a hawk’s.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Cathbad Fianna. Proud druid. Brave warrior.” He raised his chin.
“And you are no queen of mine.”
I glanced at the gancanagh, whose face remained featureless and blank, just as I had ordered. He raised a shoulder. “The humans have chosen him as their spokesman.”
My lips pressed into a thin line to hide my amusement. I could see why they wanted him to do the speaking. “It’s good to meet another druid.”
Cathbad narrowed his eyes. “Are there more? They told me that the other queen had consumed them all.”
“My father managed to escape,” I said. “His name is Ailill.”
Recognition flashed across the druid’s features, but he smoothed out the expression. Cathbad probably also heard what Queen Melusina did with the men she captured.
“We want safe passage home, and reparations for the time we spent enslaved,” he said in a clear voice. “Those snatched from their cradles as infants want to be reunited with their families.”
The last request sent a rumble of unease through my insides. I was about to explain why, but Osmos spoke first.
“Children stolen at birth were replaced by changelings.” He cast his gaze around the room and met the eyes of some of the humans who had raised their heads. “Their parents have already buried and mourned their children. Depending on when they were taken, some of those parents might have already died from old age.”
“But these people have a right to know their families,” replied the druid.
“A lot of people don’t believe in faeries,” I murmured. “At this time of the year, ships arrive from the outside world. You might have better luck with your families by introducing yourselves as outsiders.”
Cathbad folded his arms across his chest. “And what about those who were recently taken? Will you detain them, too?”
“Of course, not.” I turned to Osmos. “Is there a royal treasury?”
He inclined his head. “There are enough funds to pay every human here a lifetime-worth of gold.”
Cathbad stepped forward again and fired enough demands to make my head spin. Some of them bordered on the impossible, such as names for those who had been taken as babies. My head pounded as he became bolder and bolder, his shrill demands ringing in my ears.
Drayce leaned into me and whispered, “You need to end his belligerence, now.”
I shook my head. “They’re victims. None of what’s happened to them is their fault.”
“We killed most of the faeries who enslaved them.” Drayce pulled me out of my throne. “Authorize Osmos to take care of the matter. If we don’t deal with Melusina, she’ll return with reinforcements and make these people wish they were ensorcelled.”
“Thank you, Cathbad,” I said, interrupting his rant. “My private secretary will note down your requests for consideration.”
The druid scowled, but I walked around the back of the room before he could voice any more complaints. This time, when I opened the door, it led to an external staircase that wound around the mountain’s exterior.
“Where are you taking me?” amusement laced Drayce’s voice.
My lips curled into a smile. “If I were your hostage, would you tell me?”
“I believe so,” he said.
“You didn’t.”
He flashed me a grin of white teeth. “If my recollections are correct, you mostly complained about having been deceived.”
“I’m taking you to the stables, and you’re going to take me out of here.”
Drayce stopped. “Neara.”
I paused on the stairs. “What?”
“This is your birthright.” He placed both hands on my shoulders. “Queen Pressyne had no other daughters but Melusina, and Melusina’s other daughters all died. You’re the only one left.”
I lowered my gaze to the stone steps. He was right. There was nothing left for me in the human realm. All that iron and saltwater and ringing church bells was enough to repel me from returning to Calafort. And I doubted that I had anywhere else to stay within the realm of the Fae. Living in the Otherworld as Drayce’s consort wasn’t an option because I wasn’t ready to die.
A huge sigh slid from my
