Inhaling the mingled scents of dew and sweet cedar, I filled my lungs with fresh air and continued along the balcony with Drayce.
“You called Melusina the usurper.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Does that mean you finally accept your role as the Queen of the Faeries?”
I placed a hand on his chest. “If it wasn’t for the sacrifice you made for Father and me, I would have been just another dead and forgotten princess.”
His brows rose. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes,” I replied with conviction.
The balcony sloped down the mountain, taking us past the mess hall’s colored windows depicting Drayce and me standing with our hands joined. We were dressed in varying shades of white, and the glass’s intricate segments of color depicted us with hair that glowed in the light of an indigo sky featuring both the sun and the moon.
“At least we know for sure that the palace has accepted us as mates,” I said with a smile.
“Do you know what the sky represents?” he asked.
I tilted my head up and examined the sun and moon, whose yellow and gold rays radiated with light. “Night and day?”
“Life and death.” He pulled me into his side. “The joining of equals. Something Melusina tried to achieve with my father, but her greed for power corrupted the union.”
“We’ll destroy her.” I wrapped my arms around his middle and gave him a tight squeeze.
We continued further down, pausing at the stables for Drayce to thank Enbarr for braving the Summer Court and the Fear Dorcha’s monsters. Eventually, we reached the bottom of the palace, where the windows ended and the caves began. I looked out for the huge laundry room, where I had last found mindless, filthy humans washing piles of clothing.
Instead of a bubbling vat, there were wooden tables arranged in a U-shape, each filled with large bowls of liquid. Gruagrach of differing sizes dipped soiled garments from one bowl to another and then into an empty bowl, where they emerged sparkling clean.
I stumbled over my feet and gaped. “Have they always been here?”
“Osmos probably hired them to replace the humans,” Drayce replied. “They live in a mound on the edge of the Autumn Court.”
“What’s the point of having human servants when the gruagach can do the work?”
He turned to me with a raised brow. “The gruagach require payment, will band together to protect their own, and will leave at the first sign of disrespect.”
“Whereas humans can be enchanted to work and suffer abuse until their bodies fall apart,” I muttered.
Drayce gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze and steered me away from the laundry room. “Make sure to get each of the prince’s blessings before breaking habits that have lasted centuries.”
I didn’t reply and continued down the outdoor slope, passing air vents that released scents of roasted meats, spices, and the warm aroma of baking bread.
He was right that I needed to secure the throne and defeat Melusina before saving all the humans, but it still rankled that people were still out there, suffering under the whims of faeries. He didn’t push the point further as we had already discussed the unfairness of these fae bargains.
We stopped at a narrow opening in the mountain with a low wall. I placed a hand on the rocky surface and asked, “Is this where I can find the cornerstone?”
Drayce threaded his fingers through mine, dipped his head, and led me into its dark depths. “This is the palace’s lowest level. When I was small, I found the cornerstone while exploring. Melusina came in shortly after and demanded it to yield its power.”
This passageway was devoid of light and smell and sound, and I couldn’t even hear the beating of my heart. I placed my free hand on the rough wall and exhaled with relief that one of my senses was working in this cavern.
“What happened?” I asked.
“The palace never truly accepted her.” Drayce gave my arm a gentle tug.
We continued through the narrow, winding corridors until we reached a lit chamber of pale rock with multiple round openings large enough to house a family of bears. Its ceilings were high enough for us both to stand, and Drayce led me through the largest of the chambers, which contained pale, orange rock thick with stalactites.
I gulped. The last time we’d visited a cave like this, the Queen of the Banshees had screamed loud enough to bring them tumbling down on us.
“Why do you think the palace chose me instead of Melusina?” I asked, trying to keep my mind off past horrors.
Drayce released my hand and scooped me into his arms. He bounded up a mound of orange stones and leaped onto an impossibly high ledge. “Her Fomorian blood? She also murdered Queen Pressyne and didn’t give her a fae burial. Or perhaps the palace found her utterly despicable.”
I squared my shoulders and tried to reassure myself that this was no different from riding on the back of a capall. “Oh.”
As soon as Drayce stepped into the next chamber, a wave of power made my skin tingle, my teeth chatter, and the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Uneven stone-brick walls surrounded us, looking like the foundations of an ancient building.
Light streamed out through the taps in the bricks, illuminating the space. I turned my head up to the ceiling but found a dark void. “I feel it.”
He set me on my feet and guided me along the wall, which buzzed with an unfathomable power that intensified with each approaching step.
I thought back about the Diamount—the diamond-like mountains where we had found the Sword of Tethra and defeated the Queen of the Banshees.
Drayce once said that they were stone during the time when the gods roamed the earth. I hadn’t felt this level of magic at those mountains, but this chamber felt more powerful than a faerie or a demigod
