“Rose, I created a warren. I shouldn’t have been able to do that. No one can do that. But together, we did.”
Rose sniffed and said, “I have to do this, don’t I? I have to go to the Dark Court.”
I released her and stepped back. “You don’t have to do anything. I wish that you would. You could stop Seraphina’s abuse of the Dark Court.” I stood up a little straighter and said, “But you don’t have to. No one can force it on you. There have been Queens who have turned down seats of power before.”
Rose nodded. “I… Can I take some time to think about it?”
“Yes. Take all the time you need. But before we do anything else, you need to learn about your powers. I can’t always be there to protect you, and if you do end up going to the Dark Court, there will be dangers everywhere.”
She nodded, and I took her hand. “But first, I need some rest. A lot of rest.”
She smiled at me, and I felt myself relax at least a little bit. She was a Queen. The Queen. The one who could set everything right again.
“Let’s find this village of yours. I can’t wait to meet everyone. Enivyn has told me so much about everyone.”
“Yes. You can meet everyone, and I’ll get some sleep.”
Chapter 20
Seraphina
“What do you mean he’s dead?” I screamed at the assassin. Nyx dead? At the hands of Sebastian? How was that even possible? Nyx was the best assassin in the Immortal Realm.
“Nyx carried a device on his person at all times that would activate in the event that his heart stopped beating. It sends a message to a connected device displaying the area around him as though we were seeing and hearing through him.”
“I watched the Prince picking up Nyx’s daggers and then hugging Nyx’s prey. Sebastian believes that he has found a Queen to fill the Dark Throne. Is this true?”
I began to pace. That little shit. How had Sebastian managed to kill Nyx? Who else could I send to deal with him now? Sebastian and Rose had to die. They had to.
It had taken almost fourteen years to set this in motion. I couldn’t let it all fall apart when I was this close to finally setting everything right.
The thought of Rose sitting on the Dark Throne was laughable at best. She was ignorant of everything magical. At least until three days ago. There’s no chance that she could survive the Courts of the Immortal Realm. If she truly had the power to ascend to the throne, then she would need to contend with more than just me.
And until she was far more skilled in the use of her powers, there was no danger to me. I could deal with her if she ever came here, but Sebastian was another issue. He and those cursed daggers were a danger to everyone.
“Why would I know? I heard about an untrained Fae pulling magic into the Mortal Realm. That’s why I sent Nyx and Sebastian after her. She pulled a significant amount which made her a threat to our secrets.”
The assassin nodded, and I knew that he didn’t quite believe me. I was a Queen of the Court of the Light, though, and there were laws against direct lies that not even I could break.
“Then the Assassin’s Guild would like to formally request your permission to deliver retribution to the Prince and the fairy he protects.”
My eyes became little more than slits as I stared at the man in the hood. “You’re telling me that the entire Assassin’s Guild would like to attack Sebastian and the fairy?”
“Yes, Lady. Nyx was the best of us, the most honorable of assassins, and his death is a tragedy. The Prince will pay for Nyx’s death and his refusal to obey your commands with his life.”
I tapped my nails on the table that separated us, letting the thought run through my mind.
“You have my approval and my protection if there are repercussions from the Dark Court when you return with Sebastian and the fairy’s heads.”
The assassin nodded and turned quickly to leave my conference chamber. This should work out well. Even at his strongest, Sebastian wouldn’t be able to fight off sixty assassins working together. And even though Rose was a Queen by birthright, she had none of the training needed to aid Sebastian.
I sat back down in the chair and let my frustrations fade. This was better. Nyx was a loss, but he was an acceptable loss. This way, the Assassin’s Guild would be in my debt rather than I be in Nyx’s.
I smiled softly. Yes, this was a surprising turn of fate indeed.
Chapter 21
Rose
It was early evening by the time that we could see the village. The days were short in the Dark Kingdom, only a third of each day. The opposite was true in the Light Kingdom according to Enivyn. He had chatted with me about the Immortal Realm during our hike through the woods while Sebastian stayed quiet.
Small little huts just like the one that we’d stayed in by the portal exit were clustered around a central fire ring. Enivyn walked as fast as his little gnome legs could carry him. He was so full of excitement at being the one to bring Sebastian to the village.
He needn’t have worried about walking fast enough, though. Sebastian limped along beside me. He looked like he was about to stumble any second. His eyes were completely gray and filled with mists. They were unnerving, like looking at a blind man’s eyes with all the color drained from them.
He just kept taking one more step, and my body stayed tense as I waited
