She smiled and nodded. The entire village was lined up to see us off. Tears filled many of their eyes, but exultation filled others. They knew what I was setting off to do. Finally, someone would keep them safe.
I just hoped that I could be that person. I’d managed to make this place my home. I’d managed to learn to fight, to learn to kill. But could I learn to be a politician? Could I really be a Queen?
I waved goodbye to them and took Sebastian’s arm. I wore a silk dress that Cara had made for me in the three days since Enivyn’s funeral. Sebastian wore his cloak, but under it, he wore a silk shirt as well. His pack was slung over his shoulder, and we were well supplied for a journey.
He didn’t know what the Dark Court would be like when we got there. If Seraphina had heard that the Assassin’s Guild had failed, there would be repercussions. At least until I took the throne.
We began to walk the path that would lead to the portal. I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d done to those assassins there at the end of the fight. It had been one thing to fight them. They’d had a chance then. I’d been expecting to have to fight eventually. That’s why Sebastian had trained me so forcefully.
What happened after Enivyn died was different, though. I didn’t know exactly how I’d done it, but I’d combined magics into triples. Shadows, stone, and light to create the shield. Then mist, light, and stone to kill.
I’d tried to reproduce it again, but I couldn’t. Even when I thought about holding Enivyn’s body, I couldn’t get back to that place of anger that had let me destroy an army in seconds.
I glanced at Sebastian and wondered how he felt about me now. Instinctively, I reached for his magic and felt his emotions. There was such a mix of them. More than I’d ever felt in him. Fear, uncertainty, excitement, and lust as always.
But more than anything, there was pride.
He was proud of me for becoming a Queen. I still didn’t understand how he could think that I would be a good Queen when I’d only known I was a fairy for a little over a month.
I knew that I was powerful, but having power and knowing how to rule were two different things. I would be able to lean on Sebastian though. He was wiser than he let on, and he’d lived under a great Queen. Hell, it had been his mother. She would have talked to him about all of this stuff.
At least I hoped so.
We found the stone that had a piece of tinsel wrapped around it. “Ready?” he asked with a smile.
I nodded. It was time to see the Dark Court for the first time.
He held my hand and reached down to touch the piece of silver. I felt the draw of power over the bridge, and I let it pull me through the world in an instant.
I felt myself falling as soon as I was out of the portal, and Sebastian’s hand held me tight, stopping my fall. I looked up at him and saw him clutching a tree branch. I’d forgotten that the portal was at the top of a tree.
“Glad you didn’t go through without me,” he said, chuckling.
“Just put me on a branch.” It was hard to keep from laughing.
He swung me to the side, and I grabbed onto a large branch. Only then did I remember that I had wings. It was like going through that portal had put me back into the mindset of the girl who knew nothing and needed everyone to protect her. Well, that was done. That girl was gone.
I hopped down and let my wings slow my descent. Sebastian landed next to me, his feet sinking into the ground just a little bit.
In his hand was the silver wire that had been the portal. “Burn it,” he said as he handed it to me.
I wadded the wire up until it fit into my clenched fist, and I let light explode across the silver. I could feel it heating up, smoke rising out of my clenched fist, and then it caught fire. I dropped it into the grass and let it burn itself out.
I looked down at the ash that coated my hand and couldn’t help but remember the ash that had come from Enivyn’s funeral pyre.
I closed my eyes, banishing the vision from my mind, and took a deep breath. “Take me to the Dark Court, Prince. It’s time to find out if I’m everything you think I am.”
Chapter 38
Rose
The Dark Court was not at all what I’d expected. I’d thought it would be a giant building or something. Some kind of dark version of the White City in Lord of the Rings.
No, this was a massive, sprawling city filled with people. Lanterns hung from tall poles, spreading light and shadows across the twilight landscape of a city that never saw a sun. Only the two moons had ever illuminated this place.
Outside of it all was a wall made of black granite with sparkling crystalline pieces embedded in the stone. Massive catapults made of ebony wood stood amongst men in black plate.
Different banners hung from poles at each guard tower. Sebastian had explained that each noble family was required to staff a separate guard tower. I hadn’t expected there to be so many of them. At least a hundred different banners flew, and I was going to have to learn everything I could about each of them.
In the center of the city stood a tower made of sharp and jagged obsidian that looked as though it had been carved from a single piece of stone. Rising high into the sky, it rivaled the size of some of the tallest buildings
