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“No. She’ll hate me for it.” I shrugged. “But she will do it all the same.”
“So you will force her,” he said casually. “That sounds very much like what Xakiel would have done.”
“My father planned to violate her for five years and send her back in pieces to Issos. That is not my plan.”
“Forcing her to be your mizrah and keeping her prisoner here isn’t all that much better.”
“Keffa,” I snapped with warning. “It must be done.”
None of us knew who thefemaleof Dalya’s vision was, not until I laid eyes on Una in the throne room and had seen herwings. Herblackwings. They’d grown back in the hue of my home, Näkt Mir, a palace carved into the volcanic obsidian left behind by Vixet Krone’s eruption thousands of years ago. It was the color of our armor, our swords, our temples, our entire world.
She was meant to be mine, to bring about the rise of the dark fae with me at its helm. Whether she hated me for what I planned to do, for the role she must play, didn’t matter. I would make it so at all costs.
We dark fae had sequestered in our separate kingdoms, eking out our lives beneath the shining beacon of Lumeria, where fertile lands of abundance and excess thrived, where their populations flourished and where magick whispered everywhere. I was not only going to open the gates to those lands, I would be their new ruler. A union with Una would strengthen my claim and keep Prince Baelynn of Issos compliant and peaceful.
But first…the princess must accept her fate.
Keffa had gone quiet, giving me that paternal expression of disapproval. I didn’t fucking care.
I marched from the room, frustration firing my blood. As I ascended the first few steps of the staircase, the outer door opened behind me. I stopped to watch as Pullo marched inside with Tierzel and two other wraith fae males.
While I hadn’t allowed them to leave for the front with Soryn, I did reassign two other fae on duty to guard the door of the princess so they could patrol the city.
The past several days had been precarious while we rounded up all of my father’s allies. We gave them the choice to either bow and pledge fealty to me or die. So far, their decisions had been swift. Bending the knee was easy when your life was on the line. But I was aware there could still be rebellion at my ascension.
As they drew closer, I recognized the twin brothers being escorted toward me, their expressions grim and tight. I turned and awaited their approach, keeping my arms at my sides, ready to fight if that’s what my cousins had in mind.
Meck and Ferryn were the only sons of my aunt, my sister’s mother. They’d joined my father’s forces not too long ago, so I’d heard, and had been assigned as ambassadors. Reports had told us my father had sent them north to trade with the shadow fae king to acquire more gold to fund the war.
My cousins, because of their noble blood and distant connection to King Xakiel through my mother, were the most suitable to barter a deal with the shadow fae. The shadow fae had plenty of gold in their mines deep in the Solgavia Mountains, and they coveted our black steel mined from Vixet Krone.
They’d left last spring, according to ledgers my father’s scribe kept. When they reached the bottom of the steps, Pullo and Tierzel stepped to the side while both Meck and Ferryn knelt on one knee, bowing their heads.
“Greetings, cousin,” said Meck, always the more talkative of the two. “We bring good tidings from the north. Prince Torvyn of Gadlizel accepted the offer of black steel. We return with payment in gold…for you.”
I didn’t bother asking why they negotiated with the prince and not the king. There were rumors that Prince Torvyn’s father had gone mad. That conversation could wait for another time.
“Forme?” I questioned sharply. “My father commanded you to take this mission. As I’m sure you know by now, he is dead. And while I can assume that your return with gold owed to Näkt Mir is a sign of your allegiance to the crown of Northgall, I cannot accept your loyalty until it is actually given. Tome.”
Meck lifted his gaze to mine while Ferryn kept his on the stone floor. I hadn’t seen either of them for years. They’d grown to be fine looking warriors.
They had no father, and my aunt left Silvantis to raise them in Belladum. My mother had always felt sad for her sister who was forced to raise her two sons on her own. I thought my aunt had always envied my mother, who had wanted for nothing as my father’s mizrah. That is, until he accused her of adultery and murdered her.
“I, Meck Vulsgar, pledge my life and loyalty to the rightful heir of Northgall, Gollaya Verbane.” He withdrew his short dagger at his belt and cut his palm, his offering and promise by blood. “May our god Vix hear my sincerity and truth.” He fisted his palm, letting blood drip to the stone, then pressed it over his heart in a salute to me.
I descended the steps, eyeing Ferryn, who finally met my gaze. They both had unusually pale-yellow eyes, the same as my aunt and my mother.
Ferryn pulled out his dagger and cut his palm, tightening his fist and pounding it to his chest. “I, Ferryn Vulsgar, pledge my life and loyalty to the rightful heir of Northgall.” His expression was intense and tight. “To Gollaya Verbane.”
Our relationship had never been close or comfortable. When they were young boys and I was an adolescent, I’d play swords with them in the yard at Windolek, where I spent summers with my mother. I believed they admired me then, even if there may have been a touch of envy there.
But as they grew older, my aunt stopped visiting, then my mother was killed by my own father and I hadn’t seen them since.
Until now.
It was no wonder they both wore tense expressions. Though we shared blood, we didn’t know each other anymore. And I could reject their pledges of fealty since they served as ambassadors to my father, an honored position in his central court. I could kill them for it, just as I had killed my father’sinner circle in the throne room. My father would certainly execute them if he were in this position.
But I was determined not to rule as he had done.
