Page 12 of Autumn Queens & Shadows

Thora picked up and put on a robe. “Take me to Adriata,” she said to him.

And then I had to watch her reach for his hand. I had to watch him touch her when I knew she hated to be touched. I stood there watching her in the same arms I had pushed her to.

“What?” Elias asked, appearing behind me. “Upset?”

He put a hand on my chest when I tried to go past him. “I think you should leave, Malik. Really. She’d been doing just fine.”

Had the world really been so much better without me in it? “It didn’t look like it.”

“So what? You’ll fix it? I don’t think you’re capable of that.”

“What do you know what I am capable of?”

“Only what you’re incapable of.”

“How did she puppet a man to his feet?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I chuckled at his poor attempt at lying to an Empath. “And this White Veil I’m hearing people talk about?”

He took a step back and gave me a look that faintly resembled anger. It was hard to be angry and lie at the same time. “You’ve been digging around?”

“You know what I am, Elias. You’ve known before even knowing me. Do you think I just trained men all day and waited for some war or battle to show at my door? Who do you think did all of my brother’s dirty work?”

“Why does this interest you?”

“She interests me.”

“Why now all of this sudden interest? She’s been queen for ten years. Dealt with shit like this for ten years. Where were you then?”

“I’m here now.” Patting his shoulder, I said, “And I have not a single intention of ever leaving again.”

Chapter four

White Tulips

Malik

If there was one thing that made me feel right at home, it was the Adriatian council. Though Moon and Night Court had quietened in the presence of my sister-in-law, they’d not stopped glaring and huffing at one another. Currently, Moon Court stood dissatisfied with my brother’s young minds that outvoted some odd regulations on shrimp fishing near Lyran shores—all the interesting and important stuff. Sometimes, I wondered if my brother instructed his side of the council to oppose Moon Court just for the fun of it. That little gleam that crossed his eyes at the banter was telling enough.

Just when Snow was about to doze off from boredom, Kilian announced, “That’s enough for today.” He pushed me back on my seat when I was about to stand and get the hells out of there. “Stay. The Fire Queen is here to see you.”

“Why do you assume she is here to see me?”

My brother gave me an unamused look and then picked up a sleeping Snow from her chair before fading away.

Alyone waited for everyone to leave the room before she spoke, “You didn’t stay for long after your return to Heyes. You ran like you’d caught fire before your feet had touched my palace for a day.” When I didn’t say anything, she continued, “What were the odds her betrothed would die? You must have been glad you were late and the job was finished for you.”

“You came all the way to Adriata to tell me that?”

She looked around the empty meeting room. “You blame me for no reason. I didn’t mean to keep the news of her marriage from you.”

“Twice I asked you. Twice I begged you to tell me if you had heard from her. You drugged me on medicine and lied right after I was too numb to think.”

“You were gone for five years. No trace. No sign. No word. Five years locked away in that portal with no way to find you, I didn’t think of it as a priority especially when you turned up as injured as you did.” She stepped closer to me. “Making sure you were out of danger and treated was my priority.”

“I would have crawled to her if necessary, even dead,” I said, propping my feet up on the meeting table. “Not good enough of an excuse.”