Page 36 of The Blood Queen

I stop, pulling Alyth to a halt in front of me. “The Faerie Queen’s dead body’s just lying in that room?”

She blanches. “No. Whatever the High Blade did to her, she just…vanished. It was such a complete removal of her being and magic that no one even remembers who she was, what she looked like. They know her titles, but anything more? Memories have been lost. So that room has been sealed off, a memorial now of sorts.”

“With that stark a reminder of the Red Caps just taking up space in their palace, you’d think the fae princes would be eager to rise up against the High Blade.”

Alyth rolls her eyes, not at me but at them. “That would be how logical people would see it, yes. But they see it instead as proof that they don’t need to fear the Red Caps. Why should they? The most powerful Red Cap weapon ever created is just behind those doors, and they’ve lived with it for centuries.”

“The Faerie Queen’s body’s not there,” I repeat, “but the weapon that destroyed her is?”

“So go the legends.”

Alyth tries to start walking again, but I look back down the hall toward the double doors. Other fae folks are bowing; everyone who walks past it takes a moment in reverence.

“That’s who she was talking about,” I say, half to myself. “The High Blade. She said only one high fae has ever been defeated and that she was the one to do it.”

Alyth’s eyes dart over my expression, one I know is scrunched, thinking. She waits me out.

“What if—” I drop my voice lower, not because I fear anyone overhearing but because I’m not sure this idea has any weight. “What if that weapon’s still useful?”

“That’s why the room is sealed,” Alyth says. “So no one else is destroyed as horribly as—”

She catches on to what I’m saying, her eyes narrowing.

“If whatever weapon the High Blade used was powerful enough to kill the Faerie Queen,” I say slowly, “then it’d be powerful enough to destroy the High Blade too, yeah?”

Alyth hums thoughtfully. “The High Blade was captured immediately after she destroyed the Faerie Queen.” She turns her considering look to the opulent doors. “She didn’t have time to dispose of the weapon before she was exiled. So it could be a threat to her too. Unless she’s developed a way to defend herself against it in the time since she’s been exiled.”

I scowl. “Damn. You’re right. ’Course she figured out a defense.”

“Well, maybe not.” Alyth gnaws on her lower lip. “If it was a potent enough item to destroy the Faerie Queen, it could be something no one could defend against. Not even the High Blade.”

Silence falls, Alyth staring at the door, me watching her.

“Could we get in there?” I whisper. “Maybe we can find what the weapon is. I’m sure the room’s been analyzed as much as it can be, but you and I have knowledge and perspective the fae realm doesn’t.”

“I guarantee you no one’s been in there since just after the Faerie Queen died. Yes, they investigated, but as soon as the Red Cap threat was vanquished, the nine princes took control, locked away the room, and that was that. It’s not as though hordes of people have been tramping through this room ever since.” She frowns. “At least that’s what I’ve been told.”

“Is it foolish, this idea? I can’t really tell anymore.”

Alyth’s face sinks. “Me neither. It’s something though. And we are far short on everything.”

“We’ve got the fae princes tonight though, yeah?” I try to encourage.

“They control the armies of the fae realm,” she says. “All of them must agree to march to war.”

“So we just gotta convince them of our cause, and if you come at ’em like you did Drest, they’ll have no choice but to bend the knee.”

She doesn’t smile like I’d hoped. “There are nine fae princes in total. It’s true, they are just as vapid and vain as my father, but convincing them all to take up arms in defense of Scotland…”

Alyth’s eyes drop to the floor, fading out, like she’s seeing all our possibilities and realizing that even if she did just succeed in swaying her father to our side, we’ve still got a long way to go before support is ours.

“Tonight.” I tug on her hand till she looks up at me. “We’ll confront the fae princes, and we can break into a cursed throne room to look for the High Blade’s weapon. Those are two solid options.” Eh, solid’s debatable, but I’m trying to be positive.

Alyth’s expression deadpans, but her lips flicker in a deprecating smile, and she links her arm through mine, pulling me until we start walking again.

“Tonight would be a good time to try our hand at the throne room,” she thinks out loud. “As the ball carries on, everyone will be more and more inebriated. But—”

She looks up at me with a wince.