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This is what I felt yesterday, through the bond. The throne tried to kill him.
“The possibility occurred to me when Abriella visited my dreams after bonding with you. You wore the crown, yet she still had powers unique to the Unseelie Court. And then there are these rumors about her throwing darkness onto your mother’s precious Golden Palace, and I had to wonder. After all, no average fae would have the power to do what she did and walk away, let alone the power to do it without having the chance to recover from the potion.”
“Sebastian may have taken the crown from Abriella, but Abriella still possesses its powers.”
He gave you the Potion of Life and made you fae, and in doing so, he tied the magic of the crown to your life before it could follow the crown.”
None of us asks for the burdens we bear, but that doesn’t make the way we handle them any less significant.”
“A throne isn’t just a seat, Princess. It’s a metaphor, and its magic is stronger than you can imagine.”
The only thing I can trust is that no one can be trusted.
I won’t take away her choice the way Sebastian took away mine.
But I am very, very old, and I recognize a good soul when I meet one, and good souls are never alone for long.”
“So what happened to them?” Amira holds my gaze for a long moment, and I can practically see the heartbreak in her eyes when she says, “The golden fae killed them all. Even the babes.”
What they’ve set up for the Unseelie refugees is more like a small village than a temporary camp.
They’re looking for you. You need to come home.
It’s that the young have an innate ability to sense the fire gems’ presence within the walls.
“The prophecy told us you would come, but I wasn’t sure I’d live to see it.”
“Do you think these people would be better off if you’d let Mordeus live?” Amira asks. “If you’d never come to our realm in search of your sister?”
“I can feel it,” she says, cocking her head to the side. “But that’s my gift. I’m an empath. But you’re saying you can too?” “It’s in the air, like a cry for help.”
I let myself feel the emotions in the air. There’s heartache and loneliness, homesickness, but there’s also joy here. A feeling of security. They’re safe. And that tells me more about Misha and Amira than any conversation ever could.
“Sleep well, Princess.” I step inside my room but hesitate before closing the door. “Why do you call me that?” Misha’s eyes light up, and he grins. “Only because calling you Queen would be inaccurate,”
The truth is, if I’d known what he needed from me, I would have run.
“You were falling for him. As long as Finn had a chance to trick you out of the crown, you wouldn’t be safe. That’s why we needed to bond. That’s why I deceived you—because taking the crown for myself was the only way to keep you safe, and withholding the truth was the only way you’d bond with me.”
“Don’t you understand?” I whisper. “You didn’t just take the crown. You took my life. You killed me.”
I may hate the fae, may loathe being trapped in this new fae body, but I will never believe that my life is more important than the lives of so many.
“I needed her as my wife. And while most assume we are bonded, since that is the tradition of ruling spouses in my court, it wasn’t necessary. I had no interest in forcing my bride to partake in something so intimate.”
He loved my mother, yes, and at first glance, saving me from certain death sounds like a good and kind choice. But handing his crown and power over to me was reckless and irresponsible. He warned my mother that there would be a cost, but I wonder if either of them knew the cost would be far greater than just his life, that his act of love would threaten his entire kingdom.
“Whether you know it or not, you are a gift to that court. Stop thinking of yourself as a curse.”
He said she seems well. Spends her days making dresses and her evenings watching a child. She appears happy and healthy.”
“Finn used me, but he’s not the one who broke my heart.”
My power purrs in his presence, and I don’t bother reining it in. Tendrils of shadow slip from my fingertips and coil around my wrists before snaking up my arms. Finn follows their path, impassive.
“It matters to me,” Pretha says. “What you think of us, of the decisions we made . . . that matters a great deal to me.”
Look at how jealous he is. If you’d like to make him absolutely mad with jealousy, I’d be happy to help.
“Sebastian is likely hoping his actions will prove that he can be the king they’ve needed for so long.” Is that why you did it? Misha asks in my mind. To help him gain favor with the court his mother promised him?
“The transfer of the crown requires a forfeiture of life,” Jalek says, “so unless you’re suggesting that he sacrifice himself so that Finn may wear it—”
Finn swallows. “We might not have a choice, Kane. If I have to choose between allowing an imperfect boy to rule and watching my kingdom die, there’s no choice at all.”
“My very existence may mean the destruction of an entire court. Every Unseelie child who is vulnerable to the queen is at risk simply because I breathe. Because of a decision that was forced on me. Trust me when I say I understand the stakes.”
Part of me knew, even then, that he was no villain.
“The palace belongs to no one but the land, and sleeping there doesn’t make one significant. No more than sleeping in a witch’s cellar makes one insignificant.”
“Perhaps not, but there are many who believe themselves good people who avert their gaze from injustice every day.
They’re innocents, and they deserve someone to fight for them.” “Just like you and Jas needed someone to fight for you?” he asks.
“The sleeping children are the first sign of a dying court. If we want to save them, we need to get them home to buy more time, and then we need to put someone on that damn throne.”
“Even if it worked, Brie can’t take the throne,” Pretha says. “She’s not Unseelie.” Misha smirks and holds my gaze for a beat before swiveling to Finn. “And yet she sat on the throne and it didn’t reject her.”
“Thankfully the princess broke the curse, and I’m no longer the helpless waste of space you had to protect for the last two decades. I am heir to the Throne of Shadows. My magic walks the line between life and death. I am the best candidate for this job. Mab will know how to save our court, and I intend to get those answers.”
If I could shed this power like an unwanted cloak, would any of them care about me? Would I even have a place to stay or would I still be running?
“The only thing your presence will help us figure out is how much he’s willing to grovel to get back into your bed.”
“You can’t deny she has a way with you princes.” Kane turns up his palms. “Kings too, it appears. She even has Misha wrapped around her finger.”
“But you did. You took the potion, and in doing so, you salvaged one beautiful thing in a world full of ugliness. I, for one, will never be sorry for that.”
“I thought I’d made it up,” he murmurs. “But you taste even sweeter than I remember.”
Sebastian and Riaan are boys, I realize. They’re children compared with Finn. Amateurs drawn into a game of chess with a master.
“And you forget that while you spent the last two years playing human boy and trying to steal Abriella’s heart, I was working to make sure my people knew I hadn’t forgotten them,
“Simply dissolve the bond between you so she can bond with me. She’d certainly enjoy that more.” “You’ve lost your gods-damned mind,” I mutter. Finn winks at me. Winks.
So some priestesses came together to create this ritual that would enable the bond to be temporarily shifted from one individual to another.”
