28. SCION

28

SCION

THE KEEP, NEVERMORE

T he Lord of Nevermore was a prick.

The hall was lively with activity when the three of us arrived in the dining hall. There was a raucous band in the far corner and several tables had been moved to create a space for dancing. They'd hung decorations as if it were a festival and now multicolored flags hung from every wall. Several tapestries depicting enormous brown bears were placed above the doors.

If I didn't know better—and perhaps even then—I'd say Bran had dragged every noble on the damn island out of bed, just for the pleasure of seeing us. That boded ill for our chances of success, and even worse for our chances of getting out of here without a fight.

The moment we entered the room, Lord Bran made an exaggerated show of greeting us.

"Prince Ambrose!" he boomed, his voice carrying to all corners of the room. "And Prince Scion. Welcome. Thank you for taking the time to share our table."

He openly ignored Lonnie, as if she weren't standing right there. I wasn't sure she realized that, because he spoke the olde tongue and all she would have understood were our names, but it didn't matter. I was livid on her behalf.

The snub was especially bold because Lonnie had worn the crown down to dinner—something I knew she despised, but which made the right statement. Anyone who wasn't sure of her identity before would now certainly know. And, more importantly, they wouldn't be able to feign ignorance.

Despite all that had happened—the coups, the rebellions, the destruction of the castle—Lonnie had still taken the crown from Penvalle by force. By the laws of Elsewhere, she was still the queen and the lord of Nevermore owed her his respect.

It was ironic, really. I'd spent months denying Lonnie's claim to the throne and wishing I could rewrite the laws to have her banished. Now, I was rabid to defend her claim, and would gladly step aside if I ever found myself between her and the crown.

We'd been directed to sit at one of the several long wooden tables lining the long room, which was both dining hall and throne room. At least they didn't dare to seat Lonnie at another table, and put her on the end next to me on one side and the wall on the other. It was only slightly rude, and suited me fine because it would be easier to protect her.

I didn't even care that they'd put Ambrose to the right of Lord Bran, treating him as the highest ranked of the three of us, whereas in reality he had no status at all. At one point, that would have made me angry enough to attack Bran right here at the table. Now, my only concern was how the three of us would be separated should something go wrong.

"What are they saying?" Lonnie whispered, leaning over to me.

My eyes darted around the table. I didn't know the nobles sitting directly in front of us, but from the way their ears had pricked up I guessed they spoke the common tongue.

Ah. Now I understood.

Bran was hoping that Lonnie spoke carelessly to me, not realizing that anyone could understand her. He'd probably placed his best common speakers all around us to pick up anything she let slide.

Under the table, I gripped her knee in a relatively obvious show of affection. Then, I leaned over and nipped at her ear, as if careless and drunk on lust. "Let's not talk now, rebel," I murmured. "I don't want the entire table to hear what I'm going to do to you later."

Lonnie looked at me sideways, her eyes narrowing. I prayed she understood what I was getting at. Don't say anything, we're not alone here.

She nodded, seeming to understand, and took a sip of her wine. I relaxed. I wasn't sure what Bran was playing at, or why he cared what Lonnie had to say but I wasn't taking any chances. The worst possible explanation was that Idris had somehow already reached Nevermore, and brought the lord over to his side. The kindest possibility was that Bran was nosey, and looking to exploit gossip for political clout. I wasn't willing to risk either option.

I wasn't afraid of Bran or his family, but the situation with Nevermore was complicated in a way I would never be able to satisfactorily explain to Lonnie in the little time that we had.

The island had been flirting with succession for generations, and it wasn't difficult to see why. Their culture was different from ours, as was their language. They were geographically separated from the continent, and they'd been governing themselves for centuries.

The problem was that we couldn't allow them to become independent.

Not only would the financial blow from their lost taxes take years to recover from, but their location made it critical that they hold our border. On the opposite side of the island from our continent, another powerful fae kingdom, Ellender, occupied its own continent. We maintained a friendly relationship with Ellender, and their four high courts, but word had reached us that they were experiencing their own internal power struggles. We had no desire to get involved.

Nevermore's mere presence as a buffer made it unlikely that we would have to intervene.

Clearly, Ambrose understood the complicated situation on this island just as well as I did, because he was being very diplomatic while talking to Bran. I strained my ears to hear them over the chatter of the hall.

"We'd be happy to compensate you for the jewel," he was saying, his entire body turned toward Bran. "Or perhaps replace it with another treasure."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of red and turned to look.

"Oh, fuck," I muttered under my breath.

"What?" Lonnie asked, turning around in her chair to see what I was looking at. I felt her stiffen and knew she'd seen exactly "what" I was looking at.

Cassinda was back, this time wearing a crimson gown with a plunging neckline and a jewel encrusted bodice. It was both too formal and too modern for Nevermore, making it clear she was aiming to make a statement.

She glided over and took the empty seat beside Ambrose at the head of the table. Seemingly without realizing she was doing it, Lonnie dug her nails into my arm. Her fingers were too hot—too hot—like burning coals.

"Easy, rebel," I said under my breath. The danger of anyone overhearing was far overshadowed by the danger of her lighting the hall on fire. "She could be naked and he wouldn't give a fuck."

She shook her head, and looked up at me, guilt and confusion in her eyes.

A spark of anger shot through me, but it had nothing to do with Lonnie being jealous over Ambrose.

This was getting fucking ridiculous. He knew they were mates—I knew they were mates—yet she had no idea. She couldn't understand what was happening, and was tormenting herself thinking she'd betrayed Bael and I. I couldn't keep watching this. If he didn't tell her tonight, I would.

"What are we discussing so seriously?" Cassinda asked loudly in the old tongue. "I thought this was meant to be a party."

Bran stood up from his seat, addressing the entire room. "My daughter makes a good point. I apologize for my inattention, but you see, Prince Ambrose has just asked me for a most enticing favor."

The table broke out in whispers. Cassinda—the fucking idiot—actually had the nerve to look hopefully at Ambrose. It was like she believed he'd returned to ask to marry her all over again.

An uneasy feeling washed over me.

Despite all we'd said upstairs, I thought my brother was wrong about his former betrothed. He clearly hated her, but the feeling didn't seem to be mutual.

"The prince has requested that I lend him the jewel of Nevermore," Bran announced.

The murmuring increased ten fold.

"Why?" someone shouted from the opposite side of the table.

Ambrose looked annoyed, but plastered on a smile before answering the question. "I don't require it for anything onerous, I assure you. I will only need the jewel for a few weeks, before I promise it will be returned to its rightful place."

The jewel would be returned to its rightful place in the crown before long. If Bran's court believed Ambrose meant to return it here, then that was really their blunder for not listening more carefully.

I was almost impressed.

Ambrose was good at this if he wanted to be, though all the tattoos and ridiculous earrings did make it hard to think he was merely a prince. He hadn't had those when he left the capital.

"We couldn't possibly part with the diamond," Cassinda said loudly. "Especially after we were so recently snubbed by the capital."

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you referring to?"

She looked down the table at me and smiled widely. When she spoke, it was in common tongue. "Only a few months ago our people were raving with excitement over the upcoming hunts, but then you canceled them so abruptly. We never got a chance to see our new queen defend the crown on our soil. The people were robbed of their chance to see her at all. One might even say that as she didn't complete the hunts, she is not the true queen, and we owe her no loyalty."

"Are you saying that?" Ambrose asked, his tone dangerous.

"I'm simply pointing out that one could make that argument, and how unfairly we've been treated by the continent. It makes one ask if we should reconsider if we are valued as a province, or if we may be better off on our own."

I closed my eyes. That bitch.

She knew we couldn't allow their independence, and now she was going to make some absurd demand in exchange for staying.

Beside me, Lonnie was grinding her teeth loud enough that I could hear every movement, but she wisely said nothing.

"That gives me an idea," Bran boomed, also in common tongue. "If you want the diamond, perhaps you should hunt for it? All those of us here today would happily stand witness. Some might even like to participate."

"No!" I blurted out before I'd had a chance to think about it.

Lonnie looked up at me. "If it's the only way, I could do it," she muttered. "I'm not nearly as breakable anymore."

"No," Ambrose echoed me. "We won't be playing any absurd games. We've done you the courtesy of asking for the jewel rather than ordering you return it. Don't take advantage of our generosity."

Bran's eyes flashed with anger. "You take advantage of our generosity every year in taxes. All we ask is to be afforded the same privileges as the other provinces. We expect to see the queen hunt."

They expected to see her blood soaking into the snow.

I vibrated with anger. It would be all too easy to just kill them all now. The consequences didn't matter. We'd have the diamond and Lonnie would be alive. Everything else could be fixed later.

I rose from my seat, lifting a hand in the air.

"Wait!" Lonnie yelled. She grabbed my arm and shoved it back down. "I'll do it. I accept."

Cassinda grinned wickedly. "Excellent. We'll see you out in front of the castle in an hour, then."

"E-excuse me?" Lonnie stammered. "An hour?"

"Of course," Cassinda said, her voice sickly sweet. "In Nevermore, the hunts begin at midnight. And conveniently, we are only one hour away."

"What the fuck were you thinking?"

The shout echoed all around the room, but for once, it wasn't me who was yelling.

We'd stood and left our seats, and were now standing back in our upstairs guest room. The moment I shut the door, Ambrose rounded on Lonnie, screaming at her loud enough that the entire castle could likely hear.

"I was thinking about saving the lives of three dozen people," she screamed back just as angrily. "You two were going to kill them. I could tell."

I glanced at my brother, who returned my look with a guilty one of his own. Clearly, I hadn't been the only one intending to end our dinner with a funeral.

"I told you," Ambrose barked, his gaze snapping back to Lonnie. "If they were speaking the common language they wanted you to understand. They were setting you up. Why the fuck do you think there were so many people here tonight, or how they're managing to set up a hunt in under an hour. They planned this."

"That makes no sense." Lonnie said hotly. She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled, not seeming the slightest bit cowed by Ambrose screaming at her. "They didn't know what you were going to ask. They couldn't have planned for this ahead of time."

I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. I felt suddenly exhausted. "They didn't know about the jewel, no," I said, my eyes still closed. "But they were clearly going to ask you to complete the hunt anyway. They would have come up with some other reason to trap you into it. We just made it easier for them."

Lonnie faltered, looking slightly nervous for the first time. "Why, though?"

By the fucking Source. We'd fucked up.

I let out a long frustrated breath and fell backwards against the bed, putting my head in my hands. "We should have told you about the issues in Nevermore," I said angrily. "It seemed too complicated to bother explaining, but you should have known. They've been trying to become an independent nation for centuries."

"And you can't let them?" she asked, tapping her foot absently against the wooden floor.

"No. It's complicated."

"Don't say that," she snapped. "Acting like things are too complicated for me to understand is exactly what you just said you shouldn't have done."

"Fine."

I quickly ran through the highlights of Nevermore's succession attempts, and Lonnie listened with rapt attention.

"Alright," she said when I was finished. "Well there's one good thing about all that. They definitely won't follow Idris. We don't have to worry about him influencing them or coming here because they already reject the authority of the continent. It would be too hard to persuade them. I don't think he'll bother."

Ambrose smiled weakly. "That's a good point, love," he said in a tone that implied he regretted yelling at her. I could fucking relate.

"That doesn't help us now, though," I growled. "And the hour is almost up."

"I was serious downstairs. I can do this." Lonnie reached up and began braiding her long hair as she talked. "I've been training everyday for months, and I've already survived two of these things even before I knew how to use magic."

I cocked my head at her, thinking. "You really only have to cross the boundary and you'll get the head start as usual. Once the wave of hunters are let in we can join you and help."

"Okay," she breathed, looking nervous but determined. She smiled a little sadly. "It's just like when we first met. Except Bael's not here to keep you from killing me."

"I'll keep everyone from fucking touching you, rebel." I growled. "You're going to be fine."

She nodded, and turned as if to open the door.

"Wait," Ambrose said, looking a bit pained. "One more thing, love. You should keep an eye on Cassinda."

My gaze flashed to his. He must have noticed her behavior at dinner just as I had.

"I'd planned to," Lonnie said darkly. "But any particular reason?"

"She thought she was going to be the queen," I answered, when Ambrose failed to speak. "She was two months from ruling, and it all got taken from her. She'll try to kill you for that crown."

I half expected Lonnie to panic, or start asking a thousand questions. But, as usual, my rebel surprised me.

"I hope she tries," She hissed, a slightly manic glint in her gaze. "I really need to burn something."