11. Blake

Iwas on guard duty at the towering sarsen stones that marked the entrance to the human realm when Kalen returned from his assignment.

He toppled through the stones in his dog form, legs kicking in the air, mouth foaming. As soon as he hit the earth he shifted back to his preferred humanesque shape, but this was not the arrogant prince I’d known my whole life. Kalen lolled and moaned in the dirt, his collar torn and half his face eaten away. Green blood – presumably his own – splattered down the front of his coat.

The other two Unseelie soldiers did not follow him.

“Blake,” Kalen gasped, dragging his body along the ground. “Help me.”

I lifted Kalen to his feet, inspecting the wounds on his face. He’d been burned by something, the skin melted away to reveal the muscle beneath. One eyelid was gone, the other one screwed shut. That one glimmering eyeball pivoted to stare at me, wide with pain and horror.

He’s been attacked by elemental magic.

I want to hear him say it, so I roll as much fake concern into my voice as possible and ask, “you’ve looked better, brother. How did you obtain these wounds?”

And where are the two guards who accompanied you?

Daigh had given Kalen the simple assignment of taking two fae into the human realm using both the Seelie and Unseelie crossing stones. This was the first test of the reach of our combined magic, and it had seemed to be a success as – for the first time in decades – three fae crossed into the human realm at the same time.

From the looks of Kalen, the test hadn’t ended on a high note.

Kalen coughed, splattering blood on my coat. “Those Briarwood bastards did this…they got the others.”

I wiped my coat on his oak-leaf cloak. “You ran into the witches? You were supposed to avoid them so they didn’t know about our strength.”

“There was an opportunity. We could have taken them down, but they were stronger than we thought.”

How stupid and arrogant could he be?“Of course they’re strong. They’ve just acquired a powerful witch. Even if she doesn’t know what she is, her very presence at Briarwood will increase their power.”

“I know that now,” Kalen shot back. “If you’d seen them walking across the very field you were hiding in, completely oblivious to your presence, then tell me you wouldn’t have attempted it.”

I wouldn’t have, but I had my own reasons, and he didn’t need to know them. “If I’d done it, I would’ve come back with the girl, and not without two of father’s top warriors. Now the witches know we have gained significant power. They will be on their guard. Your foolhardy stunt has cost us the advantage of surprise.”

He winced. “I’m hoping Father will not see it that way.”

“The king’s already in a terrible mood. The Seelie fae aren’t stepping into line the way he wishes. You’re just going to make his night.”

Kalen’s ruined face sagged. “Will you return to Court with me?”

“I’m on duty. Oh—” I waved to a figure just rising over the crest of the hill, a fierce bow resting on her shoulder. “There’s my replacement now. I’ll accompany you back to Court. I wouldn’t want to miss the fireworks.”

“Vouch for me, brother?” Kalen pleaded. “Remind Dear Father of all my loyal service?”

I smiled, and patted his shoulder reassuringly. Kalen looked a little relieved, which seemed premature to me.

If he took my shoulder pat as my affirmation, that was his own stupid fault.

Word that only Kalen had returned from the foray reached Court before we did, no doubt passed along by the scouts that guarded the road between our land and the old Seelie Court. A few lone fae were still holding out there – led by my friend Laoise – refusing to swear their oaths to Kalen, and they were guarding a stash of nectar wine that Daigh wanted as a reward for his soldiers.

The Unseelie Court held its revels between three sidhe in a wide meadow at the foot of the valley, where the two forests of Tir Na Nog met. Kalen and I shoved our way through the dancers and brawls. Sprites and brownies leapt out of our way, chittering with curiosity. As princes, we commanded attention wherever we went, and that was especially true now the Seelie Court fairies had joined with us. Fae dressed in both Seelie green and Unseelie black and brown danced around us, laughing and jeering and offering us food.

With every step, Kalen shrunk a little further into himself.

“Greetings, Princes,” Daigh’s voice boomed over the court din. He reclined on a sedan chair held by four groaning far darrigs. Several sprites flitted around his head, peeling fruit with their tiny fingers and feeding them to him. “I see you have returned with fewer fae than you left with. Tell me, where are my loyal and mighty warriors? Will they be shortly joining us in our revels?”

“Um…they will not, oh wise King of Winter,” Kalen said, dropping to his knees. I stepped back, wanting a good spot for the show, but not so good that Daigh somehow thought I was defending Kalen. “We met the mages of Briarwood in the meadow, and they overpowered us. They are stronger than ever. They?—”

“You confronted the witches?” Daigh’s voice remained jolly. Only the throbbing vein on the side of his temple gave away his true displeasure.

“I didn’t mean to!” Kalen cried out. “We were trying to make it back to the sidhe, and they were traveling across the field from the village. They were right on top of us. We fought valiantly, but they had the girl with them, so we didn’t have a chance?—”

“Maeve Moore was there?” The king’s voice lowered an octave, booming across the glen. The sprites scattered in fright, dropping half-peeled fruit across the ground. “You allowed them to see you? Maeve saw you?”

“As I said, it wasn’t my fault.” Kalen jerked his head at me. “Blake will speak for me. He knows that I?—”

A wet thwack cut off Kalen’s protests.

Daigh had moved so fast, I didn’t even see him. Human eyes cannot process the true speed of a fae.

One moment he was reclined, the next, he stood beside his son, bone blade at his side, the tip pointed at the ground. The length of the blade dripped with blood.

A thin wheeze escaped Kalen’s throat at the same time a line of blood appeared around his neck. Daigh had cleaved his son’s head off with such precision that it hadn’t yet fallen from Kalen’s neck.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.

Kalen’s eyes glassed over, and with a final wheeze, his body sagged to the ground, reverting to its dog form. His head separated from his body and rolled across the dirt, coming to a stop at my feet.

I kicked it toward Daigh, who laughed his deep, horrible laugh, and kicked it over to Elden, the General of the Unseelie guard. Elden kicked it to Hefeydd, and an impromptu game of soccer broke out in the middle of Court.

The Seelie faeries hung back in horror, wrinkling their faces with distaste as lines of royal blood marred the dirt. They were in our Court now, where chaos and cruelty reigned.

With the Court thus occupied, I slipped back from the crowd and made my way to my father’s throne. Daigh reclined once more, polishing his sword against his black cloak, smearing his son’s blood down his shirt. I knew, objectively, that the sight of it should make me sick, but I’d seen Daigh kill many princes in my lifetime. He could always bear more children, and the life of a prince was only worth as much as his duty and loyalty to the Court.

That’s why I intended to make myself the worthiest of all.

“You were wise to be rid of him,” I murmured in my father’s ear as I reached for a platter of grapes and handed one to him.

“I am disappointed,” he said, allowing me to place the grape on his tongue, while he held up the blade to inspect the edge. “Kalen was one of our finest warriors.”

“A warrior is no good if he cannot follow instructions.”

“True.” Daigh slid the sword back into his scabbard. He patted my knee. “My son was so unlike you, Blake. I always expected you to be a great disappointment. It would not have been your fault, given your lineage. But you have borne your time here with great strength and loyalty. I noticed that Kalen tried to pull you in to defend him.”

“A foolish move.” And you’re just as foolish, if you believe this flattery imbues my loyalty. It may work on your fae, but I am not fae.

I kept those thoughts to myself and pressed my advantage. “So how will we proceed, now that the witches know of our advantage?”

Daigh gave a shrug, as if it were neither here nor there. “We will send more warriors to bother them near the castle. Meanwhile, while their attentions are elsewhere, we will continue with the plan as conceived.”

“Excellent idea, my King.” I bowed my head, hoping my platitudes had been enough. “And with Kalen’s now separated from his body, who will you send to lead the first mission?”

“I was thinking of sending you.”

Yes.I tried to keep my grin solemn, so he wouldn’t realize just how much I’d been counting on obtaining command. “Thank you, Father.”

“That is, if you can handle it. This will be the first time you return to the human realm. There will be many temptations. It may be hard for you to return, especially if your mission takes you past a curry shop.”

It was a joke, but a pointed one.

I bowed my head again. “You have shown me great favor, Father. To have been allowed to live in the fae realm, to have been given the value of your centuries of knowledge… it is worth more to me than a hundred curries. Even though the portal now allows me egress, I will not betray you.”

At least, not yet.

“You do yourself great honor, Blake.” My father’s emerald eyes bore into mine. “Do your duty well and you will be rewarded handsomely in the new fae world.”

“Thank you, Father. I will make you proud.” I bowed and slunk away, fading into the press of fae bodies gyrating in their revels. I pushed my way through the crowd, stepping over the mangled body of Kalen’s canine corpse, and pressed my back against the dirt wall of the sidhe.

I needed a moment to take stock of my current situation.

Kalen’s stupidity had been advantagous. It would have alerted the witches that the fae were increasing their power and could now send more warriors into their realm, so when it came time to reveal myself, I’d be more likely to gain their trust.

Most importantly, I hadn’t had to kill him, as was my original plan, to take hi place on the next expeditionary force to the human realm. After Kalen’s fuck up, Daigh wasn’t going to trust just anyone, and I’d proved myself more than trustworthy.

This could work.

If everything went according to my plan, I would draw the witches in, and my chance to get to Maeve would come, all while fulfilling Daigh’s plan and remaining in his good books.

It was a win win win, and all the wins belonged to me.