Page 37 of The Ruthless Fae King
I gasped. The human queen and her stupid devices! They were awful, but stripping a person of their magic? It sounded impossible and especially evil.
Lucien shook his head. “I didn’t put it together until my missing soldier showed back up this morning, bloodied and half dead.Withouthis magic.”
Another gasp escaped me. I was in shock, unable to speak. “That’s dreadful, I’m so sorry for your soldier. You must be close.”
Lucien looked positively beside himself with worry. The winter king swallowed hard, leaning in closer to me and holding my gaze. “I do feel bad for Dominik, but that’s not what has me so concerned.”
I frowned. “What is it?”
Lucien’s skin drained of color, which seemed impossible since he was already so pale. “Dominik said that he witnessed the Nightfall queenconsumehis power after it was taken from his body.”
The room swayed as panic washed over me. “Lucien, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying…” Lucien leaned in even closer to me. “…that it appears the Nightfall queen now has Winter fae powers and whatever else she has… collected.”
I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to ask him if this could somehow be bad information. But in the same moment, I also knew it was true. The Nightfall queen was hailed as an inventive genius. Her machines ranged from flying contraptions to mimic the dragons, to flame throwers and shooting projectiles. I even heard that she had created horseless carriages! This was entirely plausible, and it caused chills to run down my spine.
“What do we do?” I asked him.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I think I need to go and speak to the other kings of Avalier. We should join forces with the others against Queen Zaphira.”
I swallowed hard. “Go to war?”
It was everything Sheera and Marcelle had accused him of.
He opened his hands wide. “Do you see any other way? The Nightfall queen could have wind power, fire, ice! She could heal like an elf, spit fire like a dragon, and even have razor sharp claws like a wolf.” His words were terrifying. “And if she can do this, what’s to say her army can’t? If we allow too much time to pass without action, we could soon be fighting a war not against humans but against… counterfeit magic users!”
He was right—as terrifying as it was, he was right. If we allowed the queen to bolster her army with these… magical infusions, we would soon be fighting a war we might not win.
“Do you think the other kings will join with us?” Together with the elves, the dragon-folkandthe wolven, we would not fail.
Lucien sighed, looking tired. “I know they will.”
“How can you be sure? Cockiness will get us nowhere,” I chided.
“Because Raife came to see me with his new wife last week and asked if I would join him and the dragon king in a war against Zaphira.”
My entire mood brightened. “Wonderful, what did you say?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I said no and then punched him in the face.”
“Lucien!” I scowled.
We might have only been in a courtship for less than a week but already I felt comfortable scolding him.
Lucien shrugged. “He bedded my… look, it doesn’t matter. While you and I were in Spring Court, Raife returned with the dragon king, I presume to ask me again.”
My whole body tightened. “And?”
“And my guards were instructed to bar them entry into the realm,” he admitted.
I groaned. “This is not shaping up to sound like a good partnership.”
Lucien grinned and I couldn’t fathom what was funny about this.
“What is worth smiling about right now?”
A chuckle rose from the winter king’s chest. “What I wouldn’t give to have seen the look on Raife’s and Drae’s faces when they were turned away.”
