Page 67 of The Ruthless Fae King
I dropped the wind holding him and he fell to his feet.
“The dragon-folk, the elvin people,theyare with us too. This is the right thing to do. Unite against Zaphira as one,” I told them.
Everyone on the lawns’ gazes then went to the very large dragon behind me, and to Piper who stood next to him. As if in agreement, he huffed out a smoke-filled breath and stomped one large scaly foot.
“And for the record, the winter king is a good man that I love and will marry,” I added. They looked less on board with that but I didn’t care. “Take your army and ride to Winter. I will bring up the rear with Summer Court.”
Sheera looked at me wide-eyed. “You killed Marcelle and yet you think Summer Court will follow you?”
Technically,Ididn’t kill Marcelle, but I wasn’t going to go into that right now. “They had better,” was all I said before walking over to Drae and mounting the saddle basket on his back with Piper.
Barrett began to bark orders at his men to ready for war, then the dragon king kicked off the ground.
One court down, one to go. There was no time to waste.
“I wanna be you when I grow up,” Piper said, and snuggled into my side. I laughed then, so grateful to have her to lean on in these uncertain times.
We sat back deeper into the saddle and shared some dried meats and fruit. I could barely eat at a time like this but I needed to keep my strength up for the battle ahead. King Valdren was an extremely fast and capable flyer. I could be back in Winter Court and ready to help with the war within a few hours.
I just prayed to the Maker that Summer Court would be easy to convince, because whether they liked it or not, we were at war.
* * *
When we reached Summer,I was relieved to see a large gathering in front of Summer palace. People were filing into the meeting hall off to the side of the main structure. King Valdren landed in the same garden where I had first kissed Lucien, but this time when I dismounted he began to shift into his human form. I turned away, giving him privacy as I knew that his shifting did not involve keeping his clothing. I took the fact that he was changing into his human form as a sign that he wanted to accompany me on this one, so I waited patiently as he slipped into the guest house and came back out wearing clothes that were four inches too short at the wrists and ankles.
“I have a bad feeling about this one, and I promised Lucien I’d keep you safe,” he told me. Walking over to the saddle that he had crawled out of, he reached into a bag and hefted his sword.
It was very chivalrous that he thought he could protect me, so I did not take this time to educate him that I could steal the very breath from his lungs.
“Thank you,” I said and we walked together, with Piper, towards the meeting hall where murmurs and shouts could be heard all the way from here.
I looked at King Valdren and he nodded. It seemed his assessment of this place was right. Their leader was dead. Last they’d seen of me, I’d been shot with an arrow, and now I was going to storm in and force them all to go to war.
Maker, give me strength.
The crowd was so large that we slipped into the back of the meeting hall unnoticed.
“We should march on Winter Court and burn the king alive!” someone screamed.
Chills raced up my arms at the mention of such treason. I peered onto the raised stage to see a lone man, a boy, really, no more than sixteen winters old. He stood erect, listening to his people as they shouted what they thought he ought to do.
Prince Mateo.
Marcelle was always jealous of his little brother. It was rumored that he was so powerful he could light a man on fire with his mind, so Marcelle apparently had him locked away, forre-education.
I was glad to see that Birdie was able to get him from wherever he’d been.
“Quiet down!” Mateo shouted at his people. But they just got louder. I could see the panic in his gaze. He might have had royal blood, he might be powerful, but he was not a born leader, nor had anyone given him training.
“Permission to toss you on stage?” King Valdren whispered into my ear.
Perfect.
“Granted,” I told him.
Next thing I knew, the dragon king’s giant hands grasped my hips and he picked me up, carrying me over three rows of people, and deposited me on stage.
I stood, smoothing my skirt, and the people quieted.
