Page 48 of Royal Hunt
I frowned. Viana seemed too intent on my answer. Too anxious. Nonetheless, she’d been as forthcoming as she could be so far. It was my turn. “He said he didn’t deserve protection.”
Viana’s brow furrowed, her back hitting the wall with a thump.
“Oh, fuck,” she whispered to herself.
“What? What does that mean?” I pleaded.
Viana massaged her forehead with her knuckles before looking back up at me. “It means that the legends are true, and we’re either completely fucked or we might have a shot at winning this.”
I didn’t get a chance to insist Viana clarify. Gregory chose that moment to come over, trying to hide how irritated he was.
“What are you doing?” His eyes shot nervously from Viana to me, twitching once when he saw my hand entwined with Ellis’s. A million responses came to my mind, but Viana took charge, like she usually did.
“How chivalrous of you to come check on us.” Her voice was even, making it difficult for Gregory to determine if she was mocking him or not. He kept a healthy distance from the self-styled queen of the Eastern Realm.
“Yes, well, you forgot your furs.” Gregory thrust out the extra furs to me, setting them around my shoulders when I made no move to take them. My chest tightened at the gesture. Everything was still the same sometimes, even when it wasn’t.
“Is your bigotry worth dying over?”
Gregory and I both jerked at the non sequitur, which was as blunt and abrasive as Viana herself. Gregory sighed, glancing at me once before returning his attention back to Viana. “No. And I’m sorry.”
Viana sat up straight, her expression fierce. “And do the others feel that way?”
Again, Gregory looked at me.Why did he keep looking at me?
“They will do as they’re told.”
Viana sniffed. “Very well.” The two of them shook hands, and indignation welled in my breast. Had I missed something?
“Now that we have an understanding, shut up and listen. It’s no secret I wasn’t surprised by the rebellion,” Viana began, her glare directed mostly at Gregory. He at least had enough sense to look ashamed.
“My mother was sister to Ellis’s mother, which makes Ellis and I cousins, you know.” She shot me a haughty look, and it was my turn to blush.I didn’t care anyway. I didn’t care.
Urgh.
“Anyway, it was a bit of a dark family secret that her particular bloodline was plagued with dreams. Dreams of things that had already happened. That hadn’t happened. Sometimes even things that are happening, but not here.”
Gregory shot me a confused look, and for a split second I forgot about everything. I forgot I was supposed to resent him, and that we were stuck fighting for our lives in stupid death games. I was ten again and he was eleven. Time didn’t matter. We had a mystery set before us to solve.
“Stop moping about that past,” Viana chastised me, then continued. I blinked at her.
“The point is this: my mother suspected the fae were coming. She saw it. I never knew whether to believe her or not, but when my grandfather eventually confessed that herememberedit, I spent the rest of my time training for the day they’d return.”
Gregory looked shellshocked. “Well, how does it end? Do we make it out of here? Do the fae leave us alone?”
Viana gave him a look of contempt. “It doesn’t work like that. She only saw bits and pieces. Possibilities of outcomes. Every choice we make with foreknowledge changes what she saw. If your people hadn’t butchered her, we might have a fucking clue.”
Both reached for their waists, and I held up my free hand between them. “Knock it off! This is what the fae want, remember? Division!”
They both retreated, but my heart kept hammering in my chest. I whirled back to Viana. “What does any of this have to do with Ellis?”
She gave me a look like I was simple. “He suffers from the same problem his aunt did.” Her voice broke slightly. “Except his visions—his nightmares—have been different.”
Gregory rubbed his hands together nervously. “Different how?”
Uncomfortable tingling traveled up my hand from Ellis’s, and I gave my arm a subtle shake. It didn’t hurt, but it felt odd. Warm.
“Since he was a little boy, he’s dreamed of the same thing. Nobody could figure out what it meant, so he was dismissed. Discarded. What he saw has haunted him his whole life, and everyone around him refused to help.” Viana scoffed. “And people wonder why he drinks and tries to bury himself in women.”
