Page 79 of Royal Hunt
My eyes rolled. “Let me guess: you didn’t even let her explain before you nobly defended my honor?”
He perked up at that. “You think I’m noble?”
I laughed at the madness of it all. “Nobility is not the same as reasonable. Now tell me what she’s worried about.”
My fingers played with the tassel at the edge of my stool. I held out my arms and Ellis gave in, sitting next to me on the too-small stool and leaning against my shoulder. Seeing we didn’t fit, he dragged me into his lap and more securely scooted his own bottom on the stool. His arm was tight around my waist.
“Every fae has two primary powers: the one they’re known for, and a second one that’s kept within the family or sometimes completely secret.”
I nodded.
“I don’t know if it’s due to our families being magickally compelled to ‘breed’ over the centuries, but Viana’s family ended up withtwopowers that are normally kept secret.”
“That makes sense. I wouldn’t want to advertise that I could suck people’s life force out,” I muttered. “I’m guessing you know the second?”
Ellis shot me a look. “I have prophetic dreams; only glimpses of possibilities of futures. Vianahearsit.”
“She … what?” I had to have misheard him.
Ellis shook his head, as if even he didn’t quite understand. “There are constant voices in her head. She’s gone through strict training since childhood to control it, or she’d likely go insane. We’re not sure if the voices are the future or possibly …” He looked at the floor and pointedly away from me.
“Possibly what?” I asked gently, putting one hand on his arm to encourage him.
Tired, golden eyes met mine. “Viana thinks she can hear voices from the fae realm. We’re just not sure if it’s in the present time, or the past, or the future.”
Yeah, I get it. Nothing helpful whatsoever.
“And she’s heard something to make her think I’m this harbinger of doom?” I pushed away from him, finding it hard to think with his hands all over me. I stood and started pacing myself while he sat there, effectively switching places with him. The dimness in the room grew as the candles remained unlit against the setting sun.
Ellis rubbed his face with hands. “She hears the fae talking about prophecies; completed visions from fully-trained fae that have more details than what I get. They talk about a great reckoning that will tear both worlds apart, and the human queen who will be at the head of it all. It was one of the reasons they came now for the games; they wanted to distract their people from it, and hopefully find and kill you in the process.”
I shook my head. “None of that makes sense. I didn’t die even though both Cassus and Ferar had plenty of opportunities to kill me. I’m not even a real queen!”
Ellis leaned back on the stool, staring up at the ceiling. “I didn’t say it made sense. It’s just what she hears. And it matches with what I see.”
Silence descended between us. Realization was settling into my breast, shaping my plan and giving me purpose for the first time in at least a week. It felt heavy; like an anchor sinking all of us unless I did the right thing and abandoned ship first.
I saw everything in that moment; the way faint lines appeared on Ellis’s face, belying the lingering traces of his illness and making him look older than he really was. I caught a small glimpse of the crown underneath the couch, one edge glinting at me just as the last few rays of sunlight slipped through the wide windows.
I knew what I had to do. But would Ellis let me? My mouth grew dry, and my palms felt moist.
Ellis eyed me warily, lifting one dark eyebrow. “What’s this glorious plan of yours? I know that look.”
I took a steadying breath. There was nothing for it. “I think I need to leave,” I offered quietly.
Silence hung in the air between us, thick and heavy like poison.
“You what?” Ellis whispered dangerously, his eyes alight with a strange fire as he abruptly sat up. Black curls hung in his eyes, pure rage tightening every muscle in his body.
I took a step away from him. Not because I was afraid, but because I knew if his hands went around my waist, or if his lips touched mine… I’d lose my resolve. I’d once again make the selfish choice, and doom everyone I loved.
So I took a second step back, as well.
“Maybe … maybe I am the problem,” I said softly. “I made many choices that could have brought about a lot of this.”
Ellis scoffed, but I took a third step. His eyes zeroed in on my feet, extreme dismay twisting his lips and panic settling in his eyes.
“I don’t regret saving you,” I clarified. “I never will. I just … maybe it would have been different if I had saved your younger siblings. Maybe the people would have rallied around them instead of seeing everything fae as a threat. It’s hard to see children as a threat. You even admitted your dreams have nothing but devastation, ruin, and me. What if all this strife and turmoil is because ofmychoices? You were right. I was selfish. How could I not eventryto save your little brother and sister?”
