by Skye Horn
“Let me be the one who takes Ainé’s place.” Her voice shook, making Thea’s heart clench. “Maybe I can save our father while I’m there. Maybe I can show him we don’t have to be these creatures of hate…”
Thea could see the hope in her sister’s eyes, but she doubted anyone could save Malachi.
“And if Ainé wants us dead?” Thea asked, surprising herself as she even considered this plan. She couldn’t help the part of her that believed Amara deserved to serve time for her crimes. She wanted to trust her sister, but how could she ever do that? This would be the most selfless act that Amara had ever committed, so maybe if Thea allowed her to do it there would be a chance for redemption after all.
“Then we pick a side,” Kieran breathed. “If Ainé wants us dead because we are no longer willing to follow her… then perhaps we were on the wrong side to begin with.”
Thea could hear the anger beneath his tone and wanted to reach out to comfort him, but she didn’t. She feared the shadows flickering behind his eyes.
I’ll be waiting for you and my Son of Darkness.
Was this what Morrigan had alluded to? The Goddess had offered Thea protection and practically claimed Kieran was one of her cursed kin, but Thea wasn’t sure that protection extended to the rest of her companions. And could she and Kieran really side with the Goddess of Death?
If it meant keeping the rest of them alive, she thought. Yes, we could.
Thea swallowed that truth with difficulty. Could it really have been only a few hours ago that she was so sure they would stop Morrigan? Now they were debating joining her? For what? Free will? Thea imagined herself begging for the human lives, trying to reach that part of Morrigan who had loved Gabriel, but she imagined it had died long ago—which meant they were on their own for the time being.
“You’re actually considering this plan?” Declan said, looking between Amara and Thea. “You’re going to send her into a magical prison? She’s your sister.”
“She deserves it,” Haven said, glaring at Amara, who shrunk back again. “Do you even remember my mother, Amara?”
Thea looked between them with a frown.
“Your father told you to set an example of her. She was human, and you tossed her to the merrow. I watched you laugh as she screamed for mercy.”
The knot in Thea’s stomach tightened as she watched Amara’s face grow paler.
“I… I’m sorry,” Amara said, but Haven was already lunging for her. Thea had felt the tension between them all day, but she’d never imagined this would be the reason. Kieran was on his feet within seconds, blocking Haven from getting any closer to Amara. His hand was on his sword, but he did not remove it from its sheath.
“Stand down,” he demanded, and Thea could hear the order behind the words. He was no longer just speaking to Haven; he was speaking to a fellow soldier. “Stand. Down.”
By the second time he said the words, Haven had taken a step back. Her eyes darted to meet Thea’s and a wave of shame crept over her face.
“Dammit,” she breathed out and turned for the door.
“Haven!” Thea jumped up to run after her, grabbing her quivering hand. “Don’t go.”
“I can’t be here. Not with her.”
“I understand that feeling,” Thea said. “I do, but I need you here. I need my Guard.”
The words were pleading, but she saw the reaction in Haven’s eyes. It was one thing for Thea to ask her to stay as a friend, but it was another to need her there as the head of her Guard. Thea knew what that meant to Haven from the minute she’d asked her to join her.
“She’s right,” Kieran spoke in a tone of complete calm. “You are the head of her Guard now. You can’t run away when things get uncomfortable.” He glanced at Thea, the haunting of guilt and regret returning to his eyes.
“Take it from someone who knows,” he continued. His eyes never left Thea’s as he spoke, but Haven seemed to hear the words loud and clear. She pushed a breath past her lips as she looked between them and then nodded her head in response.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll stay.”
Thea let out a heavy breath and hugged her friend, surprising both of them. Then she looked at Kieran and mouthed “thank you” before turning her attention back to the rest of the room. Declan and Amara stood watching the exchange, but Amara had backed herself into the farthest corner of the room, looking like a rabbit in a trap.
“She’s my sister,” Thea said, returning to what Declan had said. “Which is why she didn’t pay for her crimes with her life.”
Amara winced, but Thea leveled her eyes on her, trying to recall how a queen should act in a situation like this. She wished she had something to base her actions on, but this was completely unfamiliar territory for her.
“Are you sure about this, Amara?” she asked, her voice lightening just a little.
“Yes.” Amara’s response came immediately, and she held her chin a little higher. “I want to prove that I’m on your side, and if that means being locked up with our psychotic father, then that’s what I’ll do.”
“We have no idea how long it will take us to get you out,” Kieran said, looking at his cousin with a strange admiration. “You could be stuck there forever if we never figure it out.”
“Then that will be the sentence I pay,” she said, her eyes drifting over to Haven. “I’ve killed more than enough people to deserve that.”
Thea couldn’t disagree. In fact, it seemed no one in the room could disagree. Amara’s decision would hurt Iris, but Thea prayed that Iris would understand. Plus, this was Amara’s choice to make. Thea would not force her to sacrifice herself, no matter how much she deserved it.
“Then we will open the portal.” Dread prickled between Thea’s shoulder blades. “And if we are right, Amara will take the place of Ainé.”
“And if we’re wrong?” Declan asked, sounding hopeful that all of this was some terribly played-out joke.
“Then I guess we won’t have anything to worry about.” Thea shrugged, sitting back on the bed with her hands on her knees. “The question is, how do I keep from losing control of my magic before we get that doorway open? We can’t have Ainé knowing what we plan to do.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Kieran said, but he didn’t meet Thea’s eyes. “I’ll accompany you back to Ivandor and make sure you don’t lose control.”
“You really think you can keep her in control?” Declan glared. It appeared their teamwork only existed if Thea was going to sacrifice herself. “Last I checked, you were the reason she lost control of her magic.”
“And you weren’t?” Haven asked, humor creeping its way back into her voice. “After Ainé made you kiss her she practically died.”
“No more fighting,” Thea groaned, rubbing her temples. “That definitely won’t help me.”
“Kieran can keep her in control if he refrains from losing control himself,” Haven said with a shrug. “But we have one other problem.”
“Oh, great! What’s that?” Thea met her friend’s steady gaze.
“Your council expects you to come back with a marriage proposal.”
The males in the room stiffened, and Thea thought the tension might actually crackle through the air if it lasted any longer. She felt it too, the weight of the marriage proposal returning to her shoulders. The binding tie of the kingdoms that existed between her and Declan was enough to make every muscle in her body tighten ominously.
“Then we will give them a marriage proposal,” Declan said. He met Thea’s eyes with a look of determination.
“You’re not marrying her,” Kieran growled before Declan could say anything else. He stepped in front of Thea as if she were in physical danger of being hurt by Declan’s words.
“You’re right,” Declan responded, holding his hands up in surrender as Kieran towered over him. He stood slowly, so they were eye-level. “But they don’t need to know that.”
“Wait—” Thea twisted to peek around Kieran’s wings, stari
ng at Declan in disbelief. “You want to pretend we are getting married?”
“Exactly,” he smirked. “Neither of us wants to get married, right? Well, if we pretend to be taking this marriage thing seriously, it will keep them off our backs long enough to get Ainé out of the prison realm. Then, once Morrigan is no longer a threat, there will be no need to unite our kingdoms anymore.”
Thea didn’t imagine her High Council would see it that way. Even if they managed to stop Morrigan, the council would still want a powerful alliance between Gimmerwich and Ivandor. Perhaps they’d settle for a friendship, she thought. It was a long shot, but if it meant neither of them had to marry someone they didn’t love, it might be worth it.
“How are we going to fool two councils into thinking we are suddenly okay with getting married?” Thea asked.
“I don’t think we need to fool them into thinking we are in love. I think we just need to fool them into thinking we would do anything for our kingdoms.”
“Which I would,” Thea corrected, but Declan only shrugged.
“Would you marry me then, Thea?”
She swallowed back her immediate denial, unable to answer as she watched the crimson warmth creeping up the back of Kieran’s neck.
“Exactly,” Declan continued. “So, we fake it until we figure something else out. We can’t have the entire council watching our every move if we are going to pull this plan off.”
“But again, what if Ainé isn’t on our side?” Thea asked, looking at them all.
“We assume she won’t be,” Kieran said quietly, looking angry at the turn this plan was taking.
“And we join the dark side.” Haven raised an invisible glass to the air in a toast.
“If it means I get my free will back, maybe the dark side won’t be so bad,” Declan murmured, and Kieran nodded in agreement.
“One thing at a time,” Thea sighed. Too many things could go wrong with this plan, just like every other plan they’d ever had, but at least she wasn’t alone this time.
“First, we get you home to Ivandor,” Declan said. “Iris will be there and you’ll be able to open the portal—but it will have to be Amara who goes in, instead of you. Otherwise, we don’t know if we will get you back out.”
He glanced at Amara, as if waiting for an argument, but she only sat with her fingers folded across each other in her lap, staring down at her hands. Thea assumed Amara was doing her best to hide how she really felt about this plan—terrified. Guilt wracked Thea from the inside out. Amara was the same age as Mica, a child whom Thea should try to protect, but instead Thea was allowing her to decide her own fate.
She’d become the worst sister of the year, but probably the best future queen Ivandor could ask for.
“When you say we…” Kieran began, lifting an eyebrow at Declan.
“I mean I’m coming with you. I can’t exactly let my fiancée return to her kingdom without so much as a personal escort, right?”
It was clear Kieran had hoped that Thea not going into the prison realm meant they no longer needed Declan to come along, but if they were going to pull this off, he would have to.
“We can tell them you want to see Ivandor, since you’re going to be living there for the rest of your life.” Thea chewed on the chapped skin of her bottom lip, having a hard time wrapping her mind around everything that was about to go down.
“I have one other concern,” Amara spoke quietly from her place on the edge of the bed. “The last time we used Thea’s blood to open the portal, it tied her to Morrigan. What happens if she becomes tied to Ainé as well?”
“It would make sense that Ainé would want me to be the one who took her place if that was the case… so I guess we should just let that happen. I’ll be an easy fix to taking both Goddesses down in that situation.” Thea laughed but no one else did.
“If this binds Thea to both Goddesses, then neither of them will want her dead,” Declan said in awed shock.
“Which means they’d do whatever I wanted to keep themselves alive.” Thea felt hope clawing its way into her heart. If she had control over the two Goddesses, then maybe she could end this feud for good. Sure, she was tired of being a pawn in their game, but if she could use the blood connection to her advantage, then maybe they’d survive this.
“Or they’ll break the bond and kill you for it,” Kieran added.
“I guess we will just have to wait and find out.” Thea looked at them all—her friends, her new family. She had Haven, her loyal-to-a-fault guard who hid all traces of fear from her face; and Amara, a sister willing to endure an eternity of imprisonment for this plan to succeed; and then there was Kieran, and Declan.
What exactly are you going to do about them? she wondered. They stood staring at each other with sheer determination to make sure she stood strong and steadfast against the challenges to come, but there was something more to it than that. She didn’t want to think about that, though, not yet, because thinking about her doomed relationship with Kieran or proposed fake marriage to Declan just made her feel like she was losing control.
“So, it’s five Fae against two all-powerful Goddesses,” Haven said in her usual amused tone, although it contained a darker note to it now. “What could go wrong?”
Chapter 24
By the next morning, Thea assumed the weight of exhaustion chained around her neck would be permanent. She’d spent the entire night tossing and turning due to the gruesome nightmares of the bloody deaths of herself and her companions.
Ethel was awake before Thea, and was already preparing a warm bath by carrying in buckets of heated water. Thea wanted to tell her it would be easier if she just used magic, but restrained herself, knowing it helped Ethel to stay busy—even though she looked just as tired as Thea felt.
“Can you explain to me again why Kieran was here last night?” Ethel asked.
Thea had spent an hour telling Ethel and Mica that they would leave before midday today. Mica had accepted without argument and never pushed for more details than she gave him. However, Ethel watched Thea with growing looks of suspicion for the rest of the night.
You need to keep her safe, Thea reminded herself more than once when she felt guilty for being dishonest. The fewer people knew about their real plan, the better. Plus, it wasn’t that she didn’t trust Ethel. It was a matter of who would suffer the consequences of knowing the truth if this plan went to hell. Thea hadn’t been able to keep Amara safe from this madness, but she could at least attempt to keep Ethel and Mica sheltered for now.
“I freaked him out after nearly drowning. So he wanted to check up on me,” Thea half-lied. It was true Kieran had returned to check up on her, at least at first, but he hadn’t stayed because he worried she’d try killing herself again. Kieran had offered to stay with her for the night, to which she’d whispered “absolutely inappropriate” in the security of the outer corridor as Ethel eavesdropped from behind the closed door. It had taken a quarter of an hour, but Thea had finally convinced Kieran that sleeping in the same bedroom with her wouldn’t help her and Declan’s fake proposal look legitimate.
Ethel didn’t appear convinced and had been asking questions ever since, especially after Thea’s thrashing nightmares during the night had kept them both in a state of unrest. Thea had explained to both Ethel and Mica that Kieran and Amara would travel back to Ivandor with them. She’d also let them in on the fake proposal. It was a sliver of truth in a web of guilty lies that Thea had spun.
“I just don’t understand why he has to come,” Ethel complained as Thea tugged her night shirt over her head and climbed into the warm tub. A sense of nervousness trembled across her skin. The last time she’d been in this tub, Ainé had contacted her, and she’d nearly died. Thea’s rational side reminded her that her magic had been out of control that night, but she couldn’t shake the chill that trembled down her spine as the water reached her neck. She didn’t dare put her head under the surface. “He’s been awful to you.”
“Are you sur
e this is about me?” Thea asked timidly. “It’s okay to be angry with him too, you know.”
Ethel sighed and poured warm water over Thea’s hair before placing a few drops of scented oils in the water. The smell of lavender and lemon wafted through the steam, meeting Thea’s nostrils pleasantly, and her muscles relaxed, at least for the moment.
“I’m just confused,” Ethel admitted.
Thea scrubbed the grime of the day before from her skin, thinking of how different the world she lived in now was from the one she’d grown up in. She missed indoor plumbing and hot showers that she could stand under for as long as she wanted, but realized that she wouldn’t trade any of Faerie for even a tiny piece of her old life. Everything about her life here felt right. These moments with Ethel and the others had become worth more to her than she could have imagined months ago.
“He did what he thought was best for Ivandor,” Thea mumbled, looking at Ethel. “I don’t believe he meant to hurt you, but I’m sorry he did.”
The apology was genuine. Thea felt horrible for the way Kieran had left not only herself, but the other people in his life too. However, after hearing his confessions over these past few days, she understood his reasoning now more than she had before—even if she didn’t agree with all of those reasons.
“So, you will really lie to Queen Ismara?” Ethel whispered. Thea doubted anyone could hear them in the privacy of her bedroom, but secrecy was key in this plan, so she only nodded as a response.
Ethel let out a breath of air, shaking her head in amazement. She grabbed a towel and held it up for Thea. Chilly air crept across Thea’s damp skin as she climbed out of the tub, but the warmth of the fabric wrapping around her body calmed her shiver.
“It was Declan’s idea.” Thea shrugged. She knew how crazy it sounded, but Declan was right. The councils would not stop until they formed a union between the two kingdoms. So, until they found another way, they’d have to at least attempt to fool everyone while putting off the wedding for as long as possible.
