King Illario’s interpreter, the only fae in his party apparently not related to me, did not appear offended as if it had been decided long before they arrived that he would be so easily dismissed.

I thought Hessia and Elverstone were getting along. It had sounded that way from my mother’s story, but they were definitely not getting along now. King Ilario had intended to bring the question of my heritage up, and only substituting one eligible option among the fae he brought to do the reading should his concern be taken seriously.

What he meant to achieve by it was anyone’s guess. Withholding information? Being the one to control the meeting? Had he planned on somehow using this gathering in his own interest?

He had no love for me, that’s for sure.

“And I do not trust your son,” King Ilario pointed out.

“Would anyone care to explain the holdup?” Rothian gritted his teeth. “I don’t care who does the bloody reading as long as it doesn’t take up more of my time.”

“You should care more,” King Ilario said. “For a father to make a reading on his daughter is never impartial. For the same reasons none of my family may execute the task.”

Shock flickered across King Rothian’s features, and he appeared less nonchalant then. Way less nonchalant. Shrouded in darkness, he looked worried. “What you’re saying is that you’ve committed treason by keeping an inter-courts child a secret from the rest of the courts. A royal child.”

“If you think that’s brought our courts closer together, you’re wrong,” Prince Nefari countered calmly. “If anything, we’ve never stood more divided.”

“It was agreed upon to prohibit such relations and yet I stand before a Vindican king mated to a naturel with a daughter that is more mixed than anyone alive should be allowed to be. This meeting should be held about your crimes, not mine.”

“If you think your court has not committed the same treason, you are blind to your subjects’ misbehaving and should be dethroned as we speak,” Grath’s angry voice boomed over the rest in the throne room.

How dare he put Karmuth in the middle of this! How dare he use his own son as a weapon!

“My court does not sleep with an enemy!” King Rothian shouted.

I took a step back. I wanted to go back to Karmuth, but I didn’t want to draw more attention to either of us. I was unfamiliar with the proceedings of dealing with mixed-blood fae, but it didn’t sound like anything I’d enjoy going through.

Looking back at Karmuth made me realise he held no such high self-preservation. While his eyes were narrowed and lips drawn into a tight line, the tension in his body suggested he was barely holding himself back his anger. He would place himself between me and anything that might harm me without hesitation.

“Interesting, because I could have sworn my mother was a Felrothian,” Karmuth drawled out as he stepped off the podium to join me between the raging courts.

I saw him sharing eye contact with Grath before he moved and disliked my stepfather a little bit more than before. How I managed to hate him and yet consider him better than the rest of the royals was beyond me.

“I’ve got her skills to prove it,” he continued, “as do I have the skills of my Vindican father and Hessian grandfather. I’m proof that your court has faltered at least twice. We are not here to question the bloodlines, Your Majesty. We are indeed here to shed light into your court’s crimes. Our court’s, if I may be so forward.”

“What are you doing?” I hissed.

While it comforted me greatly to not be standing on my own against these bickering fools, I didn’t want my ease to come from the account of his welfare.

He’d sacrificed himself enough for me when I was being tortured. Revealing himself like this served no purpose other than to anger King Rothian further, and the Felrothian king was already fuming, with visual effects and all.

“I will not let you stand judged all on your own, Isay,” he whispered close to my ear so that only I heard him through the shout of King Rothian’s denial.

“Preposterous lies!”

“I don’t normally agree with Rothian,” King Neprion said in a much calmer tone, “but it is dubious that any amount of Hessian blood flows in the veins of a dark fae even if your grandfather was one of my court.”

“How about we do that reading and find out the truth of it?” Karmuth asked. Even though his voice was steady and his posture held a practised stillness, some of his nerves filtered through our bond. “There shouldn’t be any objections against Prince Nefari doing the one for me since we are not related. Should that be unacceptable, King Ilario’s interpreter will do as well. I have nothing to hide.”

Stupid man. Stupid, selfless, brave man putting himself between me and the conflict. I could strangle him for all the self-preservation he showed.

Didn’t he know that if he hurt himself, it would hurt me too, even if I didn’t feel it physically? If we stuck together, it meant both of us had to take care of ourselves, as well. It seemed that Karmuth considered himself less important, however.

Chapter 51

KARMUTH

I STOOD IN FRONT OF ISAY, HIDING HER FROM THE VIEW OF ALL THE prying eyes in the room. They could point those hateful stares my way all they wanted but not toward Isay. She had done nothing to warrant this response.

Out of every fae in this room, I included, she was the only one I’d entrust with a mixed bloodline and the enhanced power that came with it. I knew for certain if any of them would lay a hand on her, there was nothing stopping me from tapping into the unique power within me and destroying each and every one of them.

The only fae I felt I didn’t have to protect Isay from was Prince Nefari, which was also the reason I’d choosen him for my ecos reading. If he meant no harm to his daughter, he’d mean no harm to me once he found out we were mated.

“Proceed.” King Ilario waved his hand in approval.

Having already stepped out from the formation the rest of his court stood in, it only took Nefari four long strides to stand before me. His curiosity made him try to catch a closer look at Isay behind me, but I shifted to make him face me instead.

“You’ll learn all you need to know about her from me,” I told him quietly, which was when he started taking more interest in me. He didn’t need to read my ecos to come to the conclusions he did.

He smiled at the queen on her throne before looking at me again. “Of course Siya would approve of such a union. Well played. Very well played.”

“Neither the king nor the queen of Vindica had much of a say.”

“I’d imagine not. It’s rarely up to the rulers who we bed. I do doubt they condemned it, however, seeing as you stand between me and my daughter.” The Hessian prince had a glint in his eye that hinted of amusement.

“They called it a powerful pairing. You’ll find out for yourself as to why.” I offered him my hand, and he took it.

Unlike when Isay and I touched without her barrier between us, Prince Nefari’s life force did not immediately jump at me. I’d expected it to, which is why I kept a tight rein on my abilities to save myself from a crime there was no coming back from.

He tsked. “There’s no need for all of that. A practised life fae can keep their ecos contained from any prying forces. Siya should have thought of teaching the princess before bringing her here.”

“She’s found her own methods,” I assured Nefari.

“I’d imagine she’d need to,” he said with a smile before a tug at my life force made my heart momentarily stop. “Stay still, Prince Karmuth, it will be a lot easier not to mess things up if you do.”

The scene from Grath’s study last night already played in front of my wide open eyes. Then the one from the throne room when Isay announced who my grandfather was made Nefari nod in recognition.

“A strong pairing, indeed,” he agreed. “Even if his blood runs cold in you.”

My brows pinched. “His blood doesn’t run—”

“I said stay still,” Nefari reminded me.

I shut my mouth as he kept tugging at my ecos, releasing the strands he’d already gone through back into my pores. He had the decency to skip my night with Isay altogether, which made me like him a little more.

“There it is,” Prince Nefari said louder for the entire audience to hear.

Before my eyes I cradled Isay in her bloody and shredded garments in my arms, carrying her through the corpse-littered warehouse.