Page 16 of The Heir the Fae Forgot
It should have made me wary of trusting anything to do with the Wildness court, but instead, it only made me reach out for the servant’s hand to take it.
I didn’t want to be the next fae swinging at the end of Icarus’ rope.
* * *
There wasno end to the mystery of the court of the Wildness.
The moment Shiel had taken the servants hand, too, we’d simplyappearedsomewhere else. There was no moment in between, no travelling, not even the stir of a breeze. We were simply on the stairs outside of my room one moment, and the next, we were here, in the very midst of Icarus’ courtroom.
This place where the fae of the Wildness held court was a room that had been built—or rather, grown—to look like it was in the deepest parts of his forest. The outer edges of the room encircled us in what I was able to quickly guess was the inside of the one of the great trees that grew through the center of the court. Smaller trees sprouted between the throne and the outer walls, more seats and hammocks formed from the roots and branches. Elegantly dressed fae clustered around these, their eyes turning to look at us as we appeared, only to glance away just as quickly. There were no lingering looks now. Even the fae closest to Icarus feared him.
More impressive than this indoor forest, however, was the throne that sprouted from its center. The greatest tree of all grew from floor to ceiling, its branches twisted into an elaborate, dark throne.
The silence that had fallen over the council at the sight of us was broken only by the trickle of dark water that ran in deep grooves alongside either side of the throne. The water split at the bottom, spread out amongst winding rivulets that branched out along the uneven ground towards the outer edges of the room . It created the illusion of a glittering system of roots stretching out from the base of Icarus’s throne.
There was no sign of the false sky here, no floating lanterns. The only source of light came from torches sprouted from the trees, the fire in them willingly tempting fate.
Just as we had, and still were, the moment we agreed to enter Icarus’ domain.
I spotted Finch sitting closer to the throne than any of the rest of the court dared today. He’d chosen a swing made of dark, curling vines for his seat. The moment he saw me, his legs stopped their gentle sway and began pumping excitedly until he was swinging so furiously back and forth that Zev had to reach out a hand to stop him before he swung straight up into the ceiling.
The rest of the council was here, but its lord, Icarus himself, was conspicuously absent.
Only here, in the relative safety away from Icarus’ gaze, did the fae of his court start to watch us once again. Even as Finch continued trying to swing despite Zev’s hand on the vines that held him, and with Shiel’s stiff form standing at my side, it was me their gazes lingered on. Before, when the fae of the Wildness stared so unabashedly, they stared at all of us. We were all strangers to this court, to this world that had begun to feel more like a prison than its own small kingdom, but Icarus’ actions had cemented me as a curiosity among curiosities. The message he’d sent had turned me into a target as much as it had ensured my safety.
Now the whole court looked at me as a threat, not simply a stranger.
Who was I, that their lord would sacrifice so many to simply send a message that I was not to be touched? I doubted he would have done the same had it been even Shiel, a rival lord, who the female had made her attempt on.
But then, again, Shiel never would have found himself in my position. None of them would.
My skin burned at the reminder of my weakness among them, at the disadvantage I faced to not have been born into a court as the rest of them had, but to be walking into this world an entire lifetime behind. I was without knowledge, but more than that, I was without power. I’d heard no end to the talk of this ‘glamour returning’, but the fae had access to some power before. Zev had let that slip, and then Finch too, when he turned into a bird to sneak into my rooms. They had ways to protect themselves that I did not.
At least, not yet. Not while the fae that were my so-called protectors continued to protect me from a truth that would put me in a position to no longer need them.
Finch, alone, it seemed was oblivious to this new position we found ourselves in. Oblivious or willfully ignorant. He kept trying to kick Zev away from where he bound him, the frustration only growing on his face as the other fae refused to so much as acknowledge his attempts.
“Come now,” Finch said, finally turning to me. He nodded down to his lap and wiggled his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t you like to take a ride? I promise, I make a more than adequate steed.”
“Stop, Finch,” Shiel growled, his voice sounding too loud between these trees. Even as he kept his voice low, I saw more faces swivel towards us. Watching. Listening. Waiting.
“What? Just jealous you didn’t think to pick so perfect a seat to invite our fair Princ—”
“I said,stop.”
This time, at least, Finch listened. He followed Shiel’s glare and finally saw the eyes boring into us and managed to clamp his mouth shut before he blurted out his damning pet name for me.
Now, thanks to the both of them, my ears burned forotherreasons.
“What’s going on?” Finch asked, still somehow oblivious. “Has something happened?”
That’s when it hit me. Finch didn’t know about the bodies, about the murder that Icarus had committed on my behalf.
I didn’t know if it mattered, if even that would still the way his body ached to move, to fight off the bonds of propriety that might somehow stop him from behaving like an absoluteassat any given moment.
Just as Shiel was leaning in to whisper something to the both of them, we heard a shift in the court. It was subtle at first, a change in the air, in the rustle of the leaves and the quiet trickle of the water making its course down the throne tree to spread out beneath our feet. Then I felt the shift in a different way as the eyes that had glued themselves to us began to shift too, moving to look upward until every face in the throne room looked to the same place.
Not to the throne, but to the place above it.
