Page 5 of The Heir the Fae Forgot
Shiel, it seemed, was not so quick to welcome this idea.
He glared at me, jaw working. “This is ridiculous. Aurra will stay with me and my men.”
Icarus let out a long, tired sigh as he turned again to the golden-haired lord. “Is Aurra a member of your court, Lord Shiel?” he asked, that same tiredness now seeping into his voice.
“I don’t know yet, but—”
“But then, what, Lord Shiel? Are you telling me now that it’s customary for other courts to command fae they don’t know to be theirs?”
Shiel floundered for words for a moment before finally straightening himself up. His momentary outburst disappeared behind a stoic, unyielding mask.
“Of course not.”
“Well then,” Icarus said, “I see no reason not to accommodate Aurra’s request. You can, of course, visit her—should the invitation be offered.”
“Invitation? I need an invitation now to visit her? Ibroughther here.”
“Regardless of how she came to be here, as a guest of my court, my protection applies to her as well…even that means I need to protect her fromyou.”
Icarus didn’t remain long enough to see the fury that broke through Shiel’s careful mask. He was gone, as he so often was, before I even had the chance to see where he’d gone.
A slight shiver raced down my spine.
He was more than master of this court, hewasthis court. There was no denying the way he melded into it like the very trees that swayed overhead.
The servants, now tasked with leading us to our quarters, nudged us again, impatience creasing their otherwise inhuman faces. It didn’t look right, the way the emotion tugged at their features.
Shiel, of course, ignored the way they urged him along with Zev and Finch. He strode up to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me close to whisper in the slight space between us.
My heart raced, the memory of the last time he held me soured in the hours that had passed.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
I pulled free of him, but didn’t do him the honor of stepping back. I had no reason to fear him. Not here, not now, not with the way I felt Icarus’ presence still lingering, wrapping around me even in his absence.
“I should be asking you the same,LordShiel,” I hissed back. Only then did I step away, letting the cold air sweep in to replace the heat that burned between us.
He licked his lips, his square jaw once again clenching as he struggled to hold back whatever it was he wished to spit back out at me. But then he stopped, his breaths evened, and he seemed to once again remember where he was. Who he was.
“Just promise me, then,” he said, “promise me you’ll be careful. Stay away from Icarus, for my sake. He can’t be trusted.”
“Trust?” I let out a guffaw. “You’re one to speak oftrust.”
It was my turn to measure him up. “No,” I said, the word hitting him like a brick aimed squarely at the middle of his chest. It was so unexpected that he actually stumbled back half a step as he struggled to register it. “No,” I repeated again, “I’ll make no such promise.”
I left him there, like that.
And this time, I felt no guilt at the look of betrayal on his face.
CHAPTERTHREE
True to Icarus’word, I was safe in the guest room he sent me to—even from the fae who’d first rescued me.
I’d been led by the impatient creature of a servant into the highest reaches of the dark fae’s forest domain, up until that leafy canopy was nearly close enough for me to reach out and brush my fingers against. The rest of the court wound down below me, the streets disappearing beneath wide-leafed trees shading the darkest recesses lit only by the tiny tinkling lights and the glow of far-off mushrooms.
It was impossible to tell how large the court actually was, since it spreadupas well asout.It was, I supposed, akin to a kind of fortress, a castle made of trees and roots instead of stone and mortar.
And also like a fortress, no matter how Shiel tried, he was unable to force his way in.
