clearing. Rourke motioned to Kael, who was near the front. He shook his head, a signal that we should move no further.
“Does it bother you that you’re about to fight your own Court?” I asked.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter now if everyone knows, not after what we’re about to do this day.” Rourke gripped the reins tighter in his hands. “I’ve always been against Marin’s assassination. For several years, I joined the rebels. I left when I realized they were making no true difference to the fate of the Courts. I thought I could perhaps make more of an impact at the Academy instead. Make things better. Like they used to be.”
“You? A rebel? But you’re so...”
“Yes?” He arched an eyebrow. “What is it that I am, Norah?”
“Well, you seem like the kind of person who’s a stickler for the rules.”
“I am when it counts.”
In the distance came the sound of galloping hooves. Kael let out a low whistle and flicked his hand in a series of signals that he’d drilled into our heads before we’d left the Academy. We were supposed to spread out now, archers hiding behind the trees in the back while the swords in the front formed a line the Autumn fae would not be able to cross.
With a shaky breath, I nocked my arrow and did my best to hold it steady before me. At any minute, Autumn fae would charge into the clearing, and I’d loose my first shot. It was a battle that might very well be the first of many to come. We were starting something here. Something that could lead to war, but there was no escaping it. Not if we wanted to survive.
Three horses charged into the clearing and slowed. Redmond, who had escaped during the assassination attempt against Alwyn, sat in the middle with a mangy-haired fae hidden just behind him. The other two horses were manned by fae soldiers, their golden eyes blank and emotionless.
“Good afternoon, changeling warriors,” he called out. “I assume you’re wondering why I’ve ridden out to meet you instead of charging into battle against your pitiful army.”
Frowning, I glanced at Rourke. His eyebrows were furrowed as his focus intensified on Redmond. The Autumn fae was up to something, and I had a feeling we weren’t going to like whatever it was.
“Just spit it out, Redmond,” Alwyn said coolly from where she stood at the front of the pack.
He turned her way and shook his head. “It truly is a shame that an Autumn fae such as yourself would be so bold as to attack your own kind.”
“That’s pretty rich coming from you,” she countered. “If I’m remembering correctly—and I am—you were the one who attempted to assassinate me in my own home.”
“My apologies.” He gave a sarcastic half-bow. “Merely a means to an end.”
“What do you want, Redmond?”
He snapped his fingers at the fae warrior to his right. “I’m here to make a trade. A simple transaction. If you agree, then we will cease all attacks on your Academy.”
Rourke stiffened. He leaned forward and whispered something into his horse’s ear. And then his horse slowly began to edge in front of me.
The movement caught Redmond’s eyes. His gaze flicked through the red-and-orange brush until it zeroed right in on me. “Ah. There she is.”
Alwyn twisted her head to see who he was talking about. Alarm flittered across her golden features. “No, Redmond. I’m not giving you one of my changelings, no matter what you offer in return.”
“You won’t give me one of your changelings?” He arched an eyebrow and pointed a long and slender finger at me. “Or you won’t give me that one?”
I frowned.
What the hell is going on?
Was he really that angry that he hadn’t gotten the chance to question me about Bree? That didn’t make any sense. He’d gotten her, after all. He no longer needed me to tell him where she was, so why was his focus on me?
“You’re not getting any of them,” Alwyn said. “And that includes Norah.”
“Just think,” he said as he slid to the ground. The mangy fae who had been hiding behind him still had her back turned our way, and one of the fae warriors began to help her down from the horse. “If you hand Norah over to us, none of your other changelings will have to die. There are how many of them here? Roughly thirty? Think about it, Alwyn. You’re an intelligent fae. What is one life compared to thirty?”
“We need