Keeper of Storms (The Fallen Fae #3) - Jenna Wolfhart Page 0,26
was the problem. They had not found enough.
“Seven potatoes, Your Grace,” the farmer finally said with a wince. “And we ate two of them on our return journey.”
“Please,” the other said, his voice wavering. “Do not send us to the dungeons. We were so hungry, Your Highness.”
Lorcan fought the urge to shudder. They’d found nothing. A few potatoes might feed a family, but only for a few days. This was the third set of farmers he’d sent out into the Misty Wastes to find food. The others had come back with a couple of carts, but even that hadn’t been enough.
There were thousands of hungry mouths to feed.
Sighing, he braced an arm on his knee. “I’m not going to send you to the dungeons for filling your stomachs. If I punished every fae inside this city who was hungry, there’d be no one left. Including me.” Lorcan waved at the dirt-caked sack hanging from the farmer’s hands. “Keep those. Feed yourselves with it for as long as you can.”
The farmer wet his lips. “But how will you find more food for everyone else?”
“I will find a way,” Lorcan said, glancing at Priest Tighe, who stood in the back corner. “My father may not have cared for the fae of Findius, but I do. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you alive.”
9
Reyna
Rhain shoved her onto the bench and dropped the tankard onto the warped wooden table. He settled into the seat across from her, lacing his fingers beneath his chin. Those glittering clear eyes raked across her face. She glared at him. Her fisted hands trembled in her lap.
“You came looking for me, and yet you look like you want nothing more than to run away,” he finally said, barking out a laugh.
“Oh, there are many things I wish I could do right now. Run away is not one of them,” she said with a hiss.
The laughter died. “Careful there, love. You’re in enemy territory. Last time I checked, the ice fae wanted to kill us all. And vice versa.”
“Then why are you sitting here talking to me?” she snapped.
“Hmm.” He took a sip of his whiskey. “Curiosity, mostly. You came here to find me. Why?”
Reyna clutched the bench beneath her, her heart throbbing. Duff had not mentioned the airgead. Likely, he hadn’t realized he needed to warn her about that. They’d all planned to come here together. He was going to do the talking, the negotiating. There would have been no need for coin.
There was little she could do now to salvage this. Might as well be honest.
“A friend of mine told me you might be able to help me with something,” she finally said.
He arched a thin, white brow. “Who’s this friend?”
“His name is Duff.” Was. She fought the urge to correct herself.
“Duff?” Rhain’s gaze intensified. “Duff Currall?”
“I don’t know his surname.”
“I thought you said he’s your friend?”
“He is.” She closed her eyes, her leg bouncing from the sheer tension in the room. “He never told me his surname. I met him in Oxgrove.”
“Huh.” Rhain crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. His head rested neatly between two of the battered shields. “I didn’t know Oxgrovians were in the business of making friends with ice fae.”
“They’re not typical wood fae, and you know it,” Reyna said. “They have no loyalties to this realm.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, love. They’re loyal to this realm. Just not to our king.” He leaned forward, bracing his arms on the table, one on each side of his tankard. “He must have wanted you to ask me about the army. Is that it?”
She pursed her lips, but then nodded.
“You know, most fae who want to sneak into the army do it because the wood king wouldn’t let them join when they volunteered.” He took another sip of the whiskey. “He called them too weak, too young, too old, too thin. They want to prove themselves to him so that he doesn’t drink the blood of their families. He tends to pick the ones who displease him.”
“What a lovely reason to serve,” Reyna said dryly.
Rhain shrugged. “Not my place to judge. They have to do what they need to do in order to save their families. Which begs the question…why do you want in?”
“I hate the shadow fae,” she lied. “The Ice Court is too busy with northern politics. This is the only way I can fight them.”