don’t we venture out to the gardens to talk? They’re quite lovely this time of year.’
Without waiting for either his agreement or demurral, I turned round and walked out. It took the Winter King a moment or two but he followed, quickly catching up. Thankfully his entourage remained behind although we were hardly alone. Shifters of all sizes appeared, each one clearly wanting to get a glimpse of the Fae King. I spotted a few of the younger women nudging each other as we swept past. It was difficult not to roll my eyes. He’d crush them and fling them aside without even breaking a sweat. He could crush all of us.
I paused at the doorway. As per my instructions, two frames containing photos of Annan and Shah were sitting on a side table. Unscented candles glowed next to them, their flames flickering in the gentle breeze blowing in from outside. I was dicing with danger but it was a far more calculated move than the come-on he’d been getting from those shifters.
I glanced in his direction. ‘I don’t suppose death is much of an issue for you.’
‘We are not mortal like you but we are not immortal either.’ He gave the table a bored look, and appeared entirely unconcerned at his contradictory statement. ‘Are we going outside?’
‘Of course.’ I stepped out ahead of him, sucking the air deep into my lungs. The Winter King, by contrast, was unimpressed.
‘The air here reeks. You humans and your pollution.’
‘We’re not human.’
He reached over and plucked a leaf off a nearby bush and examined it as if it were some bacteria-laden slime. ‘You may as well be. You hide here inside your stone walls and pretend to be the same as all the others native to this demesne.’ He dropped the tiny leaf and it spiralled down to the ground. ‘Enough dancing, Corrigan. You know why I’m here.’
‘It’s Lord Corrigan to you,’ I growled. I pointed to the gazebo up ahead and the walled garden beyond it. ‘We just said goodbye to two of our comrades. Fallen in the line of duty. There’s no dancing going on here, only mourning.’
The Winter King didn’t so much as glance over. Instead, he adjusted his coat, allowing the fur to billow out behind him. Rather than appear impressive, however, he looked more like the star of an Eighties New Romantics’ music video.
‘Why,’ he asked, with ice in his tone, ‘are you looking for changelings?’
I pasted on a look of pure innocence. ‘Oh! You saw our little advertisement?’
‘There was more than one. What game do you think you’re playing?’
I cocked my head. ‘But surely you understand, Your Majesty. Our shifters were killed as a result of your Fae making mischief.’ I emphasised the last word to make it very clear I thought that the last thing their actions had been was mere ‘mischief’. ‘Our Way demands retribution.’ I laughed lightly. ‘We are hardly likely to storm your citadel in Tir-na-nog, however. So we’ll kill two of your changelings to balance things out and everyone will be happy. I’ll even let the fact that another two of mine almost died slide. As a gesture of goodwill. You know, from leader to leader.’
The rage in the Winter King’s face was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Fire burns, but so does ice. It was through sheer will that I held my ground. ‘You will cease your actions immediately or there will be consequences.’
‘No, I won’t.’ My expression hardened, losing its faked smile for the first time since the King’s arrival. ‘Two of mine are dead. I demand recompense.’
‘It was not my Fae who killed them.’
‘Perhaps not,’ I shot back, ‘but it was your Fae who are responsible nonetheless. Meddle in shifter affairs and we will meddle back.’
‘Kill the changelings and we will kill their human counterparts in Tir-na-nog.’
This was where things were going to get risky. I shrugged, going for nonchalance and hoping it would work. ‘Why should I care what happens to a few humans? They breed like rabbits anyway. There’ll be more to take their place soon.’
‘You won’t find them. There are sixty million people in this country. You’ll never find a handful of changelings amongst them.’
My smile returned. ‘Then you have nothing to worry about. Besides, I don’t need a handful. I only need two.’
The Winter King spun round, stalking away from me. Gravel spun up around his feet, indicating his ire. I counted to three, then exulted inwardly when he twisted back. ‘They are children.’
I