Crown of Moonlight (Court of Midnight and Deception #2) - K.M. Shea Page 0,75

Rigel must have used his shadow magic, because he appeared at Fell’s side and pressed a dagger to the monarch’s throat. “We could kill you right now.”

“No one will stop us, either.” I glanced back at the other monarchs, who were all standing as still as stone. I leaned in to whisper to Fell. “That’s the funny thing about being a tyrant—it doesn’t win you friends.”

My purple magic twined around my fingers—active and ready. Rigel’s magic—a pale gray—skated around him, and his eyes seemed extra dark.

“So, tell us, Fell. Is there going to be an annual hunt next year?” I asked.

Fell’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “There will be no more hunt.” He grunted when Rigel’s blade pricked his skin. “It’s abolished.”

I patted Fell’s knee. “Smart choice.”

I stood up and started to turn away, but Fell gurgled, “I’ll pay you back for this, Leila. I’ll see to it—you’re going to crush yourself under your self-righteous behavior.”

“Autumn,” Rigel said in a voice of death. “Do not overstep yourself. I know where you rise and where you sleep. If I come to think of you as a threat to my queen, I will silence you forever.” He glanced up at me. “Perhaps we should just kill him.”

Based on the light of fury in Rigel’s eyes, I didn’t think he was trying to intimidate him.

With his knife balanced on the monarch’s throat, Rigel was asking me for real.

“Nah.” I offered him my hand. “I can’t stand the twerp, but we can’t kill him just for being annoying. If he tries to bully anyone again, though, we’ll need to revisit this talk.”

Rigel looked doubtfully down at Fell. “If you say so.” He leaned in to the Autumn King and whispered something that made Fell turn bone pale.

Then he stood and took my hand, and together we walked under the three o’clock afternoon-night-sky.

I rubbed at the spot on my forehead where the stag had pressed me with his muzzle—it still felt warm.

Rigel glanced at me. “What is it?”

“It’s—”

“Fine,” he finished with me.

I laughed and swung our joint hands, then scooted a little closer to him. “Thanks, Rigel.”

He shrugged.

“It’s not shrug-worthy. Even though I’m furious with Fell, the other Courts deserve it, too. Rime is more powerful than Fell, and she didn’t put him in his place. And if Solis had teamed up with Verdant, I’m pretty sure he could have gotten Fell to back off, too.” I shook my head in disappointment and disbelief. “How can they live with themselves?”

“They have their own Courts to worry about,” Rigel said.

“But why?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it be amazing if we were united together as fae? And if we didn’t invest so much time and effort into political sabotage and ruin?”

Rigel let go of my hand. I thought he was making a statement, but then he lowered his arm over my shoulders. He stopped about halfway through and glanced down at me.

I stepped into his half embrace—which might have been just for acting purposes because Rigel didn’t react at all.

“You should ask them sometime,” Rigel said.

“Who, the other monarchs?”

“Yes.”

“Icky—no thanks.”

“You may find it educational,” Rigel said.

“Or it will fill me with an even bigger desire to knock out Fell’s front teeth. Which, by the way—do you get that feeling around him? That you just need to punch him in the nose, or is that just me?”

“Fell has a very punchable face.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

By the end of our exchange, the meadow had returned to normal. The sky was still more of a dark, dusty blue than its typical bright shade at this time of day, and Skye was looking at it very ponderously, but as far as I was concerned, things had returned to normal.

That was my mistake.

About a week later, I was finishing my magic lesson with Lord Linus when Skye found us.

“Hey Skye.” I glanced at her just long enough to smile before I went back to focusing on my prism. “Is something up? I have just a few more minutes I want to practice—dang it!”

I sighed and stood up when I hit the proverbial wall, and the rate I was channeling my magic through my prism slowed to a crawl. “What is up with this thing?” I shook the prism for emphasis.

Lord Linus narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin. “The prism is definitely the problem,” he said. “You were fine on the dozen other artifacts we tried.”

“I’m not resonating with it like I need to—even though it was the only one that responded when I was supposed