Crown of Shadows (Court of Midnight and Deception #1) - K. M. Shea Page 0,20

the mental gymnastics. But yeah, I would rather be on my way to any other Court besides the Night Court.”

“As much as it pains me to say this, your natural reluctance will help you survive in your new life.”

“That, and my stubbornness,” I agreed.

Even though this was the opposite of everything I had worked for, I wasn’t just going to flop over and give up. Heck no.

I would survive with the tenacity of a cockroach.

Because that’s what this was going to be—a fight for survival. And since it was my life on the line, there was no way I was going to lose.

I mean, I was pretty fond of living, but Mom had already had her heart broken by one fae. There was no way I was going to let this pushy Court hurt her again.

“Are you certain there’s no way out of this?” I asked the Paragon one last time. “I can’t believe there isn’t some ancient bylaw made in case the night mares picked an incapable ruler—or even just a national law that could give me the right to refuse.”

The Paragon shook his head. “No such law exists—to my knowledge. In any fae Court, once you are made ruler, you stay the ruler until the day you die. It’s why coups among the various Courts can get…bloody.”

I’d done some research in my week, so the news didn’t surprise me, but it was still crushing to hear. I absently rubbed my aching chest. “Okay. Thank you.” I glanced out the window—watching as cornfields and the occasional thicket of trees were gradually replaced with more and more houses. We were nearly to Magiford.

The Paragon pushed his glasses up to rest them on the top of his head. “When we get to the mansion, your Court is going to be waiting for you like a flock of vultures. It’s technically tradition, but since you are an unknown entity to them it’s your first impression on them, and their first chance to politically attack you.”

“They sound friendly.”

“The fact that you are already queen will help you,” the Paragon said. “Even more so that it was the night mares who bound you—they haven’t chosen a ruler that way in over a century. It’s very rare and considered to be a great honor.”

“It’s an honor I could do without,” I said.

I had spent more time with the night mares over the past few days—between my practice sessions with the Drakes who mercilessly drilled me until I could be called a fair shot—trying to sort through my mess of emotions. It just about destroyed me that they’d made me queen, but somehow, as I petted their dull coats and laughed when they lipped my hair, I couldn’t bring myself to hate them.

The Paragon adjusted his ring, popping the bubble of magic that surrounded us. “Given that we have almost arrived, my offer is rather late, but are you comfortable? Do you want music on, or more air conditioning? I’d offer you tea, but I’m afraid to report that your driver has a lead foot—isn’t that right, Azure?”

The naiad—gorgeous with her blue tinted skin and the faintest brush of opalescent scales across her forehead and dusted across her high cheekbones—didn’t even blink in acknowledgment.

I, however, was majorly distracted by the bomb the Paragon had just dropped. “Wait, my driver?”

“Indeed. Azure is under your employment, and this is one of the cars that belongs to the monarch of the Night Court. As queen you inherit it all: the mansion in Magiford, the luxury condo in Chicago, the lake house in northern Wisconsin, the cars, the stables, the Night Realm and the palace there, everything in the treasury—all of it.”

I stared at the Paragon, my brain already crashing.

“I made an inspection of your inheritance in the months between Queen Nyte’s death and the day the night mares were set loose. I didn’t want anyone squirreling anything away from you—as has occasionally happened in Courts with outside inheritance like the Night Court,” the Paragon grimly said.

“I’m going to have employees,” I said, a new kind of dread building in me.

“Yes, of course. You have your officials and advisors. But there are also the maids, the stable employees, a few accountants, gardeners, guards, and the rest,” the Paragon casually listed.

“I’m twenty-two. How on earth am I supposed to manage all of them? Do I have an HR department?”

“HR? Goodness, no. They are under your rule.”

“That’s even worse.” I rubbed my eyes and tried to keep my spirits up. “I knew