“Celine is the daughter of the most powerful lady of the Summer Court. A member of its gentry.”
Odette’s arms cross. She begins pacing, her brow set with incredulity. “Why has Celine been kept apart from her mother for all these years?”
“Lady Silla made a promise to Celine’s mortal father that none of her kind would approach their daughter until Celine’s eighteenth birthday,” Jae says.
I frown. “If that is the case, why has Lady Silla breached this agreement? I thought bargains in the Vale were sacrosanct.”
Soft laughter falls from Arjun’s lips as he sends me a rueful smile.
Jae looks at Arjun and then returns his attention to me. “This is the true magic of the Sylvan Vale. Once they find a way to manipulate the language of a promise, they are able to do as they please. It is why Lady Silla wishes for you to bring Celine to the Vale of her own free will. If Celine crosses into the Otherworld by choice, then Lady Silla has not violated the promise she made to Celine’s father.”
Clever. I almost laugh as Arjun did.
“I told you,” Arjun says. “Those in the Vale are far more duplicitous than those in the Wyld. Do not be fooled by the sunny skies and the fragrant food and delectable drinks. Death lurks in every corner.”
I push off the paneled wall and walk toward Jae, my mind humming with questions. When I nearly collide with Odette—who has not stopped pacing since she discovered the truth of Celine’s parentage—a thought occurs to me. “Odette.”
She halts midstep and turns. The instant she sees my face, she understands what I want to ask.
“I know you dislike telling those closest to you about their futures,” I begin, “but—”
“I do hate it,” Odette interjects, though her words are not unkind. “But after what happened with Nigel, I haven’t been able to shake the notion that I might have prevented it, if only I hadn’t been so afraid.”
“Afraid?” Hortense asks. “When have you ever been afraid of anything, sorcière blanche?”
“I’ve always been afraid of this power,” Odette says simply. “The thing I feared most was that I would bear witness to the death of someone I love and be unable to prevent it. That is the real reason I don’t bother to look. I . . . couldn’t bear it.”
“I know you gazed into Celine’s future the night you first met,” I say. “Will you not tell me what you saw?”
“Even though you asked that I not divulge your future?”
“This is not about my future,” I say. “This is about Celine’s.”
Dark laughter flies from Hortense’s lips. “You silly fool. If you cannot see how your fates are linked, then all that money spent on your fancy education was a complete waste.”
“Never mind that. What did you see?” I press Odette.
Odette sighs. “I saw Celine sitting on a throne in this very room. On either side of her feet lay a tamed lion and a tamed wolf.”
“The tamer of beasts,” I say in remembrance.
She nods.
“What kind of throne was it?” Jae asks.
Blinking, Odette closes her eyes as if to reconstruct the memory. “Golden, but strange. As if it were covered in vines that twist into something sinister near the top.”
Arjun moves toward her. “Do you remember what the top looked like?”
“As if it had . . . horns. Not ones like the devil, but more like antlers.”
Jae grunts. “Then it is exactly as Lady Silla wishes it to be.”
“What do you mean?” Lines form across Odette’s forehead.
“The Lady of the Vale has long wished to reunite the Winter and Summer Court under one banner, and it appears she wishes for her daughter to rule over both,” Jae says.
Laughter flies from Odette’s lips. “Are you making jokes? I suggest you try again.”
“It is not a joke,” Jae replies. “It is merely a logical conclusion.”
“Well . . . that’s . . . absurd,” Odette sputters. She points at Arjun. “He always says how much the Summer Court despises ethereals. And their lady wishes to install one on their throne?”
“Does Lady Silla not have other offspring?” I ask.
Arjun shakes his head. “The bloodlines of elemental enchantresses have struggled to reproduce for almost half a century. It is why many of them take mortal lovers. Human blood seems to strengthen the chances of a child surviving. This was the reason my own mother sought out my father. A child is a precious thing to any member of the gentry.”
“Si les enfants sont précieux, then why are they so