friend of winter either. So what brings these two very different men together?” The king looked at me as he spoke.
I opened my mouth to say it wasn’t me, but that wasn’t completely true. Finally I said, “A request.”
“Really? And what might that be?”
“We are—” Falin began, but the king cut him off.
“I do not wish to speak to you, Knight.” He turned to Dugan before the other man could speak. “Or you, Prince. You are both insignificant and uninteresting.” He fixed me with his brilliant green eyes and flashed me a dazzling smile. “Planeweaver, you interest me. You may speak.”
A muscle in Dugan’s jaw bunched, but he said nothing. Falin turned toward me, fixing me with a look that spoke volumes of caution. I didn’t need the warning. The Summer King might seem warmer than the Winter Queen, but he was still a king of a Faerie court, and he couldn’t hold that position without being both cunning and ruthless.
“We are looking to speak to a fae named Lunabella, who we believe is a member of your court,” I said, making sure my phrasing was neither a question nor a request.
“And for what purpose would you like to speak to her?” the king asked.
I shot an imploring glance at Falin, wishing we’d discussed what needed to be said before we started this damn call.
“Don’t look at him, look at me,” the king said, leaning in closer.
His green eyes were so bright, so close, it looked like I could have reached right through the mirror and touched his face. He looked friendly again. Approachable. It wasn’t until I felt my hand moving that I realized my reaction was caused by magic. I balled my hand into a fist to keep it still and cracked my shields, letting my vision slip across the planes. That didn’t work out well for me in this instance, as the spelled mirror was shattered in my grave vision and the spell itself was a swirling mist of shadows among the broken shards. I could see pieces of the king’s face, but the effect was too distracting. I closed my shields again.
The king studied me. He likely hadn’t missed the glimmer of light that escaped my irises when I’d opened my shields, but he didn’t mention it. He just continued to smile, the pressure of the magic he was exuding heavy against my skin, but now that I knew what he was doing, it was easier to ignore. Falin’s gloved hand slid over mine, his fingers squeezing mine lightly, offering me support. The king didn’t miss that either. His eyes narrowed, the smile losing some of its strength.
“Visit my court. Let me dazzle you, and I will let you talk to whomever you wish,” he said, amping up the radiance of his smile again.
I could feel myself wanting to trust him. To think the best of him. I shoved the feelings down hard. If his personal glamour was this beguiling through a reflection, how much worse would he be in person? Then I considered what he’d actually said.
“Whomever I wish? You guarantee it, my lord?” I asked, and Falin’s hand tightened around mine. Warning? Or encouragement? I wasn’t sure, and he wasn’t looking at me. Lunabella might have been one of Stiofan’s killers, but if she was, she hadn’t been working alone. If she named accomplices in the summer court, it would be good if we had access to them as well.
“Visit my court. Let us woo you. And yes, you may have an audience with anyone you want. Except, perhaps, the queen. I cannot compel her to speak to you if she does not wish to.”
I blinked. Not every court had both king and queen, but apparently summer did. I could no longer see any of the females who’d been fawning over the king when this conversation began, but I certainly hadn’t noticed a crown on any of them. None had been Sleagh Maith either. While that didn’t exclude the possibility of them being queen, not being of the noble line of Faerie did seem to greatly lower the odds.
Those details weren’t terribly important right now. They were just something for my brain to focus on other than the possibility of willingly walking into Faerie again. This time into a different court. One that might be part of a conspiracy to pit the winter court against the shadow court. I fought to keep the frown from my face, but I must not have succeeded.
“What is