Keeper of Storms (The Fallen Fae #3) - Jenna Wolfhart Page 0,1
rough stone parapet as he joined her on the balcony that jutted out from the southern tower wall. Hundreds of ships dotted the sea, interspersed with small pockets of land that made up The Thousand Islands. Those ships held enough forces to take out the wood king and the Air Court combined.
Thane let out a heavy sigh, and that knot in Reyna’s throat doubled in size.
She knew what that sigh meant. Nothing good. She tore her gaze away from the sea and glanced up at the air fae she’d once hated—and now trusted more than most. He stood tall and broad-shouldered, strong, though there was a heaviness in the set of his angular jaw. An elaborate golden tattoo spread across his forehead. An illustration of a Hawthorne tree, branches bare and gnarled. It suited him, this golden king with hair spun from the sun itself. When she’d first met him, she’d thought his tattoo made him look too posh, too royal, too above the common low fae of his realm. But now she knew it kept him grounded, just like her mother’s ice glass ring for herself, dangling from a silver chain around her throat. It reminded both of them of who they were.
“I assume this means you’ve spoken with your aunt?” Reyna reached up and ruffled Wingallock’s feathers where he perched on her left shoulder. His talons dug into her skin, sharp like nettles. But Reyna did not mind. She found comfort in the pain.
“I did.” Thane winced. “My pleas didn’t move Aunt Iona in the least. The ships will set sail for the Air Court on the ‘morn instead of heading south toward Findius.”
“Dammit!” Reyna curled her fists into claws and stalked back into her quarters. Heart pounding, she yearned to rip the very sheets from the bed, tear them into teal ribbons, and then throw them out the window where they might vanish into the sea. Along with her last shreds of hope.
“I’m sorry, Reyna,” Thane said, following her inside. “I’m afraid my family is as stubborn as, well...you.”
She did not take offense to that. Reyna was stubborn. Which was why she had no intention of remaining inside this little teal room and casting her eyes upon the horizon where her lover was trapped in a death match with the wood king.
“I’ll go speak with her myself.” She turned toward the doorway, but Thane quickly stepped into her path.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said quietly. “We have a tenuous alliance with your court. It wouldn’t take much to break it.”
Frowning, she glared at him. His frame was wider, more muscular, than it had once been. Life filled his cheeks; fire sparked in his eyes. The Sea Court suited him, Reyna thought. It made sense. He might be as golden as the sun, but his mother had been born here. He would have the salt of the sea flowing through his veins.
And he’d come alive in these lands while the rest of Tir Na Nog thought him dead.
But she would rip that light from his eyes if she must. “Thane, move out of my way. Don’t make me fight you on this. I’ll do anything to get to Lorcan. Anything.”
He sighed and stepped aside. “I’m not going to try to stop you, Reyna. I’m not your enemy.” He pressed his lips together. “Neither are they, you know. Not anymore. They’re your allies now. Your father is joining his forces with theirs.”
She furrowed her brows and stepped past him into the corridor, cast into dazzling sapphire hues by the magic-infused sconces that lined the walls. “Then, they should hear what I have to say.”
“They’ll hear it,” he said sadly. “But I’m afraid all of your passionate words will fall on deaf ears. Or worse. They might take offense.”
Reyna didn’t care. The wood king had surrounded the Shadow Court with hundreds of ships. Findius had been under siege for days. Maybe even weeks. After the battle in Fomorian Square, Lorcan had risen to the throne in the place of his vicious father. Now, he had no way out of his city. And no one had any way to get in. Not without an army. Not without ships.
The Sea Court had both of those. And yet, they intended to turn their sails north, toward the Air Court so that Thane might take back his throne.
The High King of the Air Court led the way through the maze of twisting corridors, his golden cloak billowing behind him. Reyna followed