Spin the Shadows (Dark and Wicked Fae #1) - Cate Corvin Page 0,84
red, and Brightkin was sobbing, no longer Gentry-beautiful as snot and tears ran down his face.
I kept in mind that a girl had breathed her last this morning because of him. This had to be witnessed.
When the Right Hand brought his sword down, the blade sliced cleanly through Brightkin’s neck.
His sobs cut off abruptly, and his golden head of hair dropped to the stones alongside Calder’s. A pool of blood dripped over the onyx chopping block.
“Well,” the Queen said briskly. “That’s done. Come, my Hands.”
It was hard to believe how cold she was. Under all that warm, shimmering gold, she must have a core of pure ice. Her firstborn son beheaded in front of her, and not a single tear gleamed in her eyes.
Princess Tanaquill glanced sidelong at Robin under her eyelashes as he followed Titania and Noctifer.
I held back, trailing behind them. I didn’t really belong here. This was a palace for the Gentry, for people like Robin, not nymphs who stumbled blindly through the dark.
But Robin paused before following the Queen inside and looked back at me with puzzlement. “Come on, Briallen. This is for you, too.”
I glanced back at the Garda, who were cleaning up the bodies, and hurried after him.
We were far enough behind the royal retinue and the bloodied knight that Robin leaned down to whisper to me. “Act like you belong. It’s half the battle.”
He smiled encouragingly at me and brushed my hand.
Noctifer waited outside a room that turned out to be a parlor. His helmet turned as we passed.
Inside, the prism walls gave off a pearly light. The Queen sat on a delicate chair of woven roses, sipping a cup of tea.
Maybe ruling an entire kingdom slowly crushed the emotions of the Gentry. She didn’t look like she’d sentenced her own son to death this morning.
“Robin, lovely work. I would’ve preferred it to be a little quieter, but… I suppose we don’t get everything we want.” Her sea green eyes flashed up to me. “This is your new… protégée?”
Robin stood so close to my side that I felt his body heat through my clothes. “This is Briallen Appletree, my Queen. A daughter of the Hesperides.”
Queen Titania only raised one eyebrow. “Hesperides? How strange that your trees seem to prefer blood to water. Congratulations on a job well done, dryad.”
What in the trees did that mean, blood to water?
I opened my mouth, but she clearly wasn’t expecting a reply.
“Well, train her as you see fit, Robin. I need you back on the Ghosthand case as soon as possible.” The Queen scowled at her tea. Scowled at it. Like a common Lesser. “They’ll start rioting if we don’t make progress there, and my own sister is beginning to get under my skin with her demands.”
Robin inclined his head. I was still just amazed that the Queen was capable of showing any emotion beyond complete iciness.
“As you wish, my Queen,” he said. Princess Tanaquill smiled at him from her perch on a velvet chaise.
I tried not to glare. It wasn’t my right to glare.
Titania waved her hand, dismissing us completely. Robin and I both bowed, and I did my best to ignore Noctifer as we left.
I didn’t breathe any easier until we stepped outside the Seelie Palace entirely.
“Not all that fun, is it?” Robin asked.
We strode down the glittering steps together. “Nothing like a few beheadings to start my day,” I said breezily, but what I really wanted right then was to run to Mothwing Falls, kiss Gwyn until my face hurt, and pretend I hadn’t seen any of it.
“I checked on the humans this morning.” Robin walked close enough that he brushed against me. “One was… beyond saving. The others have a chance to recuperate, but it will likely take a long time.”
“That’s better than no chance at all.” At least they were in safe hands now. “Can I visit them?”
He nudged me with his shoulder. “I meant to ask if you’d like to. They might benefit from seeing someone their age, maybe someone who can help bring them back.”
I looked out over the city, feeling relieved, but stopped dead in my tracks halfway down the stairs. “Robin, what the hell is that?”
It looked like a giant tree in Sobek Street, its canopy gleaming with blossoms that caught the sunlight like flames.
Robin followed my gaze. “That’s your tree, Briallen.”
My breath caught in my throat. I’d made that? It was enormous, a complete monstrosity. “Oh, my trees. Someone is going to kill me over this.”