House of Curses, page 27
The crowd roared their approval as she stepped back. It wasn’t the speech she’d planned. Not in the least. But she’d had to say it. No matter if it lost her the election. No matter what anyone thought of her.
Ephriam was quieting the crowd and announcing what would happen next. The center of the arena had been covered with some sort of spell work, and at his words, the cover vanished. Everyone gasped as a gorgeous garden visage appeared, nearly as beautiful as what Kerrigan had found in Titania’s home. No wonder they had closed it off from training for the last couple days. Water flowed in elaborate fountains. Gazebos had been erected. Benches lined tree-ladened walkways. Flowers of every variety imaginable were planted in perfect, even rows. And as the sun set on the nominee appearance, the party commenced.
Society members released their black robes to reveal stunning gowns and ornate suits. Top hats and diamonds and cravats and beaded fans all appeared as the members exited the stands and flooded the gardens.
“You did well,” Bastian said at her side.
“Did I? The people loved it, but the members …”
“No fear. They’ll get what is coming to them.”
Then, he stepped off of the stage and into their midst. Immediately overwhelmed with well-wishers. She didn’t know what he’d meant, but she had to take his word for it. She, too, would be swept up in the madness of the party any minute. She could barely brace herself against it.
But she had no choice.
“Red!” a voice called over the clamor.
She turned to find Clover, Hadrian, and Darby just off of the stage. Clover waved her over, not caring in the least how she looked to the rest of those assembled.
Kerrigan broke into a smile and dashed off of the stage to her friends. Clover enveloped her in a hug. Hadrian and Darby jumped in as well. Screw propriety.
“You did amazing,” Clover said. “You said that to everyone. Thea is going to be so proud.”
“Truly,” Darby said when they pulled back. “It was incredible. Trask about had a fit, but I couldn’t even care. I stood and applauded, even as he scowled.”
“I love that,” Kerrigan said with a laugh.
“Brilliant,” Hadrian said, squeezing her hand. “I always knew you were going to make a splash.”
“Not upset that I was reckless?”
“Can you be anything else?”
“I guess not.”
Clover snorted. “We’ve known that for ages.”
“Are you staying for the party?” Kerrigan asked.
Clover shook her head. “It’s Society members and family only. We could probably force our way in, but I’m just glad we got to see you conquer.”
“Still a whole week left of this before we know whether it did anything.”
“It did,” Darby said with certainty.
Hadrian even nodded his head. “You changed more than a few minds today.”
Kerrigan wiped a tear from her eye and pulled her friends in for one last hug. They laughed with her and congratulated her and then disappeared. For a brief moment, she was all alone in a sea of people, and it felt great.
Then, the moment was ruined.
“Quite the spectacle,” March said as he appeared at her side.
Kerrigan recoiled from him. It had been a blissful few weeks while he was at the House of Medallion back home. She hadn’t heard a word from him since her abrupt departure, and she’d hoped that it would stay that way. But she clearly wasn’t that lucky.
She would give anything for her illusionary magic to work right now. For her to make herself disappear in her surroundings. For another Kerrigan to deal with March. But despite spending weeks working on her illusions, she was no further than she had been. No, she would have to deal with March.
“What do you want?”
March shot her a charming look. “I planned to escort my fiancée into the party.”
Her eyes widened. “We are not betrothed any longer, March.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. One little argument doesn’t change what we’re both working toward.”
“One little argument? You hit me.” She seethed.
“And you threatened me with your magic after kissing another man. Who is the one who should be upset here?”
“Me,” she snapped.
“You’re being ridiculous. Nothing even happened. You’re remembering it as if it were a whole thing.”
“I’m not crazy. I know exactly what happened.”
“Is that why you ran off? You know I don’t believe that you went to Waisley. Care to share where you really were?”
“No,” she nearly growled. “I want to share nothing with you.”
“Don’t make yourself look bad. That speech did enough of that. You’re going to need my support to survive the rest of the week. So, let’s go.” He grabbed her arm hard enough to hurt and tried to forcefully guide her toward the party.
But they weren’t as alone as either of them had believed. Suddenly, a cane came down hard and fast on March’s forearm. March yelped and pulled his arm backward.
“I’d rethink that,” Alura said with an arched eyebrow.
“Mistress Alura,” March said, bowing at the waist. “May I say how much I enjoyed your speech?”
Alura gave him a once-over. “You may not. And if you put your hand on another woman without her permission again, you will understand why they feared me enough to give me this injury.”
March’s eyes widened in shock at the assessment. “I am a lord of Bryonica.”
“Your pretty titles mean nothing to me.” She nodded her head once at Kerrigan and then walked away, tall and proud.
Kerrigan grinned devilishly at March’s shocked face. He looked half-ready to attack her right then and there. It would be beautiful if he tried. To watch him face off against the entire Society.
But she never got a chance because wings beat on the horizon.
The Society members looked up as one in shock. All dragons had been recalled to the Holy Mountain. There should be no dragons left in all the skies by now. Yet a gorgeous, red-scaled dragon landed artfully against the opening that had been cleared quickly for her approach.
A figure descended her back with all the aplomb that only a royal could muster. He wore full black silk. The silver embroidered on his suit breast revealed him for who he truly was. The dark hair that fell across his forehead and gray eyes, as if staring into the heart of a storm, made her heart skip. When his feet touched the ground, black shadows crept in their wake. A crown upon his brow.
A hush descended on the crowd at his approach.
A female dropped off of the dragon’s back, a few steps behind him. She waved her hand to amplify her voice and announced to all in attendance, “His Majesty, King Fordham Ollivier of the House of Shadows.”
39
The King
Fordham caught sight of Kerrigan in the crowd, and his eyes went dark and eager and open and hard, all in the span of a second. Then, he strode away from Netta and the mysterious female he had brought with him.
He extended a hand to her. “My lady.”
Kerrigan’s cheeks flushed with delight as she put her hand in his. “You made it.”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
“That is my fiancée!” March bellowed.
Fordham turned his steely gaze to March and arched an eyebrow. “I believe it is the lady’s choice.”
March was turning purple at the declaration. The entire Society was watching, and not one of them could fault her for declaring herself to a king over a lord. Even if that lord would one day be king of Bryonica. It would be absurd to put her hand to that sort of man when another was offering his hand to her right here, who outranked him by a long shot.
Not a person would fault her. And since it was so utterly public, March couldn’t do any of his deceptive means to get her to comply.
To make matters worse for him, if she had ended their engagement for no apparent reason, he could have sued for recompense or gone to war over the breach of contract, and there was little the Society could do about an intra-tribe affair. But if March went to war over Kerrigan choosing the king of the House of Shadows, that was an inter-tribe matter. The Society would put the full force behind their own members to end that sort of problem.
She watched all of that flash in March’s eyes in a matter of seconds. The realization that he couldn’t win this. Not in such a public setting.
“Kerrigan,” Fordham said, “would you do me the honor of this dance?”
“Yes,” she nearly gasped. “Yes, I choose you.”
His smile was magnetic as he drew her in closer. His voice dipped low, just for her ears. “I told you that I’d court you properly once the curse was broken. How am I doing?”
“Oh, I would say you’re doing quite well.”
“Do you concede your rights to this engagement?” Fordham asked March formally. He offered him his hand. “As a gentleman.”
March ground his teeth together, but everyone was looking. He could stamp his feet all he wanted. And he looked half-ready to murder Fordham where he stood. That would be hilarious to witness. March stood no chance, and they all knew it. A duel of any kind for Kerrigan’s honor would end very poorly for him. He had no choice but to extend his hand.
“I wish you both the very best,” March said and shook once fiercely before pushing his way through the party and away.
Kerrigan grinned. She wanted to twirl and shout her excitement at the conclusion to that whole affair. The contracts would be invalidated in the morning. She was free.
“Shall we?” Fordham asked with a glint of humor in his swirling eyes.
She put her hand in his, and he drew her away from the onlookers, inside the gardens, and onto the dance floor. Music strummed to life as others joined them. Then, Fordham pulled her close into her arms, and the waltz drew them into its embrace.
“You couldn’t have had better timing,” she told him.
“I do like to make an entrance.”
“So … king?”
He winked at her. “It turns out that my people much preferred an Ollivier to an imposter queen.”
“I thought they might.”
Her eyes flickered to the space Netta had been a minute earlier. She had flown off, presumably to join the others at the Holy Mountain, and left the Fae woman behind. She was dressed formally in a black silk dress. Her hands behind her back, like a bodyguard, and yet her eyes were wide with shock at the spectacle.
“And the female?”
“Delle,” he said. “My first order of business was to fire my father’s chief attendant, Langdon. I shocked the court by making a female, Adelaide, my chief attendant for the House of Shadows. Delle is Adelaide’s daughter. A fine warrior and my attendant at Draco Mountain.”
“She’s very pretty,” Kerrigan offered.
“Adelaide and Delle were made aware of my intentions to court you,” Fordham said. “She has a husband back in the House of Shadows, to whom she is devoted. He’ll be joining us as soon as I work out the logistics with the Society.”
“You mean, how no one else is supposed to be out of the House of Shadows until next year.”
His smile was feral. “Yes, I have already broken that rule. An absurd one. We both know who started the Battle of Lethbridge. Punishing everyone for their mistakes is nonsensical.”
Kerrigan pressed her cheek to his chest in relief. “That’s the princeling I knew was in there all along.”
“Princeling,” he scoffed. “You will have to get a new nickname.”
“Kingling just doesn’t have the right ring to it,” she teased.
“You’re absurd,” he said and then brushed his thumb across her cheek. “And I love you.”
“I love you too.”
She wanted nothing more than to fit his mouth to hers and forget the rest of the world existed. But tonight was not the night for that. Tonight, she needed to meet other Society members. She needed to win an election in a week’s time.
So, when the dance was over, she and Fordham toured the gardens. They met with hundreds of Society members. Many who congratulated her on her speech. Others congratulating them on their reunion. Only a handful were outright nasty. She thought it was a bonus that no one was terrible enough to call her a leatha to her face. There was an entire contingent of people who never said a single word to her. She knew who they were without ever speaking to them.
A vocal minority … or at least, she hoped. Their sway had grown exponentially over the last couple years. She had no idea how many there really were. And how many of them were Red Masks in disguise.
Finally, the two people she had been looking for as they navigated the mazelike gardens appeared before them.
Arbor and Prescott bowed deeply to their king. Then, Arbor burst into a smile and threw her arms around Fordham. “You did it! You’re king.”
Prescott clapped him on the back. “We always knew you would get the throne.”
Fordham removed Arbor and nodded. “Yes. I didn’t expect it to happen so soon, but no one chooses when destiny takes hold.”
“Absolutely,” Arbor said. “We’re surprised to see you here since you sent us that letter that said you weren’t returning.”
Prescott laughed, as if he were unperturbed. “But who cares why you’re here? You’re back! And you and Kerrigan are together.”
“It’s brilliant,” Arbor agreed.
“Indeed. Though I am surprised to see you here,” Fordham said. He gestured for them to follow him away from prying eyes and ears. They reached an empty gazebo on the edge of the arena nearest the exit. “You told me that you had retired to the country. In fact, I told you to disappear.”
“We disappeared in the city,” Arbor said with a wave of her hand. “Isn’t it better that we’re already established here? Then, we can see you.”
“In fact, it’s a complication. Because none of the Fae are supposed to be outside of the House of Shadows. Now, you are a known quantity in the city.”
“You can say we escaped,” Prescott said.
“And send you back?” Fordham asked.
The siblings exchanged a look.
“Certainly not,” Arbor said with a laugh. “I’m sure you can work it out. Delle is with you after all.”
“Delle is my attendant when I am out of court on official duty. You are my cousins. She would be an exception, but you?”
“We’re family,” Prescott protested.
“Family,” Fordham said slowly. “Interesting justification. Do you take me for a fool?” His black shadows folded around him as his anger rose to the surface. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out what you had been doing all this time?”
Arbor’s face paled. “Cousin, I have no idea what you mean.”
“We’ve done nothing,” Prescott added.
“Nothing. Tell me, who pushed Wynter to bring down the barrier? Who encouraged her to start a group to bring it down? Who egged on her madness to get what they wanted?”
Arbor looked back at him with her chin lifted. “Bringing down the barrier is a crime now? Then, you should look no further.” She gestured to Kerrigan. “We all know she did it and not Wynter.”
“You helped form a cult to overthrow the throne,” he spat. “That is treason.”
Prescott gulped. “We wanted to escape the mountain. It wasn’t about overthrowing anyone.”
“Oh, really?” Fordham asked. “And Lethbridge?”
Arbor arched an eyebrow. “What about Lethbridge?”
“I was under the assumption that my father wanted to take revenge for the humans who had refused him. I had even guessed that Wynter had gotten him to do exactly that. Perhaps she wanted to take over in my absence, but Wynter had never been ambitious for the throne before this. It was a strange change for her.”
“So strange,” Kerrigan said, “almost not believable. As if someone else was pulling her strings. Someone else had her go to war with Lethbridge. Someone else had the intention of toppling the throne.”
Arbor looked between them. “You can’t mean us?”
“No,” Fordham said. “I believe Prescott is innocent of everything, except stupidly following you to whatever end.”
“Fordham,” Prescott stammered, “Arbor wouldn’t …”
“She would,” Kerrigan said.
“And she will pay for her crimes.”
Kerrigan gestured off to the shadows, and a contingent of the Society Guard ran over to them. Exactly where she’d had them placed earlier in the evening.
“This is why you invited us here?” Arbor asked in alarm. “You’re going to arrest us with no proof? This will never stand.”
“Oh, we have proof,” Kerrigan said with a warning smile.
Arbor’s bravado hung on to a thread. “Sure you do. What could you possibly have?”
“Wynter,” Kerrigan told her.
Arbor’s face fell. “She … she died in the battle. Along with all of her followers.”
“Not all of them,” Fordham said. “Many of them were willing to come forward when I asked questions.”
“And Wynter might not have wanted to answer any of my questions. Threatened to kill me where I stood. It was actually sort of fun. But eventually, she confirmed what I had already known—that you were the mastermind behind the whole ordeal. Wynter was your front woman.” Kerrigan held her hand when Arbor tried to argue. “If that wasn’t enough, I have two freed slaves who already told me the whole story.”
“Arrest them,” Fordham said to the guards. “Arbor, you are under arrest for treason against the Society and the House of Shadows for engineering the Battle of Lethbridge. Prescott, you are under arrest as her accomplice.”
The siblings stared at him in shock.
“Fordham,” Prescott gasped.
“You can’t do this,” Arbor bellowed.
People were starting to look. Let them. Let them see what would be done to those who tried to hurt them. Even family wasn’t safe.
Fordham had a stony expression on his face as he watched them get carted away. But she knew how this hurt him. How much it had broken him when he discovered the truth.
