“How did he find it? Only the Fae can see our doorways.”
Usaeil crossed one long leg over the other. “He asked me to take him to it, and I did. I honestly didn’t expect him to go through it, but not only did he, he also returned Rhi to us. To this day thousands of years later, she doesn’t know what he did for her.”
“Why not tell her?” Shara didn’t think she could keep such a thing to herself.
“Because he asked me not to.”
“And you complied? I didn’t think the Kings and the Fae liked each other.”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “The Light get along all right with them, though we tend to keep our distance. I agreed to his demand because it was the right thing to do. If Rhi knew what he did for her, she would go to him, and he made it clear there could never be anything between them again.”
“What a sad story.” Then it hit Shara that there might be a reason the queen had shared it with her. “Is this your way of telling me that there can never be anything between me and Kiril?”
“Not at all. I don’t know why I told you about Rhi and him.”
“Who was her lover?”
Usaeil merely smiled. “That you won’t get from me.”
“No one will tell me.”
“There’s a reason for that.”
Shara found that she had relaxed during their chat. She leaned over and smelled a bright yellow flower. “The Dark Fae don’t come to the side of Light.”
“We share a realm, Shara. The invisible line that divides our realm doesn’t keep the Dark from taking the Light or the Light from venturing into the Dark.”
She met the queen’s silver gaze. “Why am I here?”
“I’ve watched you, you know. I’ve seen you with Kiril, and I’ve seen the decisions you made. He changed you.”
“Yes,” she admitted in a mumble as she looked at the floor. “I can’t be the Fae my family expected me to be, but I can’t be anything else. I’m Dark.”
“Are you?” Usaeil asked casually. “I don’t believe so.”
Shara’s gaze snapped up. She lifted the lock of silver hair. “Look at my hair. Look at my eyes. I’m Dark.”
“I see one thick strand of silver in your hair, yes.”
Shara could feel her heart pounding against her ribs. The one glance she had spared around the large room hadn’t shown a mirror. She wondered if there was one nearby.
“Ask me,” Usaeil urged.
The courage Shara had found earlier evaporated as if it had never been. The thought of looking into the mirror and seeing her red eyes again would be too much. Instead, she said, “Tell me why you really brought me here.”
“Should I have left you with the Dark for them to kill you? Or perhaps I should’ve returned you to your family and let them torture you for a few thousand years,” Usaeil stated icily.
“I meant no offense.”
“You didn’t. Unlike the Dark, we Light don’t punish for such things.” The queen sighed dramatically. Then she grinned. “If we did, I’d forever be punishing Rhi.”
Shara felt as if she would never have her feet beneath her again. She had no idea what was going on or how she should feel about any of it. She dared not to hope for anything. That had happened once already, and she’d watched Kiril slip through her fingers like grains of sand.
It was too painful to go through again. Hope might strengthen, but loss destroyed.
“I can bring you to Dreagan,” Usaeil offered, her voice soft once more. “You can explain everything to Kiril.”
“So he did get out of Balladyn’s fortress?” she asked, one knot in her stomach unwinding.
Usaeil nodded. “That he did. As did the other Dragon Kings and Phelan, who you met.”
“And Rhi?”
Usaeil quickly looked away. “She’s no longer in Balladyn’s grasp, but she’s not with us.”
“Is she with her lover once more?”
Usaeil’s gaze turned back to her with a smile. “Ah, what a romantic you are.”
It was true. She was a romantic. She hadn’t realized it until she met Kiril. Shara looked down at her lap and licked her lips. “Thank you for the offer, but I can’t go to Dreagan.”
“Kiril scoured Balladyn’s compound for you.”
Shara smiled and felt the tears threaten again. Somehow she wasn’t surprised Kiril had done that. He was that type of man. “That is the reason I can’t go to him.”
“Because he’s looking for you?” the queen asked.
“Because I don’t deserve him.” She lifted her gaze to the queen and wiped away the tears that had fallen. “If I hadn’t been born Dark, I would fight for him.”
Usaeil raised a black brow and cocked her head to the side. “You come from one of the strongest Dark families. Are you going to let something like your birth, which you had no control over, stop you from taking what you want?”
Shara parted her lips to answer, but found she couldn’t put a voice to them.
“You saw Kiril in his true form,” Usaeil continued. “Did you find him difficult to gaze upon?”