“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m fixing the Demon, because we have to fix him before we can have Ristan back! He’d never hurt that baby; he adores her. You know that! You can’t see past the anger right now, and neither can he. He’s blinded by pain, and yes, he’s a little broken but, Ryder, so was I at one time. He will get past this, and if our daughter can help him, then so be it. He’s not going to ask to date her; he’s holding her because she’s his anchor. She’s his happy right now, and I won’t take that away and neither will you.” I gave another glare to Zahruk for good measure and warning.
“I should have spanked you harder,” Ryder growled.
“Wow, can I watch?” Aodhan said as he rounded the corner and interrupted our fight.
“No!” we both shouted as one.
“Damn, but I like bitches who like to be spanked. If you hit that sweet spot…they melt.”
I turned and glared at him.
Ryder growled, which was ten times scarier than my glare.
Aodhan put his hands up in mock surrender. “Man, hands are up, I surrender?”
“Ristan is awake, and moving,” Ryder declared.
“That’s good news,” he said.
“He’s in full Demon form,” Ryder said.
“Shit, that’s…not good,” Aodhan whispered as if Ristan would overhear him and kick his ass. Zahruk grimly nodded in agreement. “Guess it’s not a good time to tell you we finally heard back from the Light King.”
“And?” I asked.
“He said this is not his fight, but that you should know he’s allowed the Mages safe passage through his lands,” he stated.
“I guess it’s time to make Danu choose another Light Heir, because they are about to lose a King and a Queen,” Ryder growled, and looked at me.
“Agreed,” I exhaled. “I’m tired of their games, and helping the Mages goes beyond stupid. If they openly want us to know they have allowed the Mages to use their lands, and have been granted safe passage, it’s their own fault. They’re challenging us, wanting to see our next move. I say we end the game and get the Light Fae a steward until we can find the missing Heir.”
“Let’s go,” Ryder held out his hand and waited.
“Just walk right in and kill them?” I asked pointedly.
“How else would we do it?”
“Publicly,” I said. “Aodhan, go to the Dark Court and tell Kier, his wife and Heir to come immediately. After you’ve done that, tell my father to bring his wife and Liam here,” I said as I turned to Ryder. “We can’t just go kill them. It’s what they expect you to do. It’s what your father would have done. We have to be smarter, and we have to be careful right now. The other Courts will see what we do, and they will know they were deposed, and that a judgment had been decided on by the three Courts—together. We will show them a united front and a group decision, which is something your father never did.”
I heard clapping and turned to find most of the Elite Guard there, even though the clapping was only coming from Zahruk.
He smiled and pushed off the wall, his eyes on me as he spoke to Ryder. “That’s actually brilliant, Ryder. Those creatures down there think you an evil being, and not even their royalty is changing that opinion. Not even Synthia’s idea to get them drunk could change that opinion. But by deposing the Light King and Queen, you’d seal the fates of us who depend on the Tree. Synthia has a valid point, if the three royal Castes do it as one, we will show them something they’ve never seen in their very long lives. We could show them that we are not like our father, and that we are a united front with the other Castes, but it will also show them we will hold no mercy for those who help the Mages. It’s brilliant.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ryder presided over the assembly in Fae form and I waited beside him on the lovely throne he had created for me not so long ago. The other monarchs stood to the side of the Horde King’s throne in silent support, as we knew the Light Fae would make a dramatic show when they arrived, and we weren’t wrong. Tatiana wore silver. Her dress was so bright that it left behind flashes of spots in my eyes, and I refused to even acknowledge it.