Tiago set his jaw and lowered his brows in a scowl, but after a moment he nodded. Niniane nudged her sweet-natured little mare forward. As she came up on Aubrey from one side, Tiago came up on the other.
The Dark Fae male’s head lifted. He looked from Niniane to Tiago and drew further in on himself. “Your highness,” he murmured. His voice was toneless.
“You must know this won’t do, Aubrey,” Niniane said. “I refuse your resignation. I need you too much.”
Aubrey stared sightlessly ahead. “After Geril and Naida, I no longer have the confidence that I can meet your need.”
“The last time I heard, it was not a crime to think well of people you know, especially those you care about,” remarked Tiago to no one in particular as he surveyed the surrounding landscape.
Aubrey gave him a quick glance but said nothing. They rode in silence for a time.
Niniane sighed. “I don’t know that I can afford to give you the choice. I know you need time to heal and mourn your wife, and I promise you will have that. But you must return to your position as Chancellor. If you won’t do it for me, do it for the Dark Fae.”
More silence. Then Aubrey said quietly, “I would do anything for you that I could—”
She interrupted him to stave off another rejection. “Good,” she said strongly. “I need you to get together with Kellen right away. The two of you have to come up with a short list of people you would recommend for appointment as Dark Fae Commander. And I don’t know how precisely you’re going to do this, but I want you to research the history of Urien’s finances since he took the crown.”
A spark of curiosity enlivened Aubrey’s dull gaze. “What do you need to know?”
She was too canny to let herself smile yet. She told him, “I want to know how much my family fortune was when Urien became King. It doesn’t have to be exact if the records aren’t precise. I’m just looking for a realistic estimate. You see, I was disturbed by the inequities in the numbers we reviewed. I think Urien benefited too much from isolating the Dark Fae all these years. I intend on taking only what was rightfully ours before my father died. Then I want to put the rest of Urien’s fortune to work in developing opportunities for our people. You want to help me spend that money wisely, don’t you?”
She glanced sidelong at him. Life had come back into Aubrey’s expression in the form of startled interest and intellectual speculation. Riding relaxed in his saddle on Aubrey’s other side, Tiago quirked an eyebrow at her.
Now it was time to smile. Maybe just a bit.
The road and the river meandered, moving apart and coming together again like quarreling lovers. On their third day the travelers started to come upon individual homes and villages. Wide-eyed Dark Fae came to stare in wonder at the group. They were a handsome people and rich in creativity, but while their homes and properties were well kept and sparked with flashes of Power, their relative poverty was also painfully apparent.
Tiago had a quiet but intense conniption when Niniane dismounted to walk and talk among them. Thunder rumbled in the distance, which concerned certain individuals in the group very much. Niniane turned to glare at him. He fought a private battle and the thunder subsided.
Word spread, and people began to appear on the road. They brought fresh-baked bread and cheese, water and wine for the group, and they gave Niniane presents of flowers, handembroidered linen, quilts, gorgeously worked silver jewelry, and incense and spices. They began to follow until they trailed for a quarter of a mile behind the group. On their last night at camp, snatches of singing and laughter came from bright campfires that dotted the countryside.
“I have never seen anything like it,” Kellen told Niniane over an excellent supper of hunter’s stew.
She shook her head as she met Tiago’s dark gaze over their own flickering yellow fire. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Then say nothing,” Kellen told her with a smile. “Just rule well.”
Then their last day of travel came. She recognized landmarks. There up ahead, she knew that twist in the road. Further up still, they passed underneath a bluff that one could scale and look out over the river that lay winking silver blue in the pale autumn sunlight. The road climbed in a low-grade incline for a time, and she knew exactly where they would crest the hill. Her heart began to pound. Her mouth dried and her hands shook.
“Faerie,” murmured Tiago as he rode beside her.
“Just wait,” she whispered. “Watch.”
They reached the hill’s crest and looked over a valley.