Usurper

  “That makes no sense,” I whispered to Grim. “Sadler wouldn’t leave himself unguarded now. His army isn’t large enough to divide like that.”

  Grim leaned close to me. “Perhaps he’s taking risks because he’s sure reinforcements will come.”

  “But why would he send them this far only to call them back? What was the point of the attack?”

  Grim gave me a pointed look. “Perhaps we’ll find out if we listen more and whisper less.”

  I rolled my eyes but went back to paying attention to the two kings. Drake gestured at the door, and a trio of weary-looking scouts entered.

  “The Darksiders ravaged the entire village,” the tallest scout said. He was young, and he wore silver—Drake’s team. “They’re pushing forward more consistently than before. We can’t hold them back for much longer if we aren’t reinforced. We’re losing ground. There have been betrayals.” He bowed his head at Drake. “We dealt with those in the appropriate manner, but it won’t be long before morale bottoms out unless something is done.”

  “This is troubling,” Sorcha said. “Sadler grows brave when we hear he should be weak.”

  “It could have been a distraction,” Arlen said, “something to coax our forces away from the castle.”

  “I’ll offer sanctuary to those who wish it,” Brendan said. “We need the armies to stay close right now.”

  The scout looked alarmed. “That many people travelling will cause mayhem and make it harder to track the Darksiders. And the people will be more at risk of attacks on the roads. The forest is teeming with Darksiders.”

  “Who is doing the attacking?” I asked loudly.

  The scout blinked a couple of times. “Wh-What?”

  “Who did you see attacking? What kind of fae?”

  “Darksiders… um…” He glanced at one of his companions for help, but the female only shrugged.

  I placed my palms flat on the table. “That doesn’t really narrow it down. How do you know they’re Darksiders? What do they look like? Are they tainted? Are they—”

  Colour flooded the young scout’s cheeks. “They’re Darksiders. They’re all the same.”

  “They wear black,” the female said casually, “so we kill them.” From her tone, she might have been talking about sitting down for tea. She was pretty large to be a scout, and my suspicions grew.

  “I thought you were scouts, not assassins,” I said. “Who attacks first?”

  “What the hell does it matter what they look like?” Drake demanded. “They’re Darksiders. They deserve to die.”

  “What did every single Darksider do to deserve that?” I asked.

  Drake’s face took on a ruddy hue. “Gave their loyalty to Sadler!”

  I leaned forward. “They didn’t have a choice. Who else wants them? Who wanted to deal with the Darkside? Nobody. That’s what led to this mess.”

  “They bring the taint with them,” a green-clad court member said. “They poison our land with their touch.”

  “Death is the only way to scrub the taint from our territories,” Donella added.

  “Death isn’t going to seal the rift in the Fade,” Grim said.

  “No, but it’ll slow Sadler down for a time,” Brendan said in a wry tone.

  “What if we send him back his queen?” one of the fae said. “It might appease him for a time.”

  Donella made a scoffing sound. “And if she tells him everything that’s gone on here?”

  I leaned back in my chair. “We need to go to Sadler. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?” I looked to Brendan, but he had his gaze fixed on Drake. “It doesn’t matter how many battles are won in neutral territory against Sadler’s men. There’s something else coming. Sadler has reinforcements on the way, ships that will—”

  Donella scoffed. “All of this on the word of one Darksider?”

  Grim nudged me. I glanced at him, and he nodded encouragingly.

  “Not just one,” I replied with a great deal of reluctance.

  Drake stared at me. “What’s that supposed to mean, Cara?”

  I gripped the arms of my chair. “I’ve heard some more news. Rumours, really, but from… well-informed sources.”

  “And you came upon this information how?” Sorcha demanded.

  “It doesn’t matter right now. What matters is Sadler’s deal.” I gave Drake a pointed look. “Apparently, Sadler’s about to piss off the Silver Court’s god because his god is busy raising the dead. The ships are sunken boats that are rising to aid Sadler. I don’t know the details, but I’ve heard enough to feel like we’re not on the winning side. Sadler doesn’t care who lives or dies. He just wants to punish us all. And if any of the things I’ve heard about what lives across the water is true, then we’re all in serious trouble. If the taint doesn’t kill the realm, Sadler’s necromancy-loving god might.”

  “Ridiculous,” Donella said after a brief silence.

  “This is an attack on us,” Sorcha said. “Undoing my god’s work? How could it not be a mark of war?” She sounded terrified, and that sent chills down my spine.

  “The loremasters could help with this,” Grim said. “All they have to do is look for instances in the past when something similar might have occurred.”

  “Something’s coming,” I said. “So we need to take the fight to Sadler before those boats arrive. By the time word gets here from your own scouts, it could be too late. We need to move now.”

  “She wishes us to leave the castles undefended,” Donella said. “A devious plan.”

  I slammed my hand down on the table. “I don’t give a crap about the castles. I just don’t want to watch everything burn while Sadler gets his kicks. Do you really not understand what he’s capable of?”

  Red blotches spread across Donella’s face. “He had me sent to the Fade!”

  I snarled at her. “And now you’re back. Boo-fucking-hoo.”

  “How dare—”

  “Silence,” Brendan said. He barely raised his voice, but we all obeyed. “I can’t believe in a resurrected army. That’s not going to leave this room. Do you all understand me?” He glared at the scouts. “The person who spreads this news will lose his tongue.”

  Drake nodded. “If we destroy the Darksiders now, there won’t be anything left for an invading army to fight for.”

  “I’ve been saying from the beginning that we need to send an assassin,” a ruddy-faced man said. I had seen him before, but I didn’t know his name. “Send him his queen. Just let one of her escorts take care of Sadler when she gets them close enough.”

  “That won’t be enough,” Donella cried. “When his supporters rise up against us, we’ll regret leaving this to a silent assassin.”

  Drake gestured at Brendan. “Let’s end this now, as we should have a year ago.”

  “We agreed,” Brendan said.

  “The Darksiders need to die.”

  I rose to my feet. “Then let’s get started.” I raised my hand. “Here’s your first Darksider to kill in cold blood. Want me to fetch my daughter to be second?”

  Drake scowled. “Don’t be so childish.”

  “You said we all deserve to die. You can’t pick and choose whenever you feel like it.”

  “You’re not a Darksider. You’re a human.” He gave me a dismissive wave. “I don’t know why you’re even here.”

  “I’ve spent more time on the Darkside than anywhere else in the faery realm! I married their king, and I was left to rot with him. I went into labour in the Darkside. I’m nothing but a Darksider!” My voice had risen to a scream by the end, but the blank, uncaring expression on his face infuriated me.

  “You are a human!” Drake shouted, those pink spots reappearing in his cheeks. He laid his palms on the table. “Nobody is going to kill a human for being kidnapped by a madman.”

  “You’re turning into that madman, or haven’t you noticed?”

  “Enough!” Brendan bellowed.

  I tried not to shiver, but it was impossible. I felt
the reverberations of his power in my very soul. And I was jealous of it.

  “This is getting us nowhere,” Brendan said in a calmer tone. “Bickering like children will not end this war.”

  “No,” Drake croaked. “No, but an army will. You know what must be done. She’s swayed by her humanity. She doesn’t see what we see. Sadler has humiliated you at every turn. He stole those you protected right out from under you, he’s spent the last year aiming raiding parties our way and bothering our subjects, and now he feeds someone he believes you trust with fantasies of zombie armies.”

  I gasped. “Excuse me? Sadler hasn’t fed me anything. If you think that, then you really are crazy. The rumours came from people who helped me escape from Sadler. Or do you think that was part of Sadler’s plan, too? The people who come to me want my child to stay safe, even if it puts them in Sadler’s crosshairs. They’re helping me because—”

  Drake looked at Brendan while jabbing a finger in my direction. “You see? She believes anything they tell her because they showed her moments of kindness amongst the torture. It’s not her fault. She was held captive for months. The humans even have a term for what’s happened to her, how she’s come to care for the very people who kept her prisoner.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh, for the love of—”

  “Perhaps she’s the one feeding us,” Donella said in a sly voice. “After all, nobody else has seen these visitors of hers. How could a Darksider make it past the soldiers? How can we be sure that she’s not Sadler’s spy? Who knows what he promised her?”

  Everyone fell silent as most turned to study me. My cheeks burned at the intense interest… and coldness. “So I’m not trustworthy now?” When neither Brendan nor Drake spoke up, I bristled. “Well, fuck you, too.” I stood. “If I’m not to be trusted, then why am I even here?” I headed for the door, too shaken and angry to do anything but escape.

  “Wait,” Brendan said. “I’ll gather a small force to accompany you to the Darkside. Whether the fight is against Sadler or some dead army, it’s time to move.” He glanced at Drake. “Apparently, peace just isn’t an option.”

  Brendan’s shoulders slumped. My heart twitched. Brendan had asked me to come back to avoid a war. Now it was happening anyway, and I was stuck in the middle of it.

  Chapter Nine

  Someone was on the other side, kicking my coffin. Panicked, I slammed my fists at the wood. The lid flew open, and I fell into nothing.

  I flailed my arms and legs for a few seconds then opened my eyes. I was in bed in a castle in the Green Court.

  “Shit,” I whispered, then I flinched as someone pounded on my bedroom door.

  Still on edge from the dream, I grabbed my dagger from the bedside table then stumbled out of bed to the door. I brandished the knife as I opened the door. “What the hell is up with the noise?”

  With a lazy grin, Brendan leaned against the door jamb. He nodded at my dagger. “Is that what it’s come to?”

  I lowered my arm. “Careful. I might betray you. You know, like the time I risked my life to help you get your crown back, and oh, yeah, that other time when I went to fucking purgatory to save your soul.”

  “And I did thank you for that, didn’t I?” He laughed at my frown. “Ah. Still angry. Remember now, I wasn’t the one who said those things. I have never once told you I didn’t trust you, but as far as I recall, you’ve thrown those words at me often enough.”

  I glared at him. “You didn’t contradict anyone at the meeting. You didn’t stick up for me. You didn’t fight for anything. You just… caved.”

  He held up his hands. “Peace, Mistress of the Dark.”

  “Jesus, you make me sound like some kind of crappy dominatrix. Why are you here, anyway?”

  “I thought you might like to take Dubh out for a trip today. Break up the accusations and anger a little. You can always go back to feeling bitter later.”

  “I can go?” I narrowed my eyes. “And will I get an arrow in the back because someone thinks I’m rushing off to the Darkside to share all your secrets?”

  “Well, I suppose I’ll just have to accompany you to make sure that doesn’t happen. We leave in an hour. Meet me outside.” He gave a little bow and walked out of the room, leaving me feeling as though I had been tricked into something yet again.

  But a trip on Dubh sounded far better than sitting in my room and wondering if my daughter missed me. Despite thinking that Brendan likely had ulterior motives, I wanted to go somewhere that wasn’t the castle.

  Before I had returned, Brendan was so confident that he had organised clothing. The clothes had been embarrassingly ill-fitting. Pregnancy had changed almost everything about me, and that made me self-conscious.

  Some of the fae were still happy to pamper their king’s pet, however, and my new wardrobe was already full of beautiful dresses the needle-fingered seamstress had been making for me on an almost daily basis. She didn’t even bat an eyelid when I requested black. I thought some perverse part of her found it amusing to indulge me.

  I found a black riding outfit and changed. The outfit made me feel at home, even though I should have felt as though I were dressing up like a faery again. I shrugged off the negative thoughts and headed downstairs.

  Brendan was sitting on a low stone wall outside the castle, kicking his feet like an overgrown child. When he saw me, he grinned. “Early for a change. Come. The horses are already ready and waiting.”

  He hopped off the wall and strode toward the stables, and I followed. A couple of servants bowed and backed out of his way. He nodded at them as he passed. It was still early, so most of the court and visiting guests weren’t awake. Plenty of soldiers were patrolling, but they pretty much ignored me.

  A groom was standing in front of the stables, looking uncomfortable as Dubh stamped and snorted by her side. Cheering up, I raced past Brendan and reached the horses first. Dubh strained to greet me, knocking the groom over in his eagerness to break free.

  “Dubh, you meanie,” I said, patting the horse before helping the groom to her feet. “You okay?”

  She nodded, but she inched away from the horse and me, her eyes glinting with distrust. Brendan reached us and took the reins of the other horse. It was a golden yellow and almost as large as Dubh. It held up its elegant head, glistening in the morning light. I gave Dubh a doubtful look. Somehow, he looked even bigger than I remembered.

  “Need a hand?” Brendan asked me. “It’s been a while.”

  The offer of help stung enough to force me to try alone. I moved awkwardly but eventually managed to put one foot in the stirrup and haul myself onto Dubh’s back. He took a couple of steps as Brendan called out orders to a nearby group of soldiers. I ignored the stares and looked around me, feeling safer on Dubh’s back.

  “Ready?” Brendan asked, childlike excitement in his eyes. On the back of the golden horse, he looked as if he had just stepped out of a story.

  “Am I going to regret this?”

  He laughed. “You’re human. You regret everything.” He moved his horse closer to Dubh then leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Come on. You need to relax. We both do, and we can’t do it here. It’ll suffocate us if we don’t break free from time to time.”

  I caught his eye and decided he meant that. “I don’t think we’re supposed to be free.”

  “Then it’s a good thing we’re not leaving the grounds. I’m sick of being watched, and I’m getting away from everything this morning. Join me or not. Do as you will.” He dug his heels in and trotted away on the beautiful horse.

  Dubh tossed his head as I hesitated. “Screw it,” I said. “Let’s go, Dubh.”

  We easily caught up with Brendan, then he and I rode in silence away from the castle, past the seemingly endless gardens, and onto a stretch of firm ground that was perfect for riding. The sun was mild, and the wind warm, but the best part was that I didn’t see anyone watching us. We cantered away from trees and possible hiding places until we were surrounded by grass that
stretched out for miles.

  “Wanna race?” I asked, mostly to break the silence.

  “I play to win,” Brendan said. “I wouldn’t race against Dubh.”

  “Wimp. So what’s this about? I mean, it’s nice and all, but we could have strolled around the castle, too.”

  “I wanted to talk to you away from prying eyes. I know you’re angry about these meetings and the decisions we’re making, but things have changed.”

  “I noticed.” I urged Dubh forward, but Brendan kept up with our pace.

  “You’ve changed, too. You tell secrets only when you feel you have to. Why didn’t you tell me about this dead army?”

  “Because I had only just found out. And I wasn’t sure what to think. I mean, he could have been wrong. He could have been lying. I just needed to let it sink in first.”

  “He?”

  “Bart. He helped me escape the castle. He risked his life to give us a couple of extra seconds.” I huffed out a choked laugh. “I thought he was dead, then he just reappears. He wanted to warn me.”

  “About what?”

  I kept my gaze straight ahead. “About the ships.”

  “What is he to you that he would risk his life to help you leave Sadler then again to reach you in a rival court?”

  “What are you, jealous?” I threw a dirty look his way. “Why is it always such a surprise when faeries are capable of caring about more than just themselves?”

  “Because it rarely happens, Cara. There’s always an ulterior motive.” He grinned. “Almost always.”

  “Yeah, well, now there’s a lot more at stake than we thought. But maybe this is good news. Bart said this is a deal. Deals can be broken. If Sadler dies, then why would anyone want to fulfil their deals with him?”

  “Why indeed?” He sounded unhappy. “And what kind of a god would raise the dead for Sadler? I wonder if this god is the real reason I ended up in the Fade.”