Page 60 of Songs of Vice

The dinner carried forward, but the King’s words haunted me. As Luz walked with me back to my bedroom, I invited them in. As soon as I shut the door, I clasped my hand over my waist and felt the weight of my breath rising. “Lennox has this room warded. No one can hear us in here.”

Luz lit a lamp and dropped into a chair. “Yes, I know.”

“What did the King mean that the Unseelie,”—I winced—“I mean Prasanna fairies will regret their use of magic?”

Luz let their head fall back, their braid sliding down the wood. “He means a war is coming.”

“War?” The Naga hinted at something big coming for the fairies, something he implied I would play a role in. I hadn’t believed him—I still wasn’t sure if I did—but here I was in the middle of the Seelie palace, dining with a prince and a king less than a week later. Perhaps I was more involved in this than I’d believed.

“The Seelie’s hatred of magic stemmed from jealousy. Every court had their own powers. All fairies can exercise the different forms of magic, but they only excel in their court's natural powers.” Luz sat up and crossed an ankle over their knee. “The Seelie’s magic is glamour. They’re good at disguise and enchantment. Useless for warmongering, of course.”

“So why would they start a war?”

Luz stood and paced in front of the open windows, raising their face to the nearly full moon glowing against the ebony sky. “Let me finish and I think it will make more sense. The Prasanna fairies have power over time and memories—a powerful and, as some label it, dark magic. The Froh, what remains of them, have power over light and darkness… magic Sai has inherited from his Froh great-grandmother. And the Alegre,”—their voice dropped to a whisper—“can read emotions. Some could even alter thoughts and influence decisions. For this reason, the Seelie labeled them the most dangerous before eradicating them.”

I gasped. Lennox had said Luz was one of the last remaining Alegre. He didn’t mention that his court had destroyed them. Luz took a deep breath and all their playful banter and quick-wittedness of the previous days swept away with it. “My court is dead, Lira. Very few of us remain. And the Seelie want to end the other courts as well. The only one left with any strength is the Prasanna.”

The stones on the wall seemed to darken as if shadows crept up around them. God, I was caught in a nightmare. How did the Seelie feel about sirens? I bet they wouldn’t give the gentle acceptance Sai had offered. Then again, Sai was the reason I was stuck here. I thought about what Luz had said and considered my fictional reading of the fairy courts in books. In the stories I’d read, the Seelie and ‘Unseelie’ were contentious but lived separately and peacefully. War was dangerous for everyone. “Why do the Seelie want to end the other courts?”

“They want to see a world with no magic in it. They believe magic is dangerous, sinful even.” Luz turned around on their heel, their boot leaving a whirl of a pattern on the rug. “And here’s the thing about Prince Shaan’s zevar. Every court has a heart stone. It carries the magic of their people in it.” Luz sat on the bed, their shoulders slumping. “In the last war, the Prasanna’s heart stone was destroyed. Or so King Carrington’s father thought. It shattered into a dozen pieces on a ship and half of them swept away with the ocean, landing in hands they shouldn’t have. The Prasanna, however, decided they’d keep the remaining pieces close.”

My lips snapped apart. “Shaan’s zevar is a piece of their heart stone?”

“Yes, and King Carrington doesn’t want the Prasanna to regain all the pieces. If they do, they’ll be indomitable.”

I walked around and sat on the bed beside them. “Can I ask you something that’s rude? I have so many questions and I don’t know who to ask.”

Luz nodded.

It was a relief for them to agree. The question I’d wanted to ask since the moment I’d learned Sai was a fairy bubbled up in my mouth. “Are the Prasanna dangerous? It’s rumored… that their magic is dark and has been used to harm others in the past.”

“They’re no more dangerous than any other magical being. The Seelie have twisted stories about them, made them appear to be the villains.” I leaned over and unlaced my boot before yanking to pull it off. As Luz spoke, I began untying the other. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Lira, but I have a tail here.”

“A what?”

“The guards following us around?”

“Aren’t they for our protection?”

Luz scoffed. “You can’t actually believe that.” Heat whispered across my cheeks. Of course I did. Of course I naively believed they meant well. This entire experience was going to turn me into the most bitter cynic. “They have the jails in the palace lined with some magic-infused metal that drains powers. Elisa won’t be able to get them out.”

I froze. “I thought you said the Seelie don’t believe in using magic.”

“Unless it’s convenient for them.”

Just like Mother. Killing was wrong, unless she decided it wasn't. Stealing was wrong, unless she was the one taking. Hypocrites, all of them. I couldn’t stand it. For all my chastising myself over trusting too much, I wanted to believe there was good in the world. However, I’d grown up with my mother. That should have sealed the reality. Life was harsh. Lennox knew my mother, which meant she had some dealings with their court. Her and King Carrington seemed to be aligned in their thinking. Now Luz said they couldn’t help the group get out of the jail. If the King was anything like Mother when offended, they were in real trouble.

“The King plans to execute Sai’s team,” Luz said as if they answered my thoughts.

My breath caught in my throat. The King really was like Mother. Someone crossed her, and she didn’t ask questions. She finished them before they had a chance to make the same mistake twice. “They stole from the Prasanna in the first place. This all started with their actions.”

“I know.” Luz clutched my arm. “Help me, Lira. For whatever reason, the Prince trusts you. He doesn’t care for me.” They smirked. “He’s wiser than his father in that way, not that the old bastard would ever admit it. Sai was wrong. We need you to pull this off.”

I shifted away from them and clutched my hand over a pillow, curling my fingers around the indents the feathers made. “Sai doesn’t want me involved in this.” Tears bit at my eyes. “He lied to me, Luz. He used me.”

“Sai… means well.”

“Damn him and his well-meaningness.”