Page 13 of Songs of Sacrament
“No.” He rolled his shoulders back so that he towered over me, as if to remind me I didn’t have his build, his military legacy, his inclinations. “I despise magic landing in the wrong hands.”
“I assume you mean Prince Sai’s?”
“Well, at least the bastard is worthy of it.” He sneered at me. He’d said the rest so often, it didn’t need to be repeated. My mother was Froh—a strategic move on Father’s part with the hope of his children possessing more magic. Yet, I didn’t have a smack of the Froh’s light or shadow magic. Sai had some distant great-grandparent or some-such with Froh blood and he’d somehow inherited shadow magic like darkness was beholden to him. He also knew how to fight, how to hold his own. He was useful, unlike me.
I pressed my tongue hard against the roof of my mouth and focused on the glamour, on keeping my healthy color in place.
“You had only one other task at the gala, monitoring Lira, and you couldn’t manage that either could you?”
I gasped. He’d just said Lira, not Álainn—the false name I’d given him for her.
“Yes, Lennox,” he spat, “I’m aware of who she is. I know more than you do, in fact.”
“Who is she?” I’d spoken without thinking which earned me another glare. She was Palaria’s daughter, of course, which explained why the woman lingered at the palace if Father knew of Lira’s true identity. Something about the way he’d said he knew more made me suspect there was something to Lira beyond her being the daughter of a siren troupe under our authority. It reminded me of Lira standing in my room, asking me a similar question.Who am I?she’d asked like she truly didn’t know. God, it was my job to look out for her, and I’d failed miserably. Then Sai had taken her bodily as she screamed for help. I had remained frozen in place without my zevar, unable to do anything.
It was hard to connect Sai with his brother. Shaan may not care for the Seelie court, but he wasn’t evil. He’d never kidnap or threaten someone. Apparently his brother was different.
Now Lira was in the hands of the Prasanna court.
I wanted to feel afraid for her. I couldn’t help but think they weren’t as they seemed, though. Shaan had talked about his family with humor and affection in his voice. Even Sai. I wasn’t certain what to make of it. Now Father revealed he knew something about Lira that I didn’t.
“Do you truly think”—he walked over to a window next to an ivory statue of a fairy pulling a bow back so the weapon looked like it was aimed at him—“I’d accept you as my only heir and not have a backup plan in place?”
“What?”
He’d always despised me, hated that I impressed more in court than in armor. I’d spent my entire life making connections, learning how to weave my way politically through Father’s realm. Now my mind whirled with what he told me. He had another heir, and he’d just discussed a siren who—I gulped in a breath of air as realization hit me—had the same pale blue eyes that I did. “Lira’s your daughter?”
“She is.”
I stared at him. “She’s only a few years younger than me.”
Father cocked an eyebrow at me. “That’s true.”
“You must have conceived her before Mother’s death.”
“Also true.” He lifted his shoulders, his robe rippling. “Kings must make hard decisions, Lennox. This is something you’ve never understood, and I’m not sure you ever will. Perhaps I’ll get my daughter back and mark her for my magic instead.”
“What?”
As much as I knew Father hated me, I’d never imagined him not eventually giving the magic to me once I’d proven myself enough. My worry had been that he’d start this war before he passed the powers on. How could he have had this tucked away the entire time and never mentioned it to me? God damn it, every decision I’d made with Shaan was based on the assumption that only I had the blood to accept the Seelie’s magic, that I was the only one who could try to protect both of our courts. If I’d known…
My brain screamed.
If I’d known. Oh, God. I’d ruined everything for nothing. Fire swarmed through me, my skin broke out in sweat, and I trembled to contain the powers, to not incinerate the entire room.
“Maybe Lira will prove more worthy of the crown.” Father continued as if he didn’t notice the shift in my mood. “Her mother tells me her magic is tremendous.”
“Maybe she would be a better fit as your heir,” I whispered.
Father snapped his face in my direction, his lips pinching into a frown. “You’re dismissed.”
I sighed as I walked towards the doors at the front of the chamber. My heart thundered as images of Shaan came to me. Shaan smiling until his cheeks wrinkled, Shaan painting until colors splattered his sleeves, Shaan gentle as he guided me against a blanket.
I don’t know what I’m doing.
That’s okay. I do.
When I reached the door, I stopped and pressed my hand against the molding my ancestors had walked beneath centuries before I’d existed. Arches that I’d imagined my descendants would traverse under long after I was gone.