“No, flowers.”
Her hand struck me with a burst of blinding speed. My cheekbone made a cracking sound beneath the force of the blow. “Don’t test me, boy. Are they iron?”
I bobbed my head, the movement making my face ache. Not that she noticed with the way she’d started pacing between the river and where I stood, leaving a trail of blackened grass in her wake. The many curled brown leaves scattered on the ground seemed to know better than to stick to the hem of her feathered skirt.
“What is your brother doing about it?” she demanded.
“What he always does.”
“So nothing, then,” she muttered, coming to a halt in front of me. “This responsibility falls to you. Have you spoken to Muireann about getting the merrow involved?”
How did she know about—Feckin’ fish. No feckin’ loyalty. “It’s not my place.”
“If your brother will not do what is necessary, then you must step up and rule in his stead. Let the people see you for the leader you are.”
The people? To them, I was the son of a monster. A soulless murderer.
They weren’t wrong.
“Speak to Muireann,” the Queen went on. “Ask what it would take for them to sink the ships. If you don’t,” she said with a smile, “then I will make you.”
I had nothing against seeing every last Vellanian ship sent to the bottom of the ocean, except, “The treaty forbids—”
“The treaty is worthless now that they are mounting an attack against us.”
It did appear as though an attack was imminent, but to what end? Our land was a pittance compared to theirs. Unlike our ancestors, we had no army to use against them. According to the treaty, we weren’t even allowed to train one because our ability to wield magic already gave us an “unfair advantage.”
I was missing something. And I feckin’ hated it.
“Let me see the ledgers.” The Queen smacked my arm when I didn’t jump at her command. “The ledgers, boy!”
I shifted the books filled with names of the most recently executed Danú and handed it to her.
She dragged a blackened nail down each account. Names, alleged crimes, sentences. “Are they all false accusations?”
“Most, but not all. Ailbe got too sloppy, and Brian got too drunk.” Two out of fourteen in the last two weeks had been guilty. All fourteen had been executed.
She flicked through the rest of the pages. “And the false witnesses?”
“Taken care of.”
A small smile pulled at the edge of her lips, infinitely more terrifying than her frown. “Excellent.” She shoved the ledger into my chest, forcing my hands to take it. “I’m finished with you now.” With a flick of her wrist, the tost disbanded, and the cold, dead air from the Forest punched me in the lungs.
When she evanesced, the only lingering sign of her presence was the patch of blackened grass. I gasped carrion-laced air until the pain in my face dissipated.
Someday, I would be strong enough to destroy her.
Someday, but not this day.
Back at the castle, I took a detour to the fountain, sinking onto the low stone edge to splash my fingers against the chilly water. A few wispy clouds drifted across the sky as I waited. And waited. And feckin’ waited.
I was on the verge of giving up when a mass of dark hair appeared, followed by a narrow face and dark, lashless eyes.
The pale blue skin of the merrow’s face darkened where it reached her curling lips. “Hello, Wicked Prince. Here to play in the daylight, are ye?” The gills behind her ear opened and closed with each rasping breath. Her bare breasts rose and fell, the left one marked by my blade years ago.
Magic swelled in my palm. I sent it spinning into the air with a flick of my wrist, creating a soundproof barrier so the grogoch hunched in the garden didn’t overhear us.
“I’m here to talk sinking ships.”