“Ugh. Fine.” He rubbed his temple. “Don’t touch this. It’s mine.” The idiot created a ward around the cake, kissed Eava on the cheek, and started for the door.
I spent the next two minutes trying to break the ward. Eava smirked, flicked her wrist, and the entire thing dissolved. Laughing, I piled more cake onto my plate. Tadhg appeared a moment later, stealing the plate right out of my hands. “She said no.”
My mother had said no? She never said no. “Why?”
Tadhg shrugged and resumed eating. “I asked if I could bring a human into and out of the Forest, and she said not today.”
“Did you tell Leesha?”
“Went straight away afterwards,” he mumbled around a mouthful. “She was not impressed. Said she had a surprise for you.”
* * *
By the time I left, I felt a little less miserable. But that didn’t last for long because the moment I cut my hand and crossed the wards, the Queen appeared on the steps. “Where have you been?”
None of your business. “Eava made me a cake.”
Her dark brows arched toward the black crown she’d added to her ensemble from this morning. “Whatever for?”
“My birthday.”
“Oh, is that today?” A smile appeared on her lips that left my stomach sinking. My mother’s smiles only meant one thing. “Well, then it is a coincidence that I have a lovely present for you.” She snapped her fingers at one of the guards, who quickly disappeared behind the castle doors.
The last time my mother had given me a present was for my fifth birthday. A long-haired kitten I’d named Sir Fluffy Paws. I’d loved that little runt even though he pissed on the rug constantly. On my sixth birthday, she’d thrown Sir Fluffy Paws off the cliff.
“Attachments lead to weakness,” she’d announced over my wailing sobs as the waves claimed my tiny companion. “And a prince cannot afford to be weak.”
The guard returned, towing something behind him.
Not something.
Someone.
A girl with red hair and moss-green eyes, gagged and bound and thrown at my feet like she was nothing.
I tried to swallow, but there was a boulder in my throat.
“I caught this human crossing the Forest without permission,” my mother crooned. “She says she was going to the castle.”
By some miracle, I kept my face an impassive mask despite a cold sweat breaking out across my brow, leaving me trembling in my boots. Leesha knew to wait for me or Tadhg. I’d warned her time and again what would happen if she went into the Forest on her own. What had she been thinking?
“I’ve seen her there,” I said. “She’s been meeting with Tadhg.” Not a lie, but a careful truth. She had been meeting with Tadhg . . . until I arrived.
“One of your brother’s many simpering fans, is she?” My mother pursed her lips, scowling at Leesha as tears tumbled down my beloved’s freckled cheekbones and a choked sob escaped from behind the gag.
I could only nod. In truth, Leesha thought Tadhg arrogant and conceited. Not many people could see through his false smiles, but she had. I’d let myself fall in love with her that day, the day I knew she wouldn’t leave me for him.
“You know the rule for crossing the Forest without my permission, girl?” my mother said in a soft voice, kneeling beside Leesha to untie the gag.“One life.” She shushed Leesha as she sobbed, using her thumb to wipe the tears from her cheeks.
I wanted to scream. To rail. To feckin’ beg. I stood there on trembling legs, unable to draw air into my lungs.
My mother’s eyes met mine. “Well? What are you waiting for?” She appeared at my back, whispering in my ear, “Do it.”
I withdrew my dagger from its sheath, my clammy hands making it impossible to get a decent grip.
Sharp nails bit into my forearm. “Do it.”
My dagger clattered to the ground. “No.”