I let the robes drop to the ground. “Massacres, not only of Danú but their human mates. Businesses and houses burned.” Twenty dead in Mántan and another seventeen in Sirk.
“This is the first I am hearing of it.”
Truth.Dammit. That made no sense. If the Vellanians weren’t killing the Danú, who was behind this? “What about your father? Could he have ordered the attacks?”
The king’s crown slipped when his head shook. “Not that I’m aware of. He’s been sick for quite some time, you see, so I’ve been the one making the decisions for the past six months.”
More truths and no answers. “Why has he been sending extra troops to Airren shores over the last three years?”
“To help deal with the Danú uprising.”
That was the second time someone here had mentioned a rebellion. Therewasno Danú uprising.But if the killing didn’t stop, there sure as hell would be.
“Whoever is attacking your people wasn’t sent by Vellana,” he said.
Then I had to be missing something. But what? “How do your people know who to arrest?” Most of the Danú in Airren lived under glamours when they could. The majority of humans walked around blissfully unaware of exactly how many of them lived in Airren.
“Mostly from letters with anonymous tips.”
“Do you have any here at the castle?”
“I do.” He hurried to the door and called for one of the guards. A few moments later, the man returned with a stack of letters. The king handed them to me for inspection. I didn’t need to look any further than the looped handwriting on the first page.
Dread slithered down my spine.
The Queen had written these letters.
Anger and fear were brilliant motivators. With Airren in such a dangerous state, more people would be tempted to try and cross the Forest. But with the land in Tearmann being swallowed by the blight, there would be nowhere for them to go. Too many people in too small an area was a surefire way to create dissention and more unrest.
Look at what had happened after Tadhg’s wedding.
A fire was coming.
And the Phantom Queen had been the one to light the match.
44
KEELYNN
With the lastof my dresses stuffed into the trunk, I had to sit on the lid to close it. We’d be leaving so much behind, but with room on the ships so scarce, there was nothing to be done. Perhaps someday the others would return to the castle and find everything still in place. Not that I’d be here to see it. Once I left Tearmann soil, I would never again set foot in this land. The Queen would make sure of it.
Or perhaps those who were refusing to leave Tearmann would loot the entire castle and there’d be nothing left to come back to. Assuming those who remained didn’t die of starvation first.
With no crops of their own, they’d be forced to venture beyond the border for sustenance. Winters in Airren were already hard on those who lived there. There wouldn’t be enough for them all.
Thankfully, most of the Danú had been receptive to our plan to relocate to Iodale. Word had spread like wildfire, no doubt reaching the Queen in the Black Forest.
Let her rule this empty land.
Let her reap the darkness she’d sown in this once magical place.
Tadhg and Ruairi had been evanescing to towns across Airren, extending invitations to the Danú and their human partners there as well. Not everyone agreed to join us, but some had.
It would have to be enough.
I was about to latch the leather straps when I heard Ruairi’s low voice in the hallway. “She sent another one?”
What was he doing here? Shouldn’t he be packing up his house like the rest of us? I tiptoed across the bedroom to peer through a gap in the door.