I tugged on the bottom of my waistcoat, ridding the black silk of any remaining creases. Ruairi loosed a song-suffering sigh, watching me from his wingback with a stoic expression.
“Are you certain you can’t tell?” I asked, hating having to rely on him for something so vital.
Ruairi rolled his eyes and shoved his sleeves to his elbows, no doubt ready to deck me. “Fecks’ sake, lad, I said I couldn’t smell her.”
The pooka was pissier than usual today. Seeing him scowl was a nice break from all his irritating grins.
After my moment of weakness in the study with Aveen, I’d bathed, killed myself, and bathed again. Between death and the pound of soap I’d used in the bath, I smelled like I’d slept in a vat of potpourri. But my senses weren’t nearly as acute as the dog’s. If he said he couldn’t scent Aveen anywhere near me, that had to be good enough.
Nothing I could do about it now, and it wasn’t as if I could leave. The Queen wouldn’t set foot in this castle if I wasn’t here as well.
Tadhg popped his head into the parlor to tell us it was time. We made our way out to the castle gates to wait. The long grass on the other side of the wards swayed and rocked, but no breeze reached us here. Would there ever be a time when we could live without the need for wards? I thought of Aveen’s glamour and the ones I’d hidden behind for most of my life. Would we ever be truly safe?
The Queen arrived, six shadow guards following close behind, short swords crossed at their backs and masks concealing their features. The old witch barely acknowledged me, looking straight at Tadhg with her lips slightly parted in surprise, presumably at his appearance.
My brother had made a rare effort, his clothes starched and pressed, his borrowed waistcoat and cravat buttoned and tied to perfection. For once, he looked like a prince instead of a disaster.
Her black gaze darted to me before returning to my brother. “I do hope this isn’t another ruse to steal from me.”
Tadhg’s hair fell over his forehead when he shook his head. “I can assure you that it’s not.”
Her shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath as she searched for his lie. Her lips pursed, and she nodded.
Stepping aside, Tadhg gestured toward the castle. “Come inside, there is something urgent we must discuss.” The guards followed, their boots not making a sound on the gravel, as if they weren’t marching in time. Phantoms, much like their master’s favorite moniker.
To my surprise, the Queen sidled up to me. “You look awful,” she murmured.
What was she on about? My clothes were immaculate, my boots polished to a shine. Eava had trimmed my hair, and I’d shaved. Leave it to the Queen to still find fault in perfection.
“Is that useless witch not feeding you?” she pressed.
I may have lost a little weight over the last year, and could have really done with a trip to the tailor, but I hadn’t had the time—or the inclination.
“Save your false concern.” She hadn’t been worried about my wellbeing when she’d starved me for a week after I’d spilled a goblet of blood on the carpet. Why start now?
Her narrowed eyes roamed over my face. “I’m relieved to see this loss has hardened you. You always were too soft. I heard you even issued a royal pardon to a thieving witch.”
Only because Aveen had made me realize the value in mercy. Pardoning Anwen for stealing fabric had been the right choice, even if the Queen would never see it that way.
I tamped down my irritation. All that mattered was that the Queen still believed Aveen was dead. And from the way she referred to her death as a “loss,” I assumed our ruse was working.
“You know how eager I’ve always been to please you,Mother,” I drawled, hoping she choked on the sweetness of my lie.
Although she said no more, her lips flattened as she swept into the dining room and took her seat at the head of the table. Tadhg shifted a bottle of blood, but she refused a glass, saying she was a busy woman and had no time for drinks and idle conversation.
Brilliant. Neither did we.
Tadhg flattened his hands atop the table and drew in a deep breath. “Right, so. I suppose we’ll get down to business then. We have a problem. A blight is tainting the land, killing animals and crops. We’ve had to relocate thirty families and three faerie colonies.”
The Queen’s impassive expression gave nothing away. “How unfortunate.”
“It seems as if the Forest is spreading,” he went on.
Her face may as well have been a stone sculpture for all it moved. “I see.”
Tadhg looked the Queen dead in the eye, his own eyes swirling with black shadows. “It needs to stop.”
A surprisingly diplomatic approach all things considered. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve called the warmth in my chest pride.