I shook my head. “Not the Carlin, though I’m still going to kill her. I meant the Brid.”
Nua and Gillie stared at me in shocked silence, the latter thumping down his mug on the table and splashing tea over his hand. Neither of them spoke for a long time.
“W-why?” Nua eventually asked, his voice faint.
My mouth flattened into a grim line.
“Because she’s awful. You were right, Gillie. She’s worse than the Carlin. She murders seelie Folk just because it amuses her.” I looked at Nua. “She hasn’t forgiven you, Nua. She still wants to kill you. She wants me to do it.”
He swallowed, green eyes bright in the light coming from the hearth. “I—That doesn’t surprise me.”
“So I’m going to keep you safe,” I said bluntly. “You kept me safe from her when I was a boy. I’m returning the favour. I’m going to make sure she can never hurt you.”
Nua shook his head frantically. “That wasn’t a favour, Ash. You don’t owe me anything. I don’t want you to do this. It’s too dangerous. You’ll get hurt.You’lldie. It’s not worth it. We’ve stayed safe out here for so long—”
“It’s not enough.”
“Itis,” he urged, stretching his hands out towards me on the table, his eyes frantic. “It is. Please, Ash. Please just stay here, with us. We can—”
“She’ll look for me. And you.” I felt my eyes water. “And if I stayed there with her, I’d never be able to see either of you again. It would be too dangerous. But I’m not spending the rest of my life with the Brid, Nua. And I’m not spending the rest of it hiding from her either.”
“What about the Carlin?” Gillie asked calmly, reaching out to thread his fingers through Nua’s and squeezing. “And her sons. I thought you wanted to killthem.”
I nodded. “I do. And I will. But the Brid first.”
Nua shook his head weakly, eyes glistening. “If you kill her—”
“You’llbecome king.” I tried to gentle my voice as I reached over and clasped his free hand. “You can be agoodruler.”
He stared at me. “Why do you think it would be me?”
I paused. “What? Why wouldn’t it? You’re the oldest. The next in line.”
Gillie shook his head. “That’s not how it works with the High Fae, Ash. When the ruler dies, the power transfers to the strongest in the lineage. Not necessarily the oldest.”
My brows twitched into a frown. “Well, that still means it would be Nua. I’m not even full fae. Not really. I heard the Brid call me a half-breed runt,” I couldn’t help but add bitterly.
“Ignore what that old bitch says,” Gillie rasped easily, waving his hand. Then he fixed his silver eyes on me keenly. “How would you do it? The queens are not easy to kill, Ash. Near impossible. I’m guessing you have a plan to have come here to tell us.”
I nodded and pulled the book out of my satchel, quickly finding the passage about Gadleg.
“I’ll go here. I’ll get Gadleg’s venom. Then I’ll coat an arrowhead in it and shoot her.”
Nua and Gillie stared down at the book, eyes darting over the passage.
“Where did you find this book?” Nua asked, his voice weak with shock.
“The palace library.”
He huffed out a breath, shaking his head. “I never knew this was there. I suspect she doesn’t either.” He glanced up at me with a concerned frown. “But Hybra’s only visible once every seven years. And even then—”
“I don’t care,” I interrupted in a hard voice. “I’ll wait. I’ll wait there until I can see it.”
“You won’t have to,” Gillie said in a low voice. “It’s visible now. I heard Folk at the market talking about seeing Gadleg’s tower. The fingerstones have risen from the sea.”
“Gillie,” Nua hissed. “Don’t encourage Ash to do this.”
“He’ll do it regardless, my love.” Gillie pursed his lips. “And I admit, I’d be glad to see that bitch dead. To stop worrying whether she will ever pick up her search for you. I want you to be safe, Nua. Just like Ash does.”