I wonder if this means she could help me with my glamour powers. I still don’t feel I have a full handle on how to use them.
Nahini gestures at herself in the form I originally saw her in. “This is how I feel I truly am. This reflects my inner self.”
I think that’s really great. I never thought of using glamour that way. There are probably a lot of ways to use glamour that haven’t occurred to me because I haven’t been around other fae and don’t know much about our heritage and our culture. I feel a pang of loss once again for my parents, and all they could’ve taught me and shown me.
But we’re here now, among the fae, fae I didn’t even know existed. Hopefully they can teach me something, and hopefully Roanac hasn’t made it so that it’s too late.
“Your letter does explain things,” Nahini says. She tucks the letter away. “Willow and her men are good friends of ours. They’ve protected our secret and held to their oath. I never thought we would consider vampires to be trustworthy but they’ve proven themselves. If they say that you’re important and need to see the queen, then I’ll take you. But be respectful.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say automatically. Okay, I have to admit, Nahini’s intimidating.
Nahini looks at each of us in turn. My mates all nod at her to show that they agree to be on their best behavior.
“Good.” Nahini gives us a firmor elsesort of look and then leads us through the village.
I’m not sure if village is the right word for it. Everything’s rustic and so at one with nature, that’s the word that springs to mind, but villages are small and this has a lot more buildings and fae in it than I could’ve ever hoped for.
I’m torn between elation and fear. I’m so happy to see that there are so many fae out there that I didn’t know about, but I’m also terrified because of Roanac. He wants to drain all of them, I’m sure, and this will all be gone in days if he gets his way. I can’t let that happen. I can’t lose this community now that I’ve found it.
Nahini leads us up the winding staircase on one of the trees up to a building that seems a bit larger than the others. The room is well-built, and I feel like it won’t give way beneath us, an impressive feat considering how high up we are and how delicate everything looks. The room that we step into is large, and has about six fae guards in it, each with weapons. At the back, sitting on a simple chair, is a beautiful woman. Her chair is piled high with cushions, and it looks terribly comfortable, but it’s also obviously a throne.
The woman has long white hair that goes down to her waist, with streaks of deep red framing her face. Her eyes are sharp and dark, but above all, wise and weighted. It makes me suspect that despite her ever-youthful appearance, she’s older than she lets on. I wonder if it’s magic keeping her looking young or if she’s glamouring herself as Nahini does.
“Queen Tiorelle,” Nahini says with a polite bow. “We have visitors here, from King Malcolm’s court. They’ve come bearing grave news.”
Tiorelle frowns at us. “Very well, if they come from such good friends then we can trust them.”
“I’ve verified it, your majesty, they’re legitimate.”
Tiorelle waves her hand at me. “Speak, then.”
As briefly as I can, I detail who Roanac is and what’s going on. I explain that the vampires are ready to help us and are planning an attack but that they thought the fae forces would also help.
“We didn’t know you even existed until just a few hours ago,” I explain. “Otherwise I would’ve told you of this threat to our people sooner. My apologies.”
“There is no need to apologize,” Tiorelle said. “We are secretive for a reason.”
She looks like she’s pondering what next to say, when pain sears through me like before, and I double over.
Oh shit.
CHAPTER14
Fuck, that hurts. I think I cry out, but I’m not the only one affected. All the fae around me crumple too. It’s a weird comfort to know I’m not alone in my pain, but it also scares me. It’s Roanac, and he’s getting stronger.
I clutch at my stomach, trying to breathe carefully. Even just moving my lungs to take in air hurts.
I have no idea how long it lasts, but at last the wave of pain recedes. I look up at Queen Tiorelle, who also looks to be in pain. Her hair is now black, but it shifts back to white as she inhales deeply and gets her bearings back.
Everyone’s affected, but nobody seems to be hit as hard as I am. I’m still on my knees on the ground, gasping for air.
“I think that is sufficiently convincing,” Tiorelle manages to get out. “We felt the first hit too, but it wasn’t as strong as this one. We weren’t sure where it came from or what it meant, but it seems that the All-Soul that we share is now a weakness instead of a strength.”
“This wave is harder,” Nahini points out.
Tiorelle nods. “Yes. This Roanac is getting stronger.”
Well, I suppose there’s the silver lining that we don’t have to work all that hard to convince her that we’re serious and telling the truth.