Knowing that at the end of open court I'd be facing down the people who had shot me and Dain made it hard to focus on the troubles of the fae and humans who came to the palace for the Queen's judgment. I sat there looking like a femme fatale with my Death-avatar crown prince watching everything with cold eyes, listening to people presenting cases about inheritances, wrongful injury, and stolen children. They were real problems, serious problems, and I knew it was my duty as a princess to listen, but all I could think about was terror on Dain's blood-spattered face, and his agonized screams as I ripped arrows out of his back.

At last, four members of the palace guard came forward, bringing with them two people bound at the wrists and ankles, one fae and one human. The fae was a slender woman with muscled shoulders, her pale skin and white-blonde hair striking, the shocking mauve of her eyes visible from my chair on the dais. The human was a salt-and-pepper-haired man, not at all handsome, with a blocky build and a cleft chin.

"Well, well," the Queen said, her voice lilting. "If it isn't Lady Theynorë and her soulmated devotee. Welcome to Stag Court, old friends. It's been decades since King Omahice has allowed you to leave the Court of Mercy." She traced a pattern on the arm of her throne. "What a pity that we couldn't meet today under better circumstances. I had so hoped that our next meeting would be one of mutual satisfaction on the soil of the Merciful King's inheritance."

My fingers gripped the arms of my ornate chair so hard I could feel my tendons creaking. Beside me, Dain started growling, a dangerous rumble that rose and fell as he breathed. Neither of the two looked up at us.

The fae woman bowed her head deeply, held by each arm by the palace guard. "Your majesty," she said in a gracious tone of voice. "I, too, had hoped for our next meeting to be such a one. I am sorrowed to face you today with such a bitter ending to our friendship."

"As the Stag Queen, I am duty-bound to ask you two questions today," the Queen said in a disappointed tone of voice, like a teacher scolding a particularly beloved student. "I require that you answer them with either 'yes' or 'no.' Any other answer will be taken as an admission of guilt, and will receive the same penalty as a confession. Do you understand?"

"Yes, your majesty," Lady Theynorë said. Her tone didn't waver; I suspected she had made her peace with death not long after she'd been captured. She'd had almost a week to consider what would happen when she was brought in for judgment.

"Did you attempt to harm my son Dain Sundamar, or his soulmate Leah Escarra?"

Lady Theynorë's chin came up. "Yes," she said, her voice calm and clear.