Her lips curled up a little more in the corners. "Isn't her naivety charming?" the Queen asked the man from whom Dain had claimed the glass of wine, before tilting her vulpine face back towards me. "Stag Court is as much a living thing as you or I, my dear, and it knows its Queen and her heir. The power of the Court will not allow any in the line of inheritance to directly harm it or each other." She turned back to the representative of Sycamore Court with a sultry expression. "Tell her what would happen, Ciendos."

He chuckled, a low sound of pleasure, looking into the silver eyes of the Queen. "The power would consume the one who tried to slay their kin from the inside out, leaving only a husk behind," the man said, sounding as if he got a sick satisfaction out of the thought. "If the Stag Queen so much as commanded a soldier to put an arrow in his throat, the Court would end her and make him King. Of course, it protects her from his brutality, too, so perhaps it isn't such a difficult onus to bear."

The Queen ran the backs of her slim fingers along his cheek, rotating her hand to rest her fingertips lightly on his lips for a moment before turning back to me. "And so, the Court decrees that I cannot lift a finger against him, nor can I disinherit him," she said with false-sounding pleasure. "I cannot even ask you to do me the favor of lifting steel against him. Still," she added, that curling smile back on her face. "It would please me to hand you the blade that at last tastes his heart's blood. Do tell me if you decide you'd like one, dear girl."

"Of course, your majesty," I got out through the horror, listening to her gleaming laughter as she left for the revel.

16. Escapism

Chapter 16

Escapism

I danced for hours, because that's what you do at a revel, and I'd made a deal with Dain to attend them. I didn't know the steps, and I didn't have a chance to learn them. Once I entered the fray, fae offered themselves as partners, both men and women, and whirled me into motion. I didn't do great, but I didn't step on too many toes, so at least there was that.

At last, my feet started hurting, and I checked Dain's throne again. He'd been there when I'd entered the room, leaning against one arm of the throne with death in his eyes, and he'd been there every time I'd looked since, always looking directly at me. But he was gone this time, the seat empty, and I almost sagged with relief. If Dain had left, maybe I could leave, too, and still keep my bargain.