Fordham looked ready to launch himself across the distance to his sister, but that was what Wynter wanted. No matter that Fordham had been working on fixing the trade issue. That now that he was in the Society, he would have access to more resources. That he could even negotiate new trade agreements, bring people in and out of the mountain. Not that anyone else knew these things were possibilities.
Wynter was the one with the cult standing behind her. And Fordham and Kerrigan were good, but they couldn’t withstand an army.
“You will not need a sacrifice,” Kerrigan announced before Fordham could react.
A cruel smile slithered across Wynter’s face. As if she had been waiting for this very moment, orchestrated it herself, and Kerrigan had stepped into her carefully laid trap. But she couldn’t back down. Not with Bay’s life on the line. Not with twelve others just like herself set to be killed for an experiment.
“And why is that?” Wynter asked.
“Because I’ll take the wall down.”
Fordham glared at her. “Kerrigan …”
“This is the miracle, my fellow Charbonnet,” Wynter said, holding her hands out before her. “You have heard me witness about the glow of the barrier around the mountain. That its golden brilliance is bright. I had never seen that color magic until now. Until her.” She pointed at Kerrigan. The crowd erupted into excitement. “The answer to our problem has arrived. We bring down the barrier tonight!”
Everyone cheered for her. Everyone, except Kerrigan and Fordham.
“Why do I feel like we walked right into that?” Kerrigan asked.
Fordham continued to glare at his sister. “Because we did.”
“Come, Kerrigan,” Wynter said, gesturing for her to come to her side.
“Ford,” she whispered.
“Together.”
They both strode on the stage. Of course, it would look like both Kerrigan, the bearer of barrier magic, and the crowned prince stood with his sister. Even if they had done it under duress.
Kerrigan knelt to help Bayton to her feet. The woman was crying. “I didn’t know. She took me. I don’t know where Benton is.”
“It’s okay,” she said soothingly. “We’ll get you out of here.”
Kerrigan walked Bayton to the back of the stage. Twelve more half-Fae and humans were bound and gagged in a back room.
Kerrigan glared at Aisling with all of her fury. “Release their bonds. This is no longer necessary.”
Aisling’s mouth quirked up on the right side, and she crossed her arms. “Sure thing, honey.”
Kerrigan wanted to punch her in her perfect little nose. But she restrained herself, helping Bayton out of her binds.
“Help them,” she told Bayton and then took a deep breath and went back onto that stage.
Wynter was speaking, and Kerrigan hadn’t been listening. Something about Fordham’s return with the half-Fae with the power to save them. She didn’t explicitly say that they should be ruling—she should be ruling—but the connotation was clear. While the king reveled in his gluttony, everyone else suffered. Wynter seemed to think she could do better.
“That’s enough,” she muttered. “Let’s get this over with.”
Wynter shot her a look of pure wrath. So, she was also here for the spectacle. Well, not that surprising.
Kerrigan smiled in the most insufferable way possible. Mischief was in her nature, but she had a way of frustrating anyone with an ounce of authority.
Wynter whipped her head back to her waiting audience. She unclenched her hands and let a smile smooth over her serene features. “Let’s begin.”
Kerrigan thought they’d have to go back down to the surface, back to the spot that they’d ridden out to. But that was another one of Wynter’s performances. Getting Kerrigan out alone before confiding in her about what she knew, trying to make Kerrigan relate to her. She soon found out why this chamber had been chosen above all others.
“Aisling,” Wynter said, her voice dipping low at the sound of her assistant’s name.
Aisling stepped forward, pulled her hands to her body, squaring her hips, and then pushed out slowly. The chamber wall shifted, and suddenly, a wind whipped through the room. The wall was a large stone that filled the opening, leading to a rough balcony and the empty air beyond. It was pitch-black and a crystal-clear night, revealing the completely full moon.
The crowd gasped in amazement. Kerrigan had to admit that it was impressive.
Wynter stepped around Kerrigan and went straight to the opening. She raised her hand into the air, and it encountered resistance at the exit. The barrier had stretched taut over the opening to the outside so that no one could even enjoy the balcony beyond. It seemed a travesty for it to be right there and perpetually out of reach.
“Here,” Wynter said, drawing her hand down. “This is where there’s a breach.” And as she said it, her hand moved just a few more inches forward, as if the barrier could almost give under her palm. She smiled triumphantly. “Come. See for yourself.”