That irritated my dragon to no end.
In the end, they’d found a few things that satisfied them. None of them, however, worked so well as the illuminated everlass, a secret we’d chosen to keep. I would’ve been happy to share, but Arleth and Delaney got right up in my face and threatened me with a lifetime of lectures on how to protect a kingdom’s best trade interests if I dared to open my mouth. They said it was bad enough that I’d taught the faeries how to tend the everlass they had.
It had been a very compelling threat.
While the faeries were working with Hannon, I was busy learning everything I could from their magical worker. While I manipulated her, she thought she was manipulating me. She sang like a canary to keep me distracted so her fellow gardeners could monopolize Hannon’s time. Any question I had, she answered. It was amazing. She even offered me a tour of the faeries’ more robust magical operations, but I declined. They did real magic, like spells. Plants couldn’t mimic that. I didn’t want to waste my time on something we couldn’t master.
When we said our farewells, the gardeners had presented us with an assortment of seeds and starter plants for our royal gardens. And Eris had offered me an apology. The former was likely because of the now large, robust plot of everlass we’d helped them cultivate, but the latter was heartfelt, and I accepted it.
Now the real work would begin. We couldn’t afford any mistakes or mess-ups. We had to present a united front with Starvos, and we had to show our strength at all times. This was what we’d been working toward all this time. Ready or not, it was time to decide our future.
FORTY-FIVE
Finley
We arrived at the sprawling castle behind King Starvos and Queen Ayre’s procession, allowing us to watch their grand entrance from our carriage as we awaited our turn. Their guard formed two columns, and they walked through with their entourage following behind. They glittered with jewels and sauntered like they were the most important people in this whole place.
“I’m not sure I can pull off that level of overbearing self-importance,” I murmured as the last of them passed through the large arched doorway and their guard followed them inside.
“That’s their style, not ours,” Nyfain said, taking my hand. “We’re the rough and ready dragons. We’re too dangerous to be thought self-important.”
I smiled as one of the castle staff opened our carriage door and stepped aside so we could exit the coach.
“Who owns this castle?” I asked, sweeping my gaze across the flat land and artfully crafted landscape.
“No one and everyone. Each kingdom pays a sort of tithe for it, and a steward is in charge of keeping it up. We are all its master and none of us are. It doesn’t rule any land until we meet, and then it rules all the lands.”
“That’s confusing.”
He laughed as he stepped down beside me and curled his arm around my body. He hooked his hand on my hip possessively before leading me forward.
“There are many things that are going to seem confusing at first,” he said, looking straight ahead and letting his people fall in around us. “I remember learning all this for the first time. It made my head spin. I hated the lessons. My mother told me that she did, too, when she had to learn.”
“Fantastic. Now I’m really looking forward to it.”
I felt his humor, but his smile quickly dropped away. Weston’s wolves in human form lined up on one side, and Micah and his dragons lined up on the other. My guard would take up the rear, following behind us in rows.
Hannon met us at the beginning of the column, as planned. His new place would be directly behind us. Arleth would walk behind him, followed by Hadriel and Vemar, then the guard. It was decided that the rest of my family would enter with the staff, staying out of the public eye. My father didn’t want my brother and sister directly associated with Nyfain and me, worried they’d be used against us somehow. I’d tried to convince him that powerful people had enough spies to know exactly who they were—might as well take the place of honor that was their due—but he wouldn’t hear of it. I’d dropped the matter. Hannon’s whole ordeal was still so fresh, and I didn’t want to push Father so soon.
Nyfain didn’t step in front of me and lead the way as King Starvos had done. He stayed by my side as we crossed the threshold and entered a large, well-appointed foyer. Columns rose around us to a very high ceiling decorated with lines of gold. A huge crystal chandelier hung down, glittering in the afternoon light. It reminded me a little of Starvos’s castle. At the back of the expansive space, two sets of wide stairs curved toward an exposed balcony that curved around the foyer, allowing people to watch those entering.