by K. M. Shea
“I still can’t believe he just dropped that monster on us,” I said. “What kind of creep does that? He could have called for help—we would have fought with him.”
The Paragon smiled uncomfortably. “I’m afraid not all Courts would have responded with such honor, Leila.”
King Solis nodded in commiseration.
“Then that means this probably was an attack by another monarch, right?” I asked. “Solis, have there been any attempts on your life?”
“No,” Solis said. “No monsters have been set upon me. I haven’t heard of anything from the other Courts in our region, but there’s a chance they’d try to cover them up so as to not appear weak.”
I tapped my fingers on the table—which was of course a monster of a furniture piece and had rearing unicorns sculpted into the legs—as Eventide scurried around, distributing tea for the second time since our meeting started.
“Tea, my Sovereign?” Eventide asked when he got to me.
“No thank you, Eventide.”
“It’s masala chai tea.” He picked up a handle-less clay cup and held it out to me, wafting the aroma toward my nose. “Cooked with milk, sugar, and spices.”
Oh, ho, ho—they’re starting to figure out how to make tea appealing to me.
Truthfully, the drink smelled fantastic—an earthy combination of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. But I wasn’t going to drink tea in my mansion until the chef let me buy a coffee maker. If I broke and drank tea now, my tea-obsessed staff and Court would never let me have coffee again!
“I’m sure our guests will appreciate it,” I said.
Eventide gave me a sad look with puppy-dog eyes, but moved on to serve tea to Solis, his goat hooves tapping the marble tiled floor as he scurried along.
“Who else besides royals would have the ability to do something like the skull monster?” I asked.
Solis sighed, and the lines around his eyes that always made him look happy seemed tired and discouraged. “I can swear an oath that I had nothing to do with this skull monster.” He took a clay cup of tea from Eventide and rubbed his thumb on the unglazed exterior.
“You’re not a suspect, Solis, or you wouldn’t be here.” I smiled at the Day King.
His returning smile was wan, but when he took a sip of his tea some of the tension eased from his shoulders.
“But, Paragon, I’d appreciate a hot tip, then—since you are knowledgeable,” I continued.
The Paragon scowled at me. “What?”
“Please share, are there regional fae wars that I don’t know about?”
“Ah. Good question.” The Paragon settled down—he must have thought I was about to out him to Solis. “At this moment there aren’t any wars between the various regions. Oh, sure, there are the deep rivalries and other such nonsense, but no one has declared an actual war.”
I turned to Chase, thinking the Paragon had finished.
“But…” he started and trailed off. He stared at a painting of the Original Creep on the wall, then drank a sip of tea.
“Yes?” I asked when he finished.
Aphrodite jumped from the Paragon’s shoulders and sat on the table just in front of him. The Paragon busied himself with adjusting her pink sweater she wore to combat the cooler temperatures.
“What I am about to say must remain in these halls,” he finally said. “Solis is aware of my suspicions because I questioned him when tracking information. The crux of the situation is, I believe Queen Nyte—the ruler just before you who essentially ruined the Night Court—had backers. That was how she had the means to wage war on the Drake Family.”
I nodded slowly. “That makes sense—the Court finances were terrible, and we’re still fighting to pay off all our debt.”
But the Paragon wasn’t done. “While it would seem the backers were intent on getting rid of the Drakes, I believe the real point in goading Nyte to attack Killian was to topple the Night Court.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Leila
I blinked. “Okay, now I’m not following you anymore. How could that topple the Night Court—unless the backers assumed Killian would wipe them out? But in that case they don’t know Killian. He’d rather blackmail them and keep the Court under his control. Then he could make them dance to whatever tune he likes and have an in with the fae.”
Everyone stared at me.
“What?” I said. “Hey, I consider him a friend, but I’m realistic about the guy.”
“It is an accurate portrayal,” the Paragon agreed. “But I don’t think they planned for Killian to kill off the Court. I believe they assumed that if they made the situation unstable enough, the next ruler would naturally escalate the Court’s situation, and eventually the Night Court would be torn asunder by internal fights and wars.”
Skye traced the rim of her clay cup—she’d already finished most of her tea. “Do you believe they have a grudge against the Night Court?”
“Not at all,” the Paragon said. “It merely is an easy target—and one with big results. Because if the Night Court fell, the Day Court would not long survive it.”
“This is true,” King Solis said. “We are too intertwined for it to be otherwise.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “You’re not giving yourself enough credit—the Day Court is doing great, even though the Night Court has been slumming it for a decade.”
“Perhaps, but day cannot exist without night,” the Paragon said.
“That’s one of those wise-old-man useless platitudes.” I winced when Indigo kicked me. “Ouch.”
“If both the Night Court and the Day Court fell, it would have resounding effects on the fae in the Midwest, and nationwide, given that they are the sole Courts of their kind in the USA,” the Paragon continued. “And not just for the fae. Though the various supernatural beings proclaim not to care about each other, the fact is that if the fae fell, healing potions, glamours, and all their magic would be a thing of the past.”
And that is a serious problem.
For the most part, the supernatural community barely edged into the human world, but we needed magic to survive. Not just for healing potions, but fae specialized in wards, charms, and all kinds of magic. Even when I was in my moody teenager stage and I most hated my fae bio father, I knew the fae were still needed for the rest of the supernaturals to survive.
“In my research of the shadowy operation that backed the Night Court, I found that they commonly preyed upon the weak and those who are easy to smite—the kind of supernatural that doesn’t matter,” the Paragon continued. “They target the weakest Packs, the most desperate Courts, the least respected Families—it is believed they may have also backed the wizard who attempted to take over House Medeis.”
I stiffened up. “Hazel’s cousin? The one she had to duel to free her family?”
The Paragon tossed back what he had left of his original cup of tea before taking masala chai tea from Eventide. “The one and the same.”
“Then they must have a motive.” Chase ran a hand through his precisely cut hair—short on the sides and just long enough on the top to show a hint of curls.
“I’m sure they do,” the Paragon agreed. “But I have been unable to discern it through their wanton destruction.”
Chase growled like the wolf he was, and his golden eyes glittered with anger.
“The only positive thing I can say about them is that they are a small group. They target one spot at a time,” the Paragon said. “I thought they’d moved on from Magiford, but I suspect they either never did, or they returned because they thought the Night Court would still be easy pickings. They hadn’t realized what a powerful queen they’d have to reckon with.”
“While I appreciate the compliment, it’s not quite true,” I said. “The real reason why the Night Court is surviving is because I’m different—I do things differently. I’m willing to cut expenses and kill traditions.”
“Perhaps.” Lady Chrysanthe spoke up for the first time in t
he whole meeting—she’d been hanging low since Chase had been reluctant to include her. “But that’s only a portion of your charms, my Sovereign. You are undeniably powerful—we don’t need to look beyond this afternoon for proof. I’d long heard stories and jokes about the monster that lived in the lake, but in all my schooling and tutoring, I’d never heard anything to indicate it was more than a fairy tale told to mischievous children. We didn’t know it was real. But you called, and it not only helped, but it slept again without causing havoc.”
“I do have animal magic,” I felt bound to point out.
The Paragon laughed so hard he almost spilled his clay cup of tea. He actually slapped his thighs and had to gasp for breath after a while. “My dear Queen Leila,” he said when he finished. “Using animal magic on a hydra would be like throwing a cup of water on the surface of a star. There is no way you had control of the hydra. It chose to listen to you because of who you are.”
Solis smiled proudly. “Indeed. It is why I am proud to call you a fellow monarch.”
“Aw, you guys are going to make me blush.” I waved to Eventide as the faun butler backed out of the dining room. “But I’m worried about these backers. I take it you think they’re behind the monster, Paragon?”
“Probably,” the Paragon said. “It’s possible they’re behind more shenanigans, but the monster seems like something they’d do—particularly because they knew they could cause damage between the Courts by using Fell as their delivery mechanism. The other Courts won’t take that news lightly—which is probably what they hoped for, though I don’t imagine they ever dreamed you’d raise the hydra to deal with their creation.”
I pressed my lips together as my thoughts rolled around in my head. I’d learned I was better off letting things simmer than trying to forcibly connect them. But I still listened to the table conversation with half an ear.
“Obviously we will prepare differently now that it seems we’re dealing with a magical organization,” Chase said. “Do any of the other supernaturals know it exists?”
“Of course,” the Paragon snorted. “I didn’t track down all this information on my own—and when I first stumbled upon their existence, I thought perhaps they were tied to a specific person or supernatural race. Unfortunately they are not. It seems like fae, vampires, shifters, and supernatural beings in general belong to this plague of a group.” The Paragon scowled, which softened to a smile when Aphrodite leaned her head against his shoulder and purred. “The Dominant, the Ancient, the Magister, and myself have long been working together to observe the situation.”
He seemed pretty casual considering he’d just name dropped the top werewolf, vampire, and wizard in the USA. But I was just glad to know the other communities were aware of it.
“They are the top priority?” Chase asked.
“They weren’t,” the Paragon said. “Everyone is far more concerned about the inevitable death of magic than these shadowy beings. But recently the vampires have taken a bigger interest—I expect in no small part due to Killian Drake.”
Chase was taking notes—on a pad of paper this time. “Do you have any suggestions on how to combat them? If they’re behind the attacks on Leila, I imagine they’re the source of that unknown magic I have scented and Leila has felt.”
“No, I’m afraid I have no more suggestions. They have on occasion used powerful elf magic, but those were contained spells preserved for decades. The magic you’ve faced are new creations.” The Paragon narrowed his eyes. “The skull monster couldn’t have been created by an old elf relic or spell laying around. It took actual creation—which is what I find worrisome about the magic you’re facing.”
“Is there anything about them as a group that would be useful to know and apply to combat?” Lord Linus asked.
The Paragon jutted out his lower lip as he thought. “They are a small organization, and they are intent on their secrecy. We’ve seen it in the past, and I believe we witnessed it again in the way the backers dropped Nyte once the fight got too big, but it seems they don’t lack firepower but personnel.”
“Gather enough people to your side, and they’ll abandon their attacks against you,” Chase summarized.
“Exactly,” the Paragon nodded.
Gather people…
“I imagine power is helpful,” Solis said with a trace of bitterness. “At the very least it would make you a poor target that they’d rather avoid.”
“Also true, so choose excellent allies,” the Paragon advised.
More thoughts rattled in my head. I rubbed my forehead and glanced at Rigel, who was sitting next to me with an unreadable expression.
He glanced at me—his eyes unreadable at the moment. “It’s possible this society is behind the skull monster attack, but the organizer of the previous attempts on Leila and the skull monster are different entities,” he said.
Chase swiveled to Rigel, his pen poised for taking notes. “Why do you believe this?”
Rigel stared at him for a moment, then said—carefully, “The style of the attacks is very different.”
“Rigel is right,” I said. “Whoever set the monsters on me in the market and the snakes on me in the theater directly attacked me, but did it in a way that limited the danger to others. If this dodgy group dropped the monster—which I think is likely, because there are a heck of a lot easier ways to kill me than to drag Fell into this and make it a bigger thing than it already is—then I don’t think they could possibly be behind the original attacks.”
“They’re designed with too much care,” Skye said. “It sounds like this group wouldn’t have cared about limiting damage. I imagine they would have even preferred that there be some human casualties.”
“Bingo!” I proudly said.
Skye tilted her head. “Bingo?”
Indigo sipped her tea. “Isn’t that an obscure human song?”
“No, no. It’s a game,” Lord Linus said excitedly. “Unfortunately, it’s typically not something you can stake money and gamble on—which of course I would not too often think of doing, ahahah.” He caught me staring at him and broke off in a laugh.
Chase said he’s not in debt. Is he purposely trying to make it seem like he is, then?
“How did you come to know all of these obscure human references, Lord Linus?” Lady Chrysanthe asked.
“I’ve lived in the human realm for over twenty years. You pick up a thing or two in that sort of time frame.” Lord Linus cleared his throat. “But the two assailants brings up a new problem. If the sketchy group is one of them, who is the first attacker? And why, then, do they both use that foreign magic?”
“We can likely rule out Fell,” Rigel said. “Based on the fact that he was attacked.”
“Which means it’s probably not another monarch, right?” I asked. “Birch is the only other one with a vendetta against me, but based on what I’ve heard about his family life, he’s got too many worries to think about taking a shot at me.”
“Rime has the power,” Lord Linus pointed out. “She’s more powerful than Leila—even with her staff.”
“She also has no motive,” I said. “She let Fell run around for years—not to mention Queen Nyte. I’m pretty sure she prefers to pretend the other Courts don’t exist.”
I glanced at Rigel and asked him in a whisper, “Can you tell me if whoever hired you was a monarch?”
Rigel glanced at me, but said nothing.
That’s a no.
“I think this shadow group is a greater risk than whoever originally tried to kill Leila,” Rigel carefully said. “As we can see from the ambush styles, they are far more cautious, and seem prone to attacking when Leila is quite guarded.”
“You mean they’re really bad at tactics?” I asked.
“I would not say that,” Rigel said.
“Is there a chance the perpetrator is from your Night Court?” the Paragon asked.
“No,” Rigel, Indigo, Skye, and Chase all chorused as one.
“The Court is
loyal to Leila,” Lord Linus said. “Even the few that dislike her are too loyal to step out of line in this way.”
How does he know that?
“Maybe the original attacker worked together with the Paragon’s shady group?” Indigo asked. “It would explain why the attacks have that unknown magic in them.”
“But why attack separately?” Skye asked. “Surely if they just teamed up they would be stronger?”
“I don’t know that the original attacker would want to team up.” Chase moved his emptied clay teacup out of the way so he could spread his notes out. “Given the respect to life they’ve shown thus far. Whoever made that skull monster was going for maximum damage. As Rigel said, it’s a very different strategy.”
“We’ll have to put our investigation on hold for now,” I reluctantly said. “We need to stop whoever created the skull monster first—and maybe if we scare them off, the original guy will stop coming after me, too,” I said.
Chase tapped his pen on his pad of paper. “I agree we should prioritize the organization since it seems they have the power to take out a realm, but I still want us to be prepared in case the original traitor tries his hand again. That’s going to make preparing for future encounters much more difficult.”
“I think any of us who accompany our queen on her adventures need to start carrying kits,” Indigo said. “Some health potions, maybe a backup artifact or two.”
A rattle of a tin announced Skye had finally broken out the antacids. “We’ll need to figure out a discreet way to transport the Original King’s staff—or, as it is now, Leila’s artifact.”
“Yeah, she can’t put it in her pocket like she’s been doing,” Lord Linus said.
“Maybe we could just remove the metal topper—that’s what the actual artifact is, right?” I asked.
Indigo, Skye, and Chrysanthe stared at me, as if I’d just asked them to surrender their first-born child.