Kingdom of Future's Hope (Royals of Faery Book 4)

by Hayley Osborn

  I pulled from her grasp. “I don’t want that. I’m quite capable on my own.” I didn’t need help to be Queen of Seelie. At least I didn’t need help from a husband. And apart from that, I didn’t imagine I’d ever look at anyone the way I had Fergus. Selina knew this. We’d spoken of it at length. The removal of our bond may have taken away my feelings for him, but it hadn’t taken away the memories of how I felt when I was near him.

  “You should get ready,” she said, her voice gentle.

  I nodded, my gaze still locked on the little piece of glass. It would be good to catch up with Laoise, and especially good to see Ruby again. It had been months since their last visit.

  There was a sharp tap on my door and it opened before I had the chance to call my guest inside. I already knew it would be Everleigh. She was the only one who dared enter my rooms without waiting for permission. She stepped across the threshold, a navy blue dress draped across her arms. Now I remembered. I was to wear the blue chiffon tonight, but only after the dressmaker had added jewels to the bodice.

  I tucked the glass behind my back, but I wasn’t fast enough.

  Everleigh narrowed her eyes. “I knew your indifference to the Declaration was a ruse. You had a plan to watch in private.” I’d talked Everleigh into moving to the castle as my Intelligence Gatherer. She knew everyone. And everything about everyone, it seemed. I guessed her time studying the black glass had shown her all sorts of things.

  I pulled the glass from behind my back and dropped it onto the dresser with a clatter. “No.” I shook my head. “I planned nothing. I haven’t picked it up since … well, you know when.” I couldn’t bring myself to voice anything about that night. “I’m not sure why I looked at it tonight.”

  Everleigh nodded, her eyes suggesting she knew why, even if I didn’t agree. Her curls bobbed as she moved. “So, is there anyone interesting there?” Her neck stretched as she tried to gaze into the glass, which no longer held an image. “Who did the Autumn Court send?”

  “I … don’t know.” I put my hand protectively on the glass.

  Selina elbowed me in the ribs. “Because she’s only been watching Fergus.”

  I huffed. “No. Well, yes. But really, I only looked for the first time a few minutes ago.”

  Both of them moved closer, but it was Selina who spoke. “Show us the ballroom. Or wherever you think they’ll all be gathering. I want to see who’s there.”

  “I don’t think…” Before I could protest, the image in the glass changed and we were looking at one end of the ballroom, recognizable only by the high ceiling. Three walls enclosed the space, one of which held an immense fireplace. Couches were placed at angles in front of it, set up for people to talk, and tiny lights glittered across the ceiling.

  The room was filled with women.

  They all wore the same cornflower blue dress, and most wore their hair pulled up in elaborate twists on the back of their head. They spoke to each other with smiles fixed on their faces, but none of them seemed comfortable.

  “Oh!” Selina tapped Everleigh’s forearm. “Isn’t that the cousin of the Lord of the Winter Court?” She pointed at a woman who seemed a few years older than Fergus. She had dark hair that faded out to platinum at the ends and burgundy lips.

  Everleigh nodded. “That’s Piper Ashfox. She is cousin to the Lord of the Winter Court, though I believe her family has lived in the Court of Darkness for some time now.” She pursed her lips. “I can’t see her lasting long before she’s culled.”

  I stared at Piper. She might be the most stunning woman I’d ever seen. “She’s beautiful.”

  “And mean. Fergus would do well to stay away from her,” said Everleigh.

  “That’s up to him,” I mumbled, my eyes landing on a familiar face in the group. Dora, the woman from the Court of Darkness who’d helped me talk her lord into letting me heal his people after Rhiannon’s attack, was perched on the end of one couch, looking like she’d rather be anywhere else. “I know her.” I pointed. “She’s lovely. Fergus would like her.”

  Everleigh tilted her head from side to side. “Dora Turntree. Not exactly from the type of family that would usually marry a king.”

  Selina shrugged. “Maybe Fergus won’t care about that.”

  “Maybe,” said Everleigh, stepping closer to the small piece of glass. “Can you see Kaylor Beechleaf among those women?”

  I didn’t have a clue who she was speaking of, but Selina leaned closer to the glass, the two of them blocking my view completely. She shook her head. “No. I expected her to be the first to arrive.”

  “Perhaps she’s changed her mind,” I said.

  Everleigh and Selina shook their heads.

  “Impossible,” said Everleigh.

  “I agree, it’s highly unlikely,” murmured Selina, squinting at the images on the glass.

  “Aren’t there a few more to arrive in the morning?” I bit my tongue as soon as I spoke. I’d just shown them both that I’d taken more interest in this process than I cared to admit.

  Both Selina and Everleigh raised their eyebrows, but it was Selina who spoke, choosing not to comment on how much I knew. “That’s true. Tomorrow is when the real contest begins. But those who are there tonight get to introduce themselves to the prince early. That’s why they’re wearing the same color, so no one stands out more than anyone else.” She nodded at the glass and elbowed Everleigh. “There’s one of our Seelie representatives.” Almost half the women would be from Seelie. Fergus had asked each court to put forward six women. He’d also asked for six from Iadrun—supplying each of them with a potion that would allow the humans to spend time in Faery without going mad from the magic here—though I wasn’t certain how many of those Iadrun places had been accepted. I did, however, know the names and faces of every one of the Seelie women who were making the trip across the border.

  Everleigh straightened, a smile in her voice. “Opal Honeydew, from the Court of Light. Doesn’t she look lovely?” She turned to me. “You know, the Kingdom of Unseelie has offered as many black glass mirrors as we require. They suggest we position them in public places so everyone can see the Declaration challenges as they happen. They are awaiting your acceptance of their gift.”

  My eyebrows rose. I was unaware of this offer. “That’s generous of them.” I wasn’t stupid enough to think that those mirrors would show what I could see on mine. My piece of mirror, like the large—now shattered—mirror it came from, could see anything I desired within the two kingdoms. If Unseelie were offering us mirrors for the people, I had no doubt they would also monitor the content they pushed out. Still, it couldn’t hurt. “There seems to be plenty of interest from the people of Seelie.” I nodded. “We will accept their generous offer. Post the mirrors in the places you believe will be seen by the most people.”

  Everleigh stared at me for a moment and again I couldn’t decipher the look on her face. “And should I post a mirror in these rooms?”

  I shook my head. “I have no intention of observing the version the Unseelie Prince wishes the rest of Faery to see.”

  Everleigh gave a nod. “As you wish.” She turned to leave, pausing and turning back a moment later. “Though I’m sure her Majesty will watch the unmonitored content from the privacy of her rooms.”

  Everleigh never called me her Majesty. That alone was enough to know she was playing with me. The huge grin on her face confirmed it. I straightened my back. Fergus was no longer part of my life. She should not be teasing me about him. “I’ll do no such thing.” My voice sounded prim. And very much like I intended to spend the next day sitting and watching the events in Unseelie. Which I did not. “I no longer care what Fergus Blackwood does with his life.”

  She looked at Selina and they burst out laughing. “Of course you don’t,” she said, avoiding the shoe I threw at her as she ducked out the door.

  I slid between the cool sheets of my bed later that night, my body tired enough to sleep for a week
, but my mind not willing to allow it. Dinner had been fun, but the second I returned to my rooms, the black glass was all I could think of. I hadn’t touched it. Yet. I was torn between getting up and throwing it out my window to watch it smash on the cobblestones below, or holding it in my hand and looking at Fergus’ beautiful face again.

  I missed him, and the feeling was unexpected. The way I understood our bond—the way it had worked for Fergus—meant that when it was removed from our bodies, any feelings we’d once had for each other would disappear, too. For the most part, that seemed correct. But missing him, that was a feeling, wasn’t it? Surely it should have gone away with the rest of my feelings for him.

  I threw back the sheets and sat on the edge of my bed, staring across the huge moonlit expanse of floor between my bed and dresser just inside the open-doored dressing room. This suite of rooms was larger than our entire house in Iadrun, and there were many days I had to pinch myself to believe I was living here. Of course, there were many more days when life was too hectic to consider anything other than sleep when I stepped into these rooms. I loved those days. I loved this job far more than I ever expected, and I reminded myself that it meant I’d made the right decision with Fergus. The two of us could never have worked.

  Before I’d decided to do so, I pushed to my feet and padded over to the dresser. For a moment, my hand wavered above the black glass. Then I picked it up and walked back to the window seat to watch the view over the castle walls toward Lake Eternal.

  As I sank into the cushions, the picture materialized. A table, two ice-filled glasses and a pitcher of amber colored liquid beside it on a wooden table. There was movement in the shadows at the edge of the image. I couldn’t make out who or what, but the stone walls covered in blue tapestries made me certain I was looking at a room inside the Unseelie Castle. I was about to turn the glass away—if I was looking at Fergus, the two glasses suggested he was with someone else at this late hour, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to see that. Before I could, a woman came into view. Or, at least, the back of her came into view.

  She was dressed in the same cornflower blue all the contestants were wearing, the back of the bodice a low cut V. Her dark brown hair was shot through with platinum, and braided back into a chignon at the nape of her neck. She was talking, and her head kept bobbing as if she was looking between the person in the shadows and the glasses on the table.

  I knew I shouldn’t be watching. This was a private moment and none of my business. Yet, now it was in front of me, I couldn’t make myself turn away.

  The woman tipped her head back and laughed before pulling an empty glass toward herself.

  Then she plucked a tiny glass jar from somewhere within her skirts—small enough to hide in her palm—uncorked it and emptied the contents into the glass. Her gaze remained on the shadows, and she talked as she worked. But something about her quick movements and the way she corked the jar and returned it to the folds of her skirt made me sit forward.

  She picked up the pitcher and had the glass filled by the time Fergus walked out of the shadows, a bowl of steaming potato puffs in his hands. He sat, and she pushed the glass she’d emptied the jar into over to him, while he placed the potato puffs between them.

  “No.” I shook my head, the word coming from my lips as a whisper. He couldn’t drink that. He didn’t know what was in it.

  I got to my feet, watching uselessly as he took a sip. I waited for him to fall to the floor, to grip his neck, to turn blue in the face. But the glass faded to black, and the image disappeared.

  TWO

  I stared at the black piece of glass, thinking of Fergus and willing the picture to reform. He could be lying on the ground, dying right now for all I knew. My heart pounded in my ears and I couldn’t think clearly.

  Taking a deep breath, I straightened, forcing myself to calm down. Perhaps I hadn’t seen what I thought I’d seen. He was smiling when the image disappeared. He was probably fine.

  But … what if he wasn’t?

  I sprinted from my room, bare feet slapping against the wooden floors. I skidded around corners, my breath loud in my ears, and stopped outside Everleigh’s door. Using my open palm, I thumped on it until she dragged the door open.

  Everleigh stared at me through sleep clouded eyes, her pale green nightdress almost touching the floor. Her grey curls spiraled in every direction, and behind her, the room lay in darkness. Her eyes widened when she realized it was me waking her from her sleep. “Bria. Is everything all right?”

  I shook my head, each word tumbling out on top of the next. “She tried to poison him. I’m sure of it. I need to see. Can you show me?”

  “Show you what, dear?” She moved aside, allowing me to step past and into her rooms. With a shake of her hand, the lamps around the walls flared to life, and I could see where I was going. Just as well. Everleigh used her rooms as a studio and there were always paints or clay or whatever she was experimenting with littering her floor.

  “Him. Again.” I held out the piece of black glass to her as if that would give her all the information she needed to make sense of what I said.

  Everleigh took the glass from my fingers. “What did you see, child?” Her words were quiet.

  I sank onto the tiny couch she’d brought with her from her home in the Court of Light. Once, Fergus and I had sat upon it together, our legs touching, and hearts racing. “Fergus. In trouble.” I scrubbed a hand down my face, aware I wasn’t making any sense. “I don’t really know how to use the glass. Images appear when I look, but I can’t control what I see…” My voice petered out, and I shrugged.

  She turned the glass over in her hands, a frown forming between her eyes. “And what is it you want me to show you?”

  “I need to see it again. I need to confirm what I saw. Can you make it play again?”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way, child. But I used that glass enough to know that if you think you saw it, you likely did. Do you want to tell me why you think the prince is in trouble?”

  I sucked in my breath. “Whoever he’s with just poisoned him.”

  Everleigh’s face paled, and she gave a single nod. “Then, there’s little you can do. One of his advisors—probably Jax—will find him soon enough. Willow will heal him. If they reach him in time.” What she didn’t say, what I already knew, was that I was too far away to raise the warning. I couldn’t stop whatever came next for Fergus.

  I jumped to my feet. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t try. “I need to get hold of Jax. To tell him what I saw. He’ll know what to do.”

  She moved to stand in front of me, her voice turning hard as she took hold of my shoulders. Or as hard as it ever was when she spoke with me. “Tell him what, exactly, child?”

  “That I watched someone poison Fergus.” Was she not listening?

  “So, you’re going to admit to spying on the future King of Unseelie?”

  I nodded. Fergus’ life was at stake. I’d admit to anything to save him.

  Everleigh’s lips pursed. “And you plan to describe in great detail what Fergus’ attacker looked like?” Her eyebrows lifted as she spoke.

  “I … um…” My shoulders drooped. I didn’t know what she looked like. I hadn’t seen her face. “Why are you making this sound like I’m being difficult? I’ll ask Jax who Fergus was with tonight and then he’ll know who did it.”

  Everleigh looked pointedly at the couch I’d just vacated, waiting until I sat again before speaking. “Tonight, your prince met with the girls who have already arrived to take part in the Declaration.” She paused, waiting to see if I understood. When I didn’t speak, she added, “All the girls.”

  “Okay. Well, she was wearing a blue dress, with—”

  Everleigh crouched in front of me, her knees clicking as she bent. “They all were, Bria. Whatever you saw that woman wearing was a replica of what every other woman wore. Tonight, they all dressed the same. They all had the same amount of time wi
th your prince. Tonight, they were to get to know him on even footing, so that those that come from less … wealthy backgrounds, those who arrive tomorrow, aren’t at a disadvantage.”

  I pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes. That was fine, but a dress wasn’t the only way to describe her. “I know her hair color.”

  Everleigh gave a nod, conceding. “True. But what if someone else looks similar?”

  I didn’t know. But the dark brown highlighted with platinum coloring surely couldn’t be that popular. “At least I can help narrow it down.”

  Everleigh shook her head. “To do that, you will have to admit to spying on your prince.” Which was what she’d said before. When I was too heated to hear her. Admitting such a thing could start a war between our kingdoms. One didn’t just spy on the leader of another kingdom, no matter what history they had with that person.

  “Well, I have to do something.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “And he’s not my prince. Not anymore.” My last words were sullen. Hearing her refer to Fergus as my prince grated on my nerves. Fergus wasn’t my anything.

  Everleigh gave a nod. “The best thing you can do is return to bed and forget what you saw. And maybe destroy that.” She nodded at the glass as she handed it back to me.

  “So you won’t help me?”

  She shook her head. “There’s nothing to help with, child.”

  I stormed from her rooms and ran to Selina’s. Light filtered beneath her door, telling me she was still awake, even at this late hour. I knocked, tempted to do as Everleigh would and walk straight in, but I couldn’t.

  Selina cracked her door open, her eyes widening when she saw me. “Bria? What’s going on?” She was dressed in loose fitting black pants and a white shirt.

  “Can I come in?” Normally, I wouldn’t have to ask. Normally, she’d have thrown that door wide open the second she saw me.

  Her nose wrinkled. “Ah, it’s late…”

  I stared at her, my mind trying to catch up. It was late. Yet she was still up, and reluctant to have me come in, which never happened. Did she have someone in there with her? I’d been busy lately. Busy ever since the night I became queen, actually, but I didn’t think I was so busy Selina wouldn’t have told me about a new romance. I shook my head and took a step back. I wouldn’t interrupt her now, but she should brace herself for questions—lots of them—in the morning. “Don’t worry. It doesn’t matter.” I’d find another way to help Fergus.