I frowned and looked back at Meria, eyebrows raised. She shrugged.
Whatever.
I followed him onto the train.
I could handle being close to Lore. No problem. It wasn’t like there was insane sexual chemistry between us or anything.
Ha.
We’d entered directly into a car that looked like a fancy living room. There were large leather chairs and wooden tables, along with bookshelves and paintings on the walls. A narrow hall at the back led deeper into the car, presumably into bedrooms.
Lore took one of the chairs, lounging with the deadly grace of a panther.
I sat next to him, looking out the window to see Wolf trotting off the platform. “He doesn’t come with you?”
“Doesn’t like the train.”
Fair enough. It didn’t seem suited to a nearly feral animal. “Tell me more about the High Court. I get the impression there’s more to the story.”
He nodded. “I thought you’d catch on to that.”
As everyone else filed into the car and took their seats, Lore spoke. “There are many arguments amongst the different fae courts. When we arrive, it’s likely we’ll face danger from rivals.”
“The Court of the Northern Fae?” I remembered him mentioning the long-standing war with them.
“No. They are scattered.”
Right. They’d decimated one of his villages, and in return, he’d killed so many of them that their court had moved away from their territory. Yikes.
“So other people hate you as well?”
He shrugged. “Not like the Northern Fae did. But your arrival has been prophesied for a long time. When we are joined, we will be twice as powerful as I ever was alone. That will cause an imbalance.”
“And the other courts won’t like that.” I frowned. “But how the hell am I supposed to tip the scales in favor of us being more powerful?”
“You have incredible magic, Sia. Magic we don’t fully understand yet.” His gaze searched mine. “I think you should tell me more about that.” His eyes moved to my ears. “And why you still hide your ears. There is no need now that you are here.”
Shit. I’d been keeping my hair down so as not to wave it in anyone’s face that I looked different. But the rain had made me pull my hair back.
There was no way for me to explain. “I’m more interested in the arguments with the other courts. I’m sure someone has been following me since I won the competition. I keep seeing a dark shadow stalking me. Could it be someone from another court?”
He frowned. “Yes. But I don’t like that they are on our land.”
“Are spies common?”
He nodded. “I have them in other kingdoms as well. But I’d thought I’d done a better job of protecting our borders.”
Good. I’d distracted him from my ears.
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” Anger buzzed within me. “I’m sick of being a pawn.”
“You are queen, not a pawn. And you should have told me of the stalker.”
I growled. “You know what I mean. I never wanted this. I only agreed because the Truth Teller showed me how many people would die if I didn’t.”
He sighed, but acknowledgement shined in his eyes as he nodded. “You are correct. And I owe you my gratitude. For the last three hundred years, my only goal has been to protect my people. Because fate works in mysterious ways, I now need a queen for that. But you didn’t have to agree. I respect and appreciate you for that.”
The genuine emotion in his voice shocked me. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I shut it, knowing I had to look like a fish.
“When this is all over, I will help you return to whatever life you choose,” he said.
“I…really?”
He nodded. “It’s not fair that you should be forced to stay here.”
I studied him. I wasn’t sure he really cared about fair. Not when it came to protecting his people. Once he was done with me and I’d done my bit, he wanted me gone. I knew he didn’t want to be married to me, so it was stupid that I felt stung.
My mind raced with what was to come. “So we have two days on this train as all the other royalty board for the journey to High Court Palace.”
“Yes.”
“Which means if one of them sent my stalker, the danger will be on this train.”
“Hence the guards.” He nodded toward the contingent of uniformed fae who stood near the door.
“I think we should use this opportunity to ferret out the threat and get rid of it before we arrive. If the witch with the deathly magic is really meant to be there, then we need all our attention focused on her.”