“Was your mom bothered by what she became?”
“I was not privy to those thoughts,” Hypaxia said tightly enough that Bryce knew to drop it. “But it has never sat well with me.”
“Are you going to see her while she’s here?”
“Yes. I’ve never met her before. I was born several years after she was sent away.”
Bryce drank again. “I’d suggest not getting your hopes up.”
“I’m not. But we digress from your troubles.” The queen sighed. “I don’t know Fae royal laws, so I’m afraid I can’t tell you definitively, but … at this point, I think the only ones who might be able to stop your father are the Asteri.”
“I was afraid of that.” Bryce rubbed her temples. “Just wait until Hunt hears.”
“He won’t be pleased?”
“Why the Hel would he be pleased?”
“Because you are mated. And now your father has made you a princess. Which makes him …”
“Oh gods,” Bryce said, choking. “Hunt is a fucking prince.” She laughed bitterly. “He’s going to go ballistic. He’ll hate it even more than I do.” She laughed again, a bit hysterically. “Sorry. I’m, like, literally imagining his face when I tell him tonight. I need to record it or something.”
“I can’t tell if this is a good or bad thing.”
“Both. The Autumn King expects me to keep up my engagement with Prince Cormac.”
“Even though your scent makes it clear you’re with another?”
“Apparently.” She didn’t want to think about that. She finished the beer, then gathered up her plate and Hypaxia’s to toss in the trash. She quickly paid their tab, and as she pocketed the receipt, she asked the queen, “Wanna walk a little? It’s not as hot as it was.”
“I’d like that very much.”
They kept silent, unnoticed by those around them as they entered the alley. Ithan fell into step a polite distance behind. The dragon, if she was there, was nowhere to be seen.
“So your brother told you of the situation with my mother’s coven, then.”
“Yeah. That sucks. I’m sorry.”
They reached the river a block away and turned down the quay. Dry, warm wind rustled the palms lining it. Hypaxia studied the stars. “I had such visions for what the future would be like. Of witches returning to power. Of being with the person who I …” She cleared her throat.
“You’re seeing someone?” Bryce asked, brows lifting.
The queen’s face shuttered. “No.” Hypaxia blew out a long breath. “The relationship wasn’t possible anymore. I might have continued it, but it was not … They didn’t want to.”
Bryce blinked. If Hypaxia was in love with someone else … Fuck. “Poor Ruhn,” she said.
Hypaxia smiled sadly. “I think your brother wants to marry me as little as I want to marry him.”
“Ruhn’s hot, though. So are you. Maybe the attraction will kick in.” Bryce owed her brother at least an attempt to try to play up his good attributes.
A laugh. “It takes far more than that.”
“Yeah, but he’s a good guy. Like, a really good guy. And I can’t believe I’m even saying this, but … while I’m sure the person you love is great, you really couldn’t do better than Ruhn.”
“I’ll remember those words.” Hypaxia toyed with one of her long curls. “The engagement to your brother was an attempt to prevent my mother’s coven from gaining too much power.”
Bryce said, “But you said you want the witches to return to power. Or is it that you want your people to regain their power—but you want your mother’s coven to … be excluded from that?” Hypaxia nodded gravely. Bryce’s brows knit. “Aren’t the witches already powerful?”
“Not as we once were. For generations now, mighty bloodlines have run dry, magic withering. Like they are … siphoned into nothing. My mother’s coven has no interest in discovering why. They only want us to become even more subservient to the Asteri.”
This female had freed Hunt in pure defiance of the Asteri. Was Hypaxia a rebel? Did she dare ask her? How much had Ithan and Ruhn told her yesterday?
Dark mists curled on the other side of the river. She asked quietly, “Did your mom summon your tutors from the Bone Quarter? Or another eternal resting place?”
“Such things did not exist when my tutors walked the earth.”