“When we softened the curse”—Laurel speaks to me as though I’m a frightened animal, each word deliberate—“we made sure that when the princess thinks of you, she will know you only as a Vila. As a threat.”
“You can’t do that. It’s dark magic—to tear us apart.”
But Kal’s words in the tower come back to me. “The Vila have a terrible reputation for lies and trickery, but the Etherians are just as wicked. They only mask it better…”
“You know that my gift is wisdom. With my elixirs, I can shape the knowledge in another’s mind. Help them make decisions.” She swallows. “And with Endlewild’s help, I reached into Aurora’s memory and changed it.”
“That is not your gift,” I insist. “That is evil. You cannot have done this to us.”
She lowers her gaze. “It is not evil, Alyce, if it was done for a greater good.”
“What greater good?” I shout at her. “Keeping the princess away from someone like me? A mongrel?”
“No. I don’t see you that way.” She reaches for me but I slap her away.
“Then why did you do it?” I laugh, but it is a haunting, caustic sound. “Because you’re Endlewild’s special little pet? Because you hate me? Please, explain the price of your betrayal. I want to know what you’re worth.”
She recoils.
“You know how I feel about the Grace Laws. How determined I am to reform them.”
“What of them? Aurora already made your precious blood oath. She will do whatever is necessary—”
“The princess is a human. And human promises are fickle, brittle things, easily broken, easily forgotten.”
Endlewild’s words if I ever heard them.
“You don’t trust her? After everything we’ve done. After everything she did—”
“She is one person, Alyce!” At last, that veneer of stoic calm cracks. “And her hold over Briar is not secure. She was irresponsible, going to the black tower alone. Relying on only a few people when she should have united a realm. She has no idea how to lead.”
“And you do?” I fling back. “Endlewild does?”
“Yes,” she hisses. “He’s witnessed queen after queen sit on the throne. And he’s tired of the greed and the corruption—as tired as I am.” She pauses. Takes several breaths. “It turns out that Lord Endlewild’s sporadic absences from court have been trips to Etheria. He’s been negotiating with the High King of the Fae to intervene on behalf of the Graces. To stop the humans from enslaving us. The Fae will unseat Tarkin and uphold the queen’s reign. And we will have everything I asked for—a council composed of Graces, a new system, all of it.”
“And what did you promise in return?”
But my heart already knows.
“He refused the arrangement,” she says quietly, “should a Vila be on the throne. Or in a position to influence the queen.”
I nod, numb. “And so you get everything you desire—in exchange for my happiness. What a simple bargain to make.”
“It is for the good of all Graces. For Briar. We can’t afford another ruler like Tarkin. Even you can see that.”
“Even me? The beast?”
“That’s not what I mean.” Laurel tries to reach for me again, but the look on my face must have her thinking better of it. “I didn’t do it to hurt you. After our first plan fell apart, this was the only deal the Fae lord would make. You must understand.”
“I understand that I trusted you. That you took the one person in my life whom I love and traded her for your own gain.” She opens her mouth to argue, but I press on. “Tell me, Laurel, who will head this new Grace Council? Will it be you? Will Endlewild perhaps grant you the long life of a Fae so that you may serve as the liaison between the Fae courts and the human world forever?”
A golden flush climbs like Briar roses up her neck, and I know I’ve hit my mark.
“Of course he did. You know, I thought you were above such vanity. But you’re no better than Rose. Terrified of Fading. And now you’ve ensured that you never will.”
A muscle in her temple twitches. “It isn’t about that.”
“Is it not? How silly of me.” A harsh laugh, steel grating against steel, punches between us.
“You need to leave, Alyce.” She glances toward the door and I know she is using her gift. Trying to wheedle me into reason. “They will be coming soon. Tarkin has days—hours perhaps—before the Etherians arrive and bring him down. And they will kill you.”