“Okay, but I’m really good,” she says. “You can’t get mad if I win.”
“I promise to be a good sport,” he says, and their voices fade away.
“Well, that was . . . enlightening,” Jalek says.
Pretha glares at him.
“Lark can’t help it,” Finn says softly. “Her magic isn’t like yours, Pretha. There’s no on and off. It just comes.”
“Are we going to talk about what she saw?” Jalek asks.
“Right, the fiery death.” Finn looks at me, and his brows disappear into his mop of curls. “Thoughts, Princess?”
“I think she’s just a kid and it doesn’t mean anything.” I hold my arms out to my sides. “See? I’m not dead. Humans don’t get to keep walking around after we die.”
Jalek grunts. I have no idea what that means.
Pretha wipes away her tears and drags in a breath, composing herself before she turns to Finn. “Ask your spies in the Unseelie Court if they know anything about an attack on the Golden Palace. Maybe something with fire or explosives.” She turns to me and forces a smile. “And you? Stop, drop, and roll, okay?”
I barely refrain from rolling my eyes. “Can we go back to the situation with the camps and the refugees?” Finn looks more ragged and tired than I’ve ever seen him, but I need to know. “This would stop if you were on the Throne of Shadows?” I ask him.
“I can’t change Seelie law,” Finn says, “but I could make life better in my court. I would do everything in my power to make it so my people didn’t need to run. Everything I do I do to protect my people and give them a safe home.” His eyes lock on mine, so intense you’d think I alone had the power to give him his father’s throne. “That is a king’s true responsibility.”
I need Jas back, and that has to remain my first priority, but I can’t stop thinking of those Unseelie children, stuck in veritable prisons and being told they’re less worthy because of their birth. If Finn overthrows Mordeus, the bargain would be moot. Finn would give my sister back. I know he would. “Tell me how I can help.”
Finn’s face goes cold, and he turns to Jalek. “Help me to my room?”
“The girl wants to help,” Jalek says.
Finn pushes out of the chair and flinches in pain as he straightens. “Or I’ll get there by myself.”
“Fine.” Jalek studies me for a long beat before helping his prince up the stairs.
“Did I say something wrong?” I ask Pretha.
She shakes her head. “I think that was enough excitement for the day. Let’s head back to the castle early.”
Chapter Seventeen
IT’S BEEN A WEEK since Sebastian gave me the mirror. A week of waiting around the castle and distracting myself with Finn’s misfits, wondering if Mordeus forgot about me and our bargain. A week of obsessively asking the mirror to show me my sister. Seeing her happy and well cared for is the only thing that makes the wait tolerable. As crowded as the Golden Palace is, I feel lonely while I’m there. The only person I trust even remotely is Sebastian, and I can’t confide in him.
I’m starting to wonder if the king ever intends to retrieve the mirror, but I won’t miss any more training in the meantime. I may need these strange skills for the next relic. Though, if I’m honest, my preference for being with the Unseelie misfits is about more than this bargain. When Pretha brings me from the palace to Finn’s house, I end my day smiling and feeling less . . . hopeless.
Today I spent the morning practicing fading myself into shadow and walking through wards and walls. I’ve gotten better at controlling that, but once Pretha told me to turn her to shadow, we hit a wall. Figuratively and literally.
“Let’s take a break for lunch,” Pretha says now, leading the way out of the library. “Jalek’s making sandwiches.”
When we enter the kitchen, Jalek and Tynan are already at the table with Finn. Three more plates are set, but I don’t see any sign of their red-eyed Unseelie friend.
“Don’t know where Kane is off to this morning,” Jalek mutters when he notices me looking toward the foyer. “Too hungry to wait for him, so just sit.”
Pretha cuts her eyes to me. “Ignore him. He gets irritable when he’s hungry.”
“I get irritable,” Jalek snaps, “when Litha is this close and that bitch is still on the throne. I get irritable when the prince I’ve sworn fealty to has a fever and won’t do what’s necessary to heal himself.”