I don’t trust anyone, I tell him.
Liar.
Can you get into his mind? I ask. See if we can trust him?
I already tried. He’s too well shielded.
Is that suspicious?
No. It’s just good sense.
“—now that the Midnight Raiders are positioned in the mountains,” Finn is saying.
I jerk my attention back to the conversation at the table. “They are?” I ask, taking the chair beside Sebastian. “I thought they were protesting.”
Sebastian shakes his head. “Finn and I met with the captains and made it clear that we’re working together.” He reaches for the hand I have resting on the table and squeezes, and Finn follows the movement.
I give Bash a polite smile before gently extracting my hand from beneath his and placing it in my lap. “If the Midnight Raiders are in the mountains, who will protect the capital?” I ask.
The table returns to discussion of military strategy, and I try to ignore the ache of rejection I feel rolling off Sebastian. Misha was right, the bond is much harder to block when we’re close.
“I thought we were headed into the mountains to see the High Priestess,” I say to Finn as Kane leads us off the mountain trail and toward a small village. I didn’t expect we’d be traveling with a caravan, but Kane, Misha, Pretha, and Tynan all joined me and Finn on our journey. Even Finn’s wolves are traveling with us, though they spend most of their time out of sight, investigating off the trail.
Finn and I ride side by side just behind Kane, with the three Wild Fae following behind us.
“We are,” Finn says, “but she won’t meet with us before Lunastal.”
I turn on my horse and arch a brow. “I thought that’s why I was here with this”—I wave my hand around my head—“almighty power of mine. So we’d be welcome?”
Finn snorts and shakes his head. “We’re heading first to Staraelia, a town in the foothills, where we will meet with the locals and let it be known that we plan to meet with the High Priestess. If we’re lucky, she’ll see us on Lunastal rather than making us wait until later in the week. And then we need more luck if we’re going to convince her to open a portal to the Underworld.”
“Pretha and Misha create portals for you all the time. Why can’t they do it?”
In front of us, Kane snorts.
Finn smiles at his friend before turning to me. “The portals to the Underworld cannot be opened by just anyone. Our ancient guardians wanted us to be able to reach them, but only with the approval of those deemed most worthy among us.”
I took for granted that Finn would be able to speak with Mab. Now this all seems like a wish and a prayer. “You’re sure the High Priestess will grant you this?”
“If Mab wants to allow our visit, the High Priestess will be required by her oath to the land to open the portal for us.”
Pretha clears her throat behind us. “This might be a good time to tell her who she’ll be when we get to Staraelia.”
I frown at Pretha over my shoulder. “What do you mean by that?”
Finn rolls his shoulders back. “I haven’t been there in a long time. I don’t want to assume that everyone is trustworthy. Since I’m not bonded to you, the next best excuse to stay close enough to protect you is to claim we have a relationship.”
“Who are these people? I thought they were Unseelie? Why do you need to stay close to me?”
“There could be moles working for Mordeus’s followers,” Kane says. “Or even those who’ve been paid to work for the queen.”
Finn nods. “Most are Unseelie and proud—they will recognize me as their prince regardless of whether I ever get to be king—but some among them will also be able to sense the power you carry, and that could be dangerous if they don’t trust you. So we need a way to make them trust you.” His gaze shifts away from me and tracks across the cottages growing closer on the horizon.
“Will they resent me for having the power of the crown?” I ask.
He blows out a breath. “Not if they think you’re with me.”
I swallow. “You want me to pretend that we’re . . . together? ”
Ahead of us, Kane chuckles. “Can’t get anything by that one,” he snarks.
I toss a ball of shadow at his shoulder, knocking him off-balance for a beat. He looks over his shoulder and winks at me.
Finn squeezes the back of his neck. “I’ve thought this through. I can’t come up with any other way to do it. Since I don’t have the bond to keep you safe, this is the next best thing. We already know Arya’s after you. The last thing we need is my own people coming after you because they think it will help me in some way.”