“I take it he was noticed.”

  “He was lucky he was not kil ed. It was what my mother wanted. Instead, it was the first time he was banished.” Rhoswen stared at nothing, nothing but the past. “For a decade, that time. Of course, by repeatedly banishing him, they ensured that he eventual y saw the mountains in your world as more his home than the Fae world.”

  “Perhaps he found something there that he’d lost here.”

  Rhoswen turned her gaze to Lyssa then. She took in her appearance without any obvious reaction, then rose. Circling the statue, she trailed her fingers in the water to create a wake from her passing. “In the thousand years of your life, you have seen many horrors, both human and vampire. You fought your Territory Wars, established a Vampire Council to achieve a balance between brutality and intel ect. It is a long road.”

  “Yes. It has been. But some parts have been too short.” Remembering the day a knight had helped her against vampire hunters, Lyssa knew the blissful night fol owing had been the shortest of her life. But until Jacob had reentered her life, it had been the most memorable.

  “You see me through the eyes of a short period of time, your mortal hours. But there is so much more that has happened. Reasons for how and what we are, that must be.”

  “There is no reason I can fathom for that desert world except an abuse of power and capricious cruelty. Since my father was subjected to it, I assume many

  others

  were

  put

  there

  for

  similarly

  disproportionate reasons.”

  “We have not sentenced anyone there for several centuries. It was barbaric. From a different time.”

  “Some stil survive there. I kil ed quite a few to reach my objective.” Lyssa studied her, pressed her lips together hard. “You know about the survivors.”

  “There are a handful of Fae laws that are unbreakable, woven into the fabric of what and who we are.” Rhoswen frowned. “One is that any judgment handed down from a king, queen or governing Council may not be undone. Ever. It may be approached differently, however.” She gave a humorless smile. “From your exposure to Keldwyn, I’m sure you’ve gained an appreciation for how we twist our way past obstacles. For instance, I can destroy the desert world, but it is a place that has existed long enough to have its own sentience, its own purpose, so I wil be snapping strands of Fate if I do that. Therefore, it is not an option, much as I have wished it was. I did rule there would be no more Fae sent there, even those who commit heinous crimes. We execute them instead.”

  Sitting back down on the fountain’s edge, she fastened vibrant eyes on Lyssa, obviously ready to move away from the topic. “Where is it?”

  “What do you plan to do with it?”

  “Whatever I wish.” When the queen shifted her scrutiny to Jacob, Lyssa shook her head.

  “You think I’d be foolish enough to bring it here?

  Why do you think Keldwyn met us? He has free range between two worlds; he can hide it in either of them.”

  Rhoswen’s face froze in pale anger. “I commanded you to bring it to me. To do otherwise breaks our laws.”

  “I am his daughter,” Lyssa said shortly. “Do you real y think I’d just turn his soul over to you, whatever consequences you issue—”

  “You are not his daughter.”

  The queen snarled, the sound echoing through the hal . She hit the water, freezing the roses on temptestuous ripples of ice that popped, reacting to the water’s abrupt transformation.

  As she surged up from the fountain, she advanced on Lyssa with such anger that Lyssa braced herself for attack, wel aware that Jacob and Cayden shifted into position to do the same.

  “Tabor invites Reghan’s daughter to the Hunt.” Rhoswen spat the words, her tone bitter, mocking.

  “Al the whispers . . . Reghan’s daughter, Reghan’s daughter. They can see Reghan’s daughter any day, any moment of their choosing. I am the daughter of his Fae blood, of pure Fae blood. And you . . . if it was not obvious before, it is undeniable now. Your Fae blood is not what holds sway in you. It is the vampire. You don’t belong here. You may be from his loins, but you are not of his blood. You are not one of us.”

  She drew herself up, and Lyssa noted there was a slight tremor to the hands at her sides. “Here I am known as Magwel’s daughter, my mother’s daughter.

  The mother who loved me so little and loved herself so much that she tried to deny me a father. But he loved me. He made me love him, more than anyone I’ve ever loved. And then, in the end, he chose you.

  He chose a daughter he never met, and a woman who was not a Fae, who was a vile, inferior blood drinker. He died and left me alone, alone with a mother capable of loving no one. In a thousand years, it should mean nothing to me. Nothing. The fact that it does, that al this continues to raise its poisonous, ugly head, over and over again, is what makes me hate you, him and her al the more.” Lyssa glanced toward Cayden. There was pain in his face for her, and tension. Jacob was alert but quiet, waiting to see where this would go.

  A smooth mask fel into place over Rhoswen’s countenance, her tone an abrupt, chil ing monotone.

  “I wish he’d been the cold and unfeeling person my mother tried to make me believe he was. Instead, she left me with the knowledge of what it is to have someone love you, only not love you enough.” Jacob knew he should have anticipated that stil ness, the freezing menace, but desert sand, too much stress and trauma made his reflexes slow.

  With an animal sound of rage, Rhoswen leaped forward.

  Bolting forward, Jacob saw she gripped a wooden dagger, runes embedded in the blade and hilt. But he couldn’t have matched her speed as a vampire.

  As a human servant, he knew he was already too late.

  He caught his lady’s body as she was knocked backward. The next moment was nothing more than a blink, but like Fae time, that blink was an eternity in his mind before he realized the dagger wasn’t buried in his lady’s chest. Rhoswen hadn’t reached Lyssa at al , because there was someone in the room just as swift as the angry queen.

  Cayden stood toe-to-toe with her, his large gauntleted hand gripping her wrist, face grim as his arm became coated with ice. Rhoswen screamed at him, incoherent Fae words. He caught her to him with the other arm, control ing her movements and refusing to let her yank back as he used a warrior’s training to break her grip on the weapon and send it clattering to the floor.

  “No, Your Majesty. Please, cease . . . Damn it, that’s enough.”

  The thunderous roar was probably one he used on the practice field. It served its purpose, bringing her up short, shock gripping her features.

  The moment he realized he’d distracted her from her purpose, Cayden released her, backed up two steps and dropped to his knees. He kept himself between her and Lyssa, however. Jacob was in a half kneel by his lady’s side, ready to move forward to defend her if needed. She probably had better fighting skil s than Rhoswen, but despite her apparent vitality, she stil hadn’t fed or rested enough to stand against a normal vampire, let alone a powerful Fae.

  “Forgive me, my lady.” Cayden spoke. “But you are far better than this.”

  “You would turn against me, too?” Her eyes were wild, her body trembling.

  When he lifted his head, his face showed his anguish. Pul ing out his short sword, he offered it to her. “If you believe that, my lady, take my life. I wil not exist in a world where you don’t believe that every beat of my heart, every drop of blood in my veins, serves you. But serving you is not fol owing you blindly. It’s helping you be everything you’ve ever wanted to be, for your people . . . and for yourself. So please, my lady. Kil me now or stop torturing yourself . . . and those who do not deserve your wrath.”

  Rhoswen stared at him, nostrils flared. Letting out a furious cry, she yanked the blade from his grasp and swung it downward. Jacob and Lyssa both leaped toward them, but before they could reach the captain’s side, she drove it into the tile before him, cracking the stone and embedding the blade to nearly half its length. Letting go, she stepped back, breathing hard. “Go back to the doorway. Do your job. Guard.”

  Cayden bowed his head, his great fists clenching, then he rose and obeyed. Rhoswen pivoted on her heel. She stood stil for several moments. Then, with precise steps, as if she were walking on ice in truth, she returned to the fountain, folding herself down onto its stone ledge.

  Jacob glanced at Lyssa. That was unexpected.

  But useful. Join Cayden again, Sir Vagabond. I’ll be all right.

  She squeezed his arm, tel ing him she knew what she was doing. Though he didn’t like it, he obeyed.

  Before he moved to the doorway, though, he pul ed the sword from the floor with a grunt and shower of rock. It was a sign of how upset Cayden was that he’d left it there. Of course, even if the man was stripped naked, he wouldn’t be defenseless by a long shot. Stil , a warrior didn’t leave a blade behind, unless he just didn’t care if he was skewered with it.

  As Jacob reached the door, he extended the sword hilt first, much as he had on that first day.

  Cayden took it from him with a stilted expression.

  Despite the flogging, Cayden was wearing ful mail.

  Jacob expected Rhoswen had ordered it to increase the pain and discomfort, and to remind him of his place.

  “Sorry,” he muttered. “I didn’t say it was safe advice.”

  Cayden gave him a sidelong glance. Though he said nothing, Jacob caught a curl of the taut mouth, almost a grim smile.

  Lyssa moved back to the fountain. “You know, before I came here, Keldwyn said everything else can change, but you can’t change someone’s fundamental nature, who they are. It doesn’t matter whether they’re human, vampire or Fae.”

  “Sounds like his usual cryptic cynicism.” Lyssa lifted a shoulder. “I’ve been vampire al my life, but I also carry Fae blood. Neither changes who I am, above and beyond both. Like my servant.” She glanced at Jacob. “I’m a vampire queen, a fate and destiny that sometimes has been difficult, but it has always been who I am. The moment I felt the strength of it return to my blood, it felt . . . right. Even as I know the Fae part of me is fated to play a role. You say I don’t belong here, but you won’t let me go, so I think you know it as wel .”

  Cautiously, she moved closer. “Lord Reghan did not choose one daughter over another. He chose honor. As either one of us would have done.” She sank down on the edge of the fountain, despite the fact it was like sitting on an ice block. “I watched you cry for that old man, a mere human, the night in the cemetery. Grief and loss is something we al understand. It binds us. My former servant was there that night, and he told me that . . .” She paused, steadying herself. “Thomas told me that Rex, my husband, weeps over what he did to me. I have forgiven him, but it was very, very hard.” Rhoswen lifted her head, and though it was almost as difficult, Lyssa no more disposed to show weakness than the Fae queen, she let her see the vulnerability, the raw pain that thinking of Rex could stil summon. She was glad for the comforting, nonintrusive touch of Jacob’s mind. “He did the things he did to me out of il ness, but also out of a weakness in character, an innate cruelty.” She took another breath before she continued.

  “Our father . . . it appears he was an honorable, brave male who did his best to love his family, al of us, and do what he thought was right. If I can forgive a male like Rex, who was so much less in character, then Lord Reghan is worthy of your forgiveness. I expect he would want your forgiveness, not just for his own sake, but as your loyal captain just showed, for yours. He wouldn’t want to be an open wound in his daughter’s heart.”

  As a queen herself, she saw Rhoswen as a peer, so Lyssa had no qualms about reaching out and laying her hand on hers. When the Fae’s gaze went to that contact, Lyssa wondered how long it had been since someone had touched her without calculated design or permission. She suspected it had been quite a while.

  “I know what it is to rule from isolation. To not trust anyone because of betrayal. But if you are brave enough to love, you will be a great queen. And there are already those in your life who bear you great love, no matter how sorely you test it.” Lyssa tilted her head toward the doorway. “My Irish wolfhound, Bran, is the only creature I’ve met as single-mindedly devoted as your captain. Though Bran smel s less gamey.”

  That won a brief flash in the queen’s expression that might have been humor. “Tabor would be an extremely strong al y to you in whatever way you need,” Lyssa persisted. “And I do not know your history when Keldwyn was your Regent, but I stil sense loyalty to you in him, though it is on his own difficult terms.”

  Rhoswen’s lip curled. “I do not trust him.”

  “It doesn’t mean he’s not loyal. He was close to our father, right?”

  Rhoswen’s jaw tightened over the “our,” but she let it stand. Looked up at the statue. “Though he had it commissioned, you can see the love there, how every chip of the sculptor’s blade was supervised.

  They were best friends, close as brothers. Perhaps more. There are those who said Keldwyn and he were lovers, off and on. While Keldwyn has never said, I do not doubt he loved Reghan. I was there the day he presented this statue. He was much younger then, of course. But the way his eyes flashed, his expression of utter defiance and grieving rage . . . I’d never seen him exhibit such emotion.”

  “Then it stands to reason, he would feel a strong compunction to protect and serve Reghan’s offspring. Either one of us.” Lyssa moved her fingers over the cool hand, drawing her gaze again. “I am your sister, Rhoswen, royalty in my own world, whether or not that world or my position in it has any of your respect. Tabor is offering us a chance to make this a better world on both sides. Let me give you that, and maybe, in time, we can build together what neither of us has. A trusted blood relative.” Rhoswen had lifted her face to stare at the statue again. As Lyssa watched her, her blue eyes glistened, then a tear rol ed down out of her eye, freezing on her cheek like single diamond. Lyssa brushed it off with one light finger. Rhoswen didn’t move, but when Lyssa touched her hand again, there was a linking of fingers, a tentative gesture that was somehow permissible because Rhoswen kept her gaze averted from it, not acknowledging what her body was doing.

  “You don’t want to harm his soul,” Lyssa realized.

  “You wanted a part of him back.”

  “I thought I could put the soul essence into the statue. It would make it a place of power, of strong energy.”

  “A place for a queen to go and meditate for guidance. This queen, or any of those who succeed her.”

  “You know I’m barren. Keldwyn told you, of course.” Rhoswen’s lips curved, bittersweet. “A Fae queen of ice and water, unable to have a child. But there are others who would be suitable heirs to my throne. I shal name one in the coming years, when she is worthy.”

  At Lyssa’s mental prompting, Jacob moved forward again. Cayden came with him of course.

  When Jacob stopped at Lyssa’s elbow, she reached into the pack he brought, withdrew the pouch and the red gemstone.

  Rhoswen blinked. “You were bluffing. How did you . . . ?”

  “A bit of sorcery I learned a long time ago to protect the location of my underground bedroom at home. Fae magic, of course. I used it then without directly acknowledging it as such, out of stubbornness. We are similar in that regard.” Rhoswen’s fingers had closed into a bal . When Lyssa extended the gemstone, she turned her half sister’s hand over, loosened the fingers and placed the stone in it. The red stone was held between their palms, their fingers interlaced. The Fae queen closed her eyes. “It’s warm. And I feel him. So faint, but I remember him . . . . do you feel it?”

  “I do. I never had the chance to know him, but to feel his soul essence . . . it’s like the cemetery.

  Painful joy.”

  Rhoswen kept her eyes closed, but nodded. When Lyssa at last drew her hand back, the queen opened her eyes to see her lifting the pouch for her inspection. “I ask, respectful y, that you let me take the ashes of the bush home with me. The roses I planted in Atlanta were started from the rose Reghan gave my mother. I think he would like it if he were scattered over those roses, so in some way they can be together again.”

  “I wil think on it.” After a moment, Rhoswen spoke, with studied indifference. “So Tabor feels you would be a good liaison between our courts.”

  “He spoke of that, yes. Is he wel ?”

  Rhoswen gave her that faintly scornful smile, though it had less heat. “He makes a good impression, doesn’t he? He elicits care from total strangers. It is the type of male he is. Yes, he is wel .” Shifting on the fountain, she looked down at the glistening red stone. “I expect, since your vampire and Fae abilities appear to be more balanced, and your relationship with your servant is restored to something the council understands a bit better, a liaison is not a bad idea.”

  She

  paused.

  “To

  agree

  with

  Tabor’s

  recommendation is an acknowledgment that a relationship between our worlds can be beneficial to us, and I’m stil not so sure of that. But I am wil ing to defer to his judgment, wait and see. I appoint you as liaison to the Vampire Council, Lady Lyssa, in addition to whatever other role you wil eventual y serve for them. My scribes wil prepare a formal correspondence from me for you to carry to them. I think that serves both of us, just as it has served Tabor and me to have Keldwyn fulfil more than one role in our respective courts. However, you wil come back here three months out of the year. The months that contain Beltane, Samhain and Yule. Al Fae court members are required to participate in the rites to honor the Lord and Lady, our blessed Danu and her Consort, and al they represent in our world.” Lyssa pursed her lips. “You issue this as an edict, but by your own laws, by completing this third quest, I have some direction over my own wil , my own decisions. I wil come for part of Yule, but there are others I honor at Christmas as wel . I wil want time with them. However, I wil give you two weeks of that month. I support the establishment of the liaison role and wil champion it with Council. I wil hope it benefits both our worlds, and heals some old wounds.”