Grison flicked his wrist. The women resumed their approach and began to dish out a heaping serving of food onto the bent metal plate and fill the goblet with wine of some sort.
“Your concern for my health is rather convenient. If you wish not to discuss your plans before your newly formed court, mayhap we should take a walk. Otherwise, I’ll be taking my leave of your care, since I do not follow any but our late princess.”
The women’s hands shook as they placed the offerings before Thaddeus. He ignored them, ignored the peace gesture that was naught more than a poorly shrouded façade.
Grison’s carefully wrought smile turned brittle. Thaddeus lifted his chin and crossed his arms over his chest. The small candle flames bowed toward him, feeding off his energy, the sizzling magic he managed to keep beneath the surface of his skin, hidden from the eyes of the Fae.
Grison straightened up in his chair and tented his hands over his plate. The silence in the hall pulsed with anxiety and weighed that of a world overhead.
“After the fall of our princess, we escaped Dagda’s control to continue Daeanna’s work in secrecy. This is a mere obstacle in our path. We’ll regain power in the Seelie Court once more and create the type of Faery our princess envisioned before she was able to fulfill her dreams of pureblooded Fae realms. In taking our first steps toward achieving her ultimate goal, I have created a group of spies to track all of the Seelie who have been known to tread among humans. Upon their return from each scouting, I discuss their findings with my trusted officials”—Grison motioned to the men on either side of him, whom Thaddeus did not acknowledge—“and come to a conclusion as to how we must handle these true traitors.”
“Ahh, so you’ve created a team of spies and potential assassins. And how many of theserogueSeelie creatures have you deemed unworthy?”
“I have only just begun our hunt. At this time, my spiesare collecting information on a few targeted purebloods who raise concerns of…contamination.”
Contamination. ’Twas an interesting term for this beast to use, and it put Thaddeus on higher alert. He maintained his cool composure but there was certainly something hidden in Grison’s words that left him uneasy. After all, what did any of this have to do with him? With Grison saving his life? Grison and his misfits were certainly capable of handling rogues if that was the path they chose to take. A terribly dangerous, unforgiving path.
“You’ve provided little more than a story for me. If you care to embellish, I’d suggest you do so now.” For theatrics, Thaddeus cast the hall a forlorn look. “This place bores me.”
“You were one of Daeanna’s keys in her goal to achieve a pureblooded Faery. To eliminate the waste of our superior realms and cease potential dilution of our powerful bloodlines. Look at the abomination of a Fae that wreaked this havoc on us. The pitiful creature who brought death to our princess. We cannot allow for any more powerful bloodlines to cross-breed.”
Thaddeus arched his brow higher, indicating his wearing patience. He was of half a mind to turn heel and be gone, figuring out Grison’s puzzle on his own. He wanted to find something palatable to eat, in a place that didn’t hold an underlying aroma of wet earth and musk that not even the food could counter.
He wanted to soak in a spring somewhere and cleanse his body of days of grime and blood, loosen his tense muscles, and figure out a path to move forward.
“My scouts are concerned due to information about your brother.”
For a brief moment, his mind refuted Grison’s words. The malicious glimmer in the beast’s eyes sparked into flames ofdelight. Thaddeus straightened his back a bit more, tipped his chin upward a hairsbreadth higher. His brows dropped into a furrow as his eyes narrowed.
“What concern do they have about my brother?”
“He’s been frolicking in the mortal world, engaging in forbidden lifestyles. Human women.” Grison sighed, a condescending sound. He lifted his fork and began to dig another piece of chicken from the bone. His gaze flicked up to Thaddeus. A ghostly grin edged along the corners of his mouth. He motioned to the plate in front of Thaddeus. Thaddeus shoved it aside in finality of refusing the invitation. Grison’scouncilmembers shared concerned glances among themselves. “Daeanna’s dream of pureblooded realms would have started with the eradication ofanythreat to our pure bloodlines.”
Thaddeus hadn’t realized he clenched his teeth until he opened his mouth to speak.Keep calm. Keep control.Relaxing his jaw, he asked, “Are you trying to convince me that Daeanna was planning genocide?”
“’Tis not genocide, Thaddeus. ’Tis preservation. Does one consider ridding one’s self of an ailment the genocide of said ailment?” He snickered, stabbing his torn chicken with his fork. “Nay. ’Tis preservation of one’s health and power. And anything which interferes must be eliminated.” Grison lifted his gaze and grinned darkly. “You stood by her side on the battlefield, thirsting for blood, if I recall. Did you believe cutting down those Talaenian wastes is a form of this genocide you speak?”
Thaddeus’s mind whirled. ’Twas exactly what Daeanna planned. The culling of a thorn in the side of the Seelie race. The complete annihilation of the Talaenian people. But, if he were completely honest, one man would have been spared.
His childhood friend. His longtime foe. The one male Daeanna wanted above all others.
“There are always causalities of war for as long as life has breathed in these realms. The battle on Talaenian soil was no different.” He refused to give Grison the satisfaction of believing his argument correct, for ’twas steeped in truth. He himself had danced with death and nearly became one of those casualties. “Needless murder at first offense is not a tactic Daeanna took when approaching the issues of bloodline contamination.”
“It takes but one mistake to contaminate a bloodline, Thaddeus. You know this. All you must do is see the abomination born of Shaye’s seed and hismortalmate.”
If he recalled correctly, the mortal woman was no longer mortal, having been gifted the power of a Fae potion. And the child she birthed possessed more Fae resemblance than human.
“Do you doubt our beloved princess’s plan? Do you defy her will, even in death, to remove any threat to our pureblooded race? The very princess who took you beneath her wing when all others dismissed your powers and abilities?’
The struggle within his chest tightened, as did the fingers he knotted behind his back, beneath the edges of the rough linen shirt. He maintained the cool expression over his face, his eyes not moving from Grison’s.
“Did you not pledge your undying loyalty to her?”
“Aye. As did you.”
“Aye,” Grison concurred. “And my loyalty to her cause remains my priority. Her cause, Thaddeus, of ridding these worlds of all threats to our Seelie race byanymeans.”
Grison lowered his fork to the edge of his plate and dabbed the sleeve of his robe at his temple, a gesture Thaddeus had witnessed many a time as a signal of the man’s false sincerity. A weight began to press down in Thaddeus’s gut.He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what the bloody bastard was about to say.
