A Court of Three Stars

18: Day of Reckoning

The Meat Market, Lunathion, Midgard

Leur

Flynn, Dec, Tharion, and Marc are in the dorms with the dragon and the Fedyr girl. I reported back to where Tamlin was walking, shifted to be disguised as some random, seedy lizard shifter, speaking down the bond of our blood, Of all people in the world, Ithan Holstrom is meeting with the Viper Queen.

Ithan Holstrom? I could hear the scowl in his voice, even if his strange face stayed impassive.

This place was a hellscape, full of every ounce of depravity that humanity had to offer. The air felt like a Hybern camp, cold and dark, lit with the scent of smoke and magic. In every dark corner, something horrific was lurking.

Nothing was off the table here.

That's what I said. I answered Tam, using the shadows his large form cast on the ground to hide.

Mother spare us. He grumbled, We're fucked.

We could be. Hopefully, the child could hold off on doing something ridiculously irresponsible for five minutes.

Probably not. We were probably fucked.

Just handle those four and I'll deal with Ithan. Get them to the docs. I sighed mentally.

What about the dragon and Sigrid? Tamlin questioned as I sent him the mental images of how to get to Tharion's dorms.

Take them if they'll go. I said as I cleared the shadows off myself in the stairwell outside the Viper Queen's office, using the reflection on a little door windowpane to ensure my glamour was in place, By the way, one of them shot Sabine. Not sure which one.

Tamlin's reply was quick, To death?

No. I walked out of the stairwell, peeking around the corner to find two fae guards standing outside the office door. It was the only sign that something valuable lay behind the nondescript metal, I'm sure she's crawled in a hole to lick her wounds.

A shame. Tamlin quipped, Death waits for evil like her.

I slipped into the guards minds easily, just one quick command to keep their eyes trained on the wall and their bodies still, Assholes like her are always the last to die.

I caught one little echo of his mental laugh before I took a breath and felt myself become what I needed to be. A noticeable shift in the way I walked, the way I carried myself, everything. From a spy to a Queen as I opened the door to the most dangerous place in the city and walked in like I owned the place.

Five Roses, Lunathion, Midgard

Azriel

I quite liked this throne.

It was more plush than my own. More comfortable to sit in.

Then again, I supposed it was made for someone who had nothing better to do than to plant his ass in it and look down on everyone else. I think I might have sat in my own about four times in the past two years, probably because I was busy actually fucking doing things for the betterment of my people.

And the Mother knew that Einar Danaan was not bothering with any of that.

His district here was beautiful, lush villas and stunning architecture. But a Fae court can never be judged by the perfection of its capital city. As someone who grew up in an impoverished camp on the outskirts of Illyria, Velaris would have never given away the scarcity up in the northern mountains. Just as Aelius could not distract from the hell that was rained down on the Ciatnens since before recorded history.