He paused, as if expecting to announce Ash as well, but of course Ash was not with me at the moment. After a heartbeat, the herald nodded, and I stepped into the room, to the stares of dozens of fey.
A long white table waited at the end of the room, with three figures already seated and two empty spots farther down. Queen Mab, King Oberon and Queen Titania waited for me as I walked across the room, my back straight and my chin held high.
“Meghan Chase.” Mab’s greeting could not exactly be called a welcome. The Unseelie monarch sat in the middle of the table, her long black hair styled elegantly atop her head, pinned in place with icicles. “How fortuitous of you to join us.”
“Queen Mab,” I said politely, and nodded to my father, to her left. “Lord Oberon, Lady Titania.” The Summer Queen pursed her lips and pointedly ignored me, but Oberon gave a solemn bob of his head. Not unfriendly, but not really acknowledging me as a daughter, either. I stifled a sigh. This was going to be a long night.
“Where is Ash?” Mab inquired, her dark gaze flicking to the door behind me. “Has he not come? Is he not anxious to see his old court and kith?” Her voice lowered, turned slightly dangerous. “Has he forgotten us so quickly?”
“No, Queen Mab. Ash is here.” I was quick to reassure her, knowing Mab took insult easily and held grudges forever. “He was…held up…for a few minutes in the courtyard. I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”
“I see.” Mab sat back, apparently mollified. “Good. I wish to hear how Ash is getting along in the poisoned realm.”
I was about to reply that Ash was doing just fine, thank you, when every light in the place—torches, the icicle chandeliers, flickering blue candles in the columns—sputtered and went out.
Snarls and cries of alarm filled the air. Chairs overturned as fey leaped to their feet, drawing weapons and glaring into the shadows. I spun, searching for hidden dangers, for anything stupid or crazy enough to attack during Elysium when the most powerful fey in all the Nevernever were in the very same room.
“Silence!” Mab stood up, her voice booming through the darkness, and instantly everything went completely mute. You could’ve heard a pin drop. “Whoever is responsible for this will soon wish they had never been born,” she rasped into the still darkness. “You will not embarrass me in my own court in the midst of Elysium. Show yourself, now!”
She waved her hand, and lights sprang up again, candles and chandeliers flaring to life. The faeries in the room blinked and cringed and glanced around, wary of attackers and one another.
They didn’t immediately notice the old woman standing in the middle of the room, where nothing had been before. But I spotted her almost at once, and my stomach went cold with dread.
The oracle, ragged, dusty and as brittle as old newspaper, turned the hollow pits of her eyes on me and didn’t look away. I heard Titania’s sharp gasp, just as the other fey discovered the ancient creature standing in their midst and surged away from her like she had a disease. But the oracle’s sightless gaze never wavered, and she seemed to float over the ground like a dusty wraith, until she stood a few yards from me.
“Oracle,” Mab stated in a flat voice. “Why are you here? What is the meaning of this disturbance?”
The oracle ignored the Winter monarch, however, drifting closer to me. “Meghan Chase,” she whispered, and the stench of centuries-old dust filled the air, the smell of a grave or a tomb. “Iron Queen. Do you remember me?”
“What do you want, Oracle?” I stood tall, keeping my voice calm.
“Old Anna brings a warning,” the oracle whispered. “One that has been ignored before. Do you remember what I told you, Meghan Chase? You and your Winter prince. Do you recall what I said would happen?”
A murmur went around the room, and Mab’s glare sharpened; I could feel it searing into the back of my head. Goose bumps prickled over my skin, but I kept my voice firm. “No,” I said, taking a step forward. “You told us a lot of things, and I gave you what I could. I did what I had to do, to save my family. That’s all that was important.”
“You remember,” the oracle insisted. “Do you not? The one thing you refused to give up. That which would cause you nothing but grief. Do you remember now, Meghan Chase?”
For second, I didn’t know what she was talking about.
Then it hit me, and were it not for the hundreds of fey watching, including the rulers of the other courts, I would have fallen as my knees gave out. I remembered her words, so long ago, when I had first come to Faery. I had traded away a memory for her help, but that wasn’t the only thing the oracle had wanted.
“You will not give it up, even though it will bring you nothing but grief?”
“Oh, God,” I whispered, and my hand slipped to my stomach. The nausea, the sudden weakness and fainting spells. It couldn’t be.
“Yes,” the oracle whispered, and raised a withered hand, pointing at me. “You know of what I speak. And you have a decision to make, Iron Queen. What you carry will either unite the courts, or it will destroy them. I have seen it. I know one of these will come to pass.”
“No,” I said in a shaky voice. No one in the room seemed to hear us now. It was as if we were in our own small world, the oracle and myself, and everything around us had faded into obscurity.
The withered hag watched me with the pitiless holes in her face. “You know I speak the truth, Meghan Chase,” the oracle went on. “You know the great power resting inside you. Power that can destroy, turn everything we know into dust. But all is not lost.” She raised a shriveled claw. “I have a proposition for you. We must speak further, but not here. Not like this.” She drew back, the hollow pits of her eyes never leaving my face. “Time is of the essence. Find me. You have friends who will show you the way. I will be awaiting you, and your decision.”
A sudden wind rushed through the ballroom, resnuffing candles and causing a few chandeliers to crash to the ground in a ringing cacophony. Fey jumped and howled, and by the time Mab restored order and reignited the lights again, the oracle was gone.
CHAPTER THREE
“Explain yourself, Iron Queen!”
Shivering, I turned to face the Unseelie monarch, on her feet and glaring at me over the table. Mab’s eyes glittered with distrust, and Oberon didn’t look very reassuring, either. Titania, of course, was staring at me like she was hoping my head would explode.
But they were the least of my worries, now. The oracle’s words rang through my head, over and over again, staggering me with the implications.
You know the great power resting inside you.
What you carry will either unite the courts, or it will destroy them.
You have a decision to make, Iron Queen. Find me.
“I have to go.”
That wasn’t well received. Mab straightened, every inch of her bristling with offense. “You dare, Iron Queen?” she asked in her scary soft voice. “You dare insult me in my own court? In front of my own people?” Her black eyes narrowed, and she leaned across the table, coating the glasses with frost. “You will tell me what is happening, or you will prepare for the wrath of Winter.”
I stared her down. “No, Queen Mab. You will not threaten me or my kingdom for this.” Mab didn’t move, but I could sense her shock; the daughter of Oberon was no longer a cowering little girl. I gestured to the room behind us. “You heard what the oracle said—this affects all the courts, not just my own. I will not adhere to some ridiculous, outdated protocol when my realm could be in danger.”
“The girl is right, Lady Mab,” Oberon said, finally coming to my defense. Better late than never, I supposed. “A Summons from the oracle cannot be ignored. If she knows something that threatens the stability of the courts, we must be prepared.”
“And what of Ash?” Mab snapped, a bit peevishly now. “I have not seen my son in months. The Iron Queen makes decisions that affects them both. What does Ash think of all this?”
“Ash,” said a cool, deep voice, suddenly at my shoulder, “stands with the decision of his queen.”
I didn’t move, though my heart leaped and I wanted to glance at him in relief. But I kept my gaze on the Unseelie monarch in front of us. “Ash,” Mab said, switching her attention to my knight, standing tall at my side, “you have not been home in months. Do you not care that your queen is breaking the ancient traditions of Elysium? Do you not care that she would pit you against your own court, if it came to war between us?”
I felt a blaze of fury at the Unseelie Queen’s manipulative ways, but Ash’s voice remained calm. “This is not my home any longer,” Ash said in a clear voice, making sure everyone heard him. “And if it came to war, I would be the first on the front lines, defending the Iron Court.”
Mab looked stunned. I took advantage of her silence to bow and step back. “We’ll be taking our leave now,” I told the rulers of Faery, ignoring my pounding heart. Of the three, only Oberon nodded. Titania snorted in disgust, and Mab continued to watch me with her dark, eerie glare. “I apologize for the inconvenience, Queen Mab, but we must return to Mag Tuiredh. Please excuse us.”
And, without waiting for an answer, I turned and left the ballroom with Ash at my side, feeling the Winter Queen’s frosty gaze skewering the back of my neck.
* * *
That was the easy part.
As soon as we were in the hallway, out of sight and sound of the rulers, Ash turned on me, silver eyes bright. “I heard the commotion in the ballroom,” he said, his voice low and intense, nothing like the cool, composed nonchalance he had shown in front of Mab. “What happened? Why are we leaving Elysium? What’s going on, Meghan?”
My legs were shaking. Now that I was away from the rulers, the oracle’s words came back in a rush, threatening to drown me. I couldn’t think, couldn’t explain. I needed time to compose myself, to sort this out. Ash had to know, he was the other part of this equation, but the Unseelie Court was not the place to break this kind of news. I couldn’t tell him now. Not like this.
“Home, Ash,” I said finally, desperate to get out of Tir Na Nog, back to the familiar comfort of my realm. “Please. I’ll tell you everything when we get home.”
He wasn’t happy, but conceded to my wishes, though I could feel his eyes on me the entire ride back to Mag Tuiredh.
How am I going to tell him? What is he going to think about all this? I gazed out the window, Ash’s worried, intense stare burning my cheek. Oh, Ash, I wanted this day to come, but I never thought something from our past would come back to haunt us. What are we going to do now?
Glitch didn’t say anything when the carriage pulled to a halt outside the palace, and no one tried to stop me as I strode down the halls; even the gremlins, who would normally swarm around me like happy, psychotic puppies whenever I entered a room, kept their distance. Only Ash kept pace with me, saying nothing, though I knew that would end the second we reached our chambers. I still didn’t know how I was going to tell him.