"NO. NO, no no. Absolutely not, are you insane?"

Callum was pacing back and forth in the throne room, hands resting on his head. He wouldn't look Andorra in the eye. "You went to Averotho to get these guys off of our backs, not to bring the Prince here to stay!"

"His father was like, one hundred percent likely to murder Ero after I stole from him. There really wasn't a choice." Andorra looked at Oberon, but didn't say anything about what she knew. "Besides, the more the merrier, right? He'll be fine."

"He'll be a backstabbing spy for his father!" Callum finally came to a stop, looking at Andorra, fuming. "How are you okay with this?"

"Human heart, remember?" She blew out a long sigh. "I get you're upset for my safety, but c'mon. Have some faith in me, alright? Besides, isn't it a good thing if we have the enemy Prince in our sights? He can't be scheming too much if we have him pinned here. We control what he sees and hears. I think it's better that we can keep him with us. Makes it harder for him to be sneaky."

Callum held Andorra's stare, deciding whether or not to fight her on it. "I'm glad you're back, I am." He rubbed his forehead, his shoulders dropping. "It's been bad without you here, Andorra. I'm keyed up because of it. I do have faith in you."

Andorra's grin widened substantially. She stepped forward, arms outstretched. "Is this where we hug it out?"

Callum's withering glare told her he absolutely wanted no such thing, but Andorra wrapped her arms around the Shadow fae and squeezed him tightly. "I appreciate you, you know. I promise I'll calm down, now that I'm back. No more scares for you to deal with."

"Yeah, yeah," Callum grumbled.

"But, we may have to start preparing for war. The King is going to be supremely pissed off when he finds out I've stolen his son and his Asrai."

Callum tilted his head. "You never did explain that piece of the puzzle. What was up with that? And was it worth the trouble?"

"I met the Asrai, off the coast. They told me that they would accept my rule as Queen if I saved their sister. And I was already going to Averotho, so I killed two birds with one stone. Not really sure what she was doing there in the first place."

"Oh, I do. The King was harvesting her powers, for sure."

"Which are?" Andorra never did figure it out.

"The Asrai have the power of healing with their tears. Not like how you can heal, either. Their tears heal ailments, any sort of sickness, and can prolong life. I'm going to assume the King was keeping her around to keep himself alive."

"The Drink of Life." Andorra recalled the Asrai saying that to her. And the vials lined up against the walls, full of some sort of clear liquid. "I think you're right. And I think he may be selling her tears. Or using them for something. Either way, he'll bring war to us for that action alone, never mind me refusing to sign his contract."

Callum snorted. "So you damned us for an Asrai?"

"No, I damned us the minute I refused the King of Averotho. He wanted to steal our powers, Callum. Not just mine, or yours, but every single one of us. And if any of us refused, that was it. He would fight us anyway. There was no possible way I was going to force all of us to do that."

Callum swallowed the lump in his throat, looking away. It was one thing to make the King of Averotho upset. It was another thing to destroy what little chances they had at an allyship. "We need to call a meeting, then. One in which my father is involved. I know you don't really want him here, but he knows a lot of things, including how to battle in a war."

"I think you're right about that. I'll go see Puck myself. How about we set up a meeting for tomorrow? Is that too late, do you think?"

"You're asking my opinion?"

"Callum, I value your opinion. I know I don't always agree with your rules, but I trust you. You've been ruthless for far longer than I have."

A small smile at the corner of his mouth was all Callum would allow. "We should also address the elephant in the room." Oberon interrupted, causing both Andorra and Callum to turn his way. "Which is the fact that Ero may be in love with me."

"What?" Callum's voice was abrupt, harsh, abrasive in the quiet of the throne room.

Oberon rubbed the back of his neck. "And I'd be lying if I said I didn't have feelings for him as well. Just wanted to get that out there before it becomes a scandal. But trust me when I tell you that I turned Ero down to protect Andorra, and will continue to do so."

Callum looked absolutely disgusted. "What are you going on about? You have feelings for Ero?" He was shaking his head. "This is absolutely messed up. Ero. As in, our enemy? As in, the Prince?"

Oberon stretched his hands out in front of him. "I'm just being honest."

"You're being stupid!" Callum crowed. He spun on Andorra. "Tell him he's being pigheaded."

Andorra just shrugged. "You can't control who you like, Callum. And besides, maybe it'll work in our favor if our enemy prince is in love with Obe. Could save us in the long run. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to the Winter Court."

* * *

The Winter Court was not Andorra's favorite place, exactly. She loved Icewood, and considered that a part of her home, but the Shadow Clan was an entirely different story. Like its namesake, it was a dark place, almost as if sunlight was afraid to shine down on the citizens there.

It wasn't dark like the night, however everything was cast in dense shadows, keeping people hidden as they walked along the sidewalks in the center of town. Shops lined the path to where Prince Puck lived, and Andorra followed it quietly. Callum trailed behind her, awfully quiet for a man who had been yelling in the throne room not that long prior.

Oberon was beside her. "I really pissed him off, huh." There was a lopsided grin on his face. "Shadow boy may never forgive me for this."

"Hey, I can hear you," Callum barked from behind them. "Quit it with the shadow boy. We're past that, aren't we?"

"Now why would I ever be past a hilarious nickname like that?" There was something about Oberon that felt lighter, and Andorra could tell. He almost had a bounce in his step, as if sharing his feelings about Ero had taken a weight off of him.

She vowed to be a better best friend and talk to him about it. Not as a Queen to her guard, but as friends. He deserved that from her.

"So, is Puck going to make us go all the way to his front door? He must know we're here." Andorra only pretended to huff. She was in the best shape of her entire life, thanks to her training with Vulara. It was wild how much could change about a person. The thought of P.E. used to make her wince, but now, she was practically a gym bro.

She snorted at that train of thought. Gym bro. Nice.

"My dad is probably getting off on it. I bet he's watching from the window." Callum had half a mind to lift his hand and flip his father the bird, just because.

"So, tell us about growing up here. What was the dynamic? Were you ever just like, a kid?"

Callum leveled Andorra with a flat look. "Don't patronize me. Yes I had a childhood. And yes, I was a kid once. A ruthless one, yes, but I haven't always been such a broody man. Mostly, my father kept Aihfie and us away from all of the Prince business. We weren't allowed in his office, or to know what was really going on. When I was old enough though he began my training."

"Training?" Andorra looked over her shoulder. "I thought the children of the Princes and Princesses were never given the same role?"

"True. I just mean that he raised me to one day be the Shadow Clan Leader. Right now, he holds both positions."

Andorra tried to picture Callum as a child, and failed. There was something about him that was just so mature. She had a hard time believing he had once been young enough to play with toys, cry over a scraped knee, and be afraid of the dark.

Although shadow fae were probably never afraid of the dark, Andorra surmised.

By the time they made it to the front door, it swung open to reveal Puck, his face drawn. His Rali, shadow bats, seemed to hover around his shoulders. He didn't offer them a smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Andorra kept her chin high. "King Kaeberon wants to start a war with us. I figured now was a good time to talk to the only man who may be able to help us survive one."

Puck tilted his head, his eyes trained on his son. "What did you learn about Averotho on your trip?"

Puck ushered them inside while he waited for Andorra to answer. He led them to his private study, closing the door behind them. Andorra's eyes widened when, in the corner, she saw Nohx sitting in one of the chairs. He was flipping through a book when his eyes caught hers.

A smile curved up on his lips, and it was as if Andorra's heart stopped completely. She had tried to see Nohx in the hour between leaving Averotho and picking up Oberon, but he had been in a meeting with Puck. A meeting Andorra didn't think to interrupt.

Nohx didn't move, and Andorra didn't either, but something pulled tight between them. A feeling Andorra never wanted to lose. She went to smile back at him, but Puck cleared his throat. "Are you going to answer my question, or stare at him all day?"

Cheeks burning at being caught, Andorra looked back to Prince Puck. "I wish I had learned more, but we didn't spend that much time there. I was surprised to find that a lot of the people in the inner city don't like Kaeberon."

Puck shook his head. "No, his people do not like him. Why were you surprised?"

"Well, I want my people to like me. But, everyone seemed pretty upset at him. And while I was there, I rescued an Asrai. He'd been forcing her to keep him alive. With her absence, I don't know, maybe we'll have a shot."

Puck set down his cup onto his desk. "You what?"

"She didn't deserve to be trapped there."

"Kaeberon has been guarding that asrai for centuries, and you've taken her back to Anlithamy? Are you mad?"

Andorra narrowed her eyes at Puck. "She wasn't livestock, Puck. She deserved to be rescued. And screw anyone who wishes to kidnap her again, or any of the Asrai. I've granted them my protection."

Puck went deathly still. His shadows flared at Andorra's truth. "You've made a grave mistake."

"I disagree," Nohx chimed in from the chair. "The Asrai will be great allies if Kaeberon does bring war to our shores. They control the sea. Kaeberon would have no choice but to travel by sea. Probably by serpent, if I had to guess."

Puck swung his dark gaze to Nohx. "She angered the King-"

"When I declined his contract. Not when I took the Asrai. Kaeberon told me that he wanted our powers, Puck. Not just mine, but all of our powers. And if a single member of Anlithamy said no, he was going to bring war to us regardless of how many bowed down. He was never going to let us go free."

Puck stared at Andorra for a long time. He seemed as though he wanted to yell at her, to scream, but Puck was neither of those things. He was calm and collected.

"Puck, I think our Queen made a decision that will bring peace to our people in the long run. If she had made that deal, Anlithamy would have bucked."

"Another thing." Andorra wet her lips anxiously, and she shared a look with Oberon. "We have more to worry about. Kaeberon did what Roseria requested: he raised Anders from the dead."

* * *

Hi

this isn't the normal authors note, but i wanted to boost my best friends etsy!

i just got back from seeing her this past weekend, and she mentioned that she was a little sad her t-shirt etsy shop hasn't seen much traffic. soooo i wanted to help her out

here is the link to her etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KVCreationTreasures

pls don't feel like u need to buy anything, but feel free to check it out :) she has a few book themed shirts that are kinda fun. and maybe in the future, she'll make us some lovely Andy x Nohx merch hehehe

anyway. love u all!

XOXO