Inside the tent, the king and queen sat around a long, ornately carved table. The cherry toned wood had been polished until it gleamed beneath the warm candlelight nearly as much as the golden tableware laid out at every place setting. Tucked away in the back right corner, a quartet of elves whose races were impossible to tell in the dim lighting, plucked at stringed instruments with what I could only describe as lackluster enthusiasm.

A chill washed over me as Kuga entered behind me, and we did not look at one another as we moved toward the table. She swept around to the far side, finding the open seat next to King Brinley and Queen Thera, leaving me to hover near the other open seats with uncertainty. The queen smirked against her gem encrusted goblet as she watched me.

I didn't know if it was the fire magic still singing in my blood or the high of standing up to Kuga–maybe both–that filled me with confidence. Holding her gaze, I shaped my lips into a grim smile and tilted my head just enough that the patch of white in my hair could be clearly seen and watched with delight as the blood drained from her face.

"Morana," King Brinley said as his flinty eyes swept between his wife and me. He did not rise. Instead, he tapped the table and pointed to the seat directly across from him. "I'm so pleased you came."

He said it as if he had given me a choice. I flattened my palms against my thighs to stop myself from fidgeting and took a slow, shallow, calming breath. "Your invitation honored me."

Kuga arched a white brow but remained silent. If our recent interaction had angered her, she didn't show it here. Not in front of the king, but I was not so foolish as to think it was her way of protecting me from his wrath. No, to tell him what happened was to admit to a weakness. Something she would never do.

"That gown is so becoming on you, Morana," Queen Thera said, her raspy velvet voice dripping with condescension. "I immediately thought of you when I saw it."

My forced smile turned brittle, and I wished there was some part of the old me that remained. That girl would have easily simpered and swallowed her pride. But she had died beneath the waves of the Crystal Sea.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," I said in response, dipping my head in feigned deference. "I'm sure if you were but a few years younger, you would have been able to wear it as well. Oh well, I suppose your loss is my gain."

King Brinley cleared his throat as his wife choked on her drink, and this time both of Kuga's brows climbed her forehead, almost disappearing into her hairline. The glare from the queen was nearly as heated as the fire inside of me, and I picked up my drink to avoid looking at her. Already, my plan to earn their favor and trust was failing.

"Where is Tievel?" I asked, flinching as a discordant note sounded from the harp. It vibrated through me and made the hairs on my arm stand.

The king sighed. To anyone else, he looked like the picture of an exasperated father, but I smelled the rage and rot beneath the mask. The cloying odor made breathing difficult, and I leaned away from him to find clear air. I'd been so upset in Tievel's tent earlier that I hadn't noticed it, but now, sitting so close and with no breeze, I could not escape it.

"I've sent someone to fetch him. He does enjoy testing my patience."

Queen Thera rested her long, slender fingers over his massive hand, and her icy blue eyes darkened. In the palace, I had done my best to avoid her, only catching glimpses of her in passing, but now I could see how much her son favored her. Tall and imposing like his father, it was his mother who lent Tievel his sharp features and coloring, but where Tievel had always been prone to smiling and laughter, the queen's expression was permanently pinched.

"You must have patience with him, my dear. He has changed much after his adventures."

Her shoulders tensed and her jaw flexed as she glanced at me. How much had Tievel told them about what happened? I doubted it or else I would not be sitting here right now. A collar would be clamped around my neck and chains on my wrists. It was one thing to harbor a weapon and a completely different thing to know the weapon would take aim at you. So, if the queen blamed me for Tievel's odd behavior, it was based on nothing more than suspicions.

"If only you knew the patience I had with our son," King Brinley replied, his answer directed toward his wife while he locked his attention on Kuga. Something passed between them. "When he was born, I thought he was the answer to all my prayers, but he has proven to be nothing but a disappointment."

The air shifted behind me, and the dry grass crunched beneath booted feet. "If I am such a disappointment, why do you care if I attend this farce of a dinner?"

"Tievel," Queen Thera cried out.

I swiveled in my seat to watch her as she rushed to her son to place two quick kisses against his cheek. He softened a fraction against her touch, but the moment she was back in her chair, his visage became like stone again. Pretending like I didn't exist, he pulled out the chair beside me and sat.

Staring at his son, the king said, "Perhaps because someone told me that disappointments are temporary, and anyone can redeem themselves."

Tievel deflated beside me and yanked his goblet off the table, sloshing the wine over the sides. Ruby streaks dripped down his chin and hand as he drained the glass. King Brinley rolled his neck and crooked his finger at someone in the shadows. Dinner was served without another word spoken.

While the food in the camp hadn't been terrible, it looked like slop compared to the decadent dishes put in front of me throughout the meal. Creamy goat cheeses and cured meats. Maple glazed sprouts and hazelnut soup. A salad of tamarillos and onion marinated in vinegar and tarragon. River trout seared and stuffed with frost peppers and pork belly and served with fluffy roasted tubers.

Astreia used to come to my room after meals like this and describe the food to me. It was the only thing that made those nights bearable for her, and I would fall asleep dreaming of the day I would get to attend those dinners as Tievel's queen.

Now, the man sat next to me and the food was in front of me, and I could only push it around the plate. Between the stench of the king's soul and the sudden knot of nerves that formed in my stomach at Tievel's appearance, my appetite had vanished.

Tievel's appetite matched mine, at least as far as food went; however, his thirst was unquenchable. By the time they served the moonberry pudding, I'd lost track of how many goblets of wine he'd downed. Despite the amount of alcohol in his system, his hands remained steady. The only indicator that it was having any effect on him was the increasing intensity of his mutterings about the world burning.

Sinking my spoon deep into the thick purple pudding, I studied my companions through my eyelashes. King Brinley and Kuga ate their dessert at a steady pace, though their expressions were void of any genuine enjoyment. For her part, Queen Thera seemed determined to make up for everyone else's lack of enthusiasm. She licked her spoon and gave her bowl a hostile look before dropping the spoon into it with a loud clang.

"Another for the queen," King Brinley called out.

"Oh, that's not necessary," she replied, even as her expression turned greedy and impatient.

"But it is. We cannot have you getting hungry, my love."

She glowed under the praise. Literally glowed, from the roots of her blonde hair to the tips of her fingers. It was a subtle shimmer and nothing compared to Astreia's starlight, but it was enough to remind me she descended from the Aos Si, the first elves who had lived in darkness under the hills.

Tievel and I reacted with disgust to the mushy scene in front of us, and when we realized we had the same reaction, we glanced at each other for the first time since he entered the tent. For a single, breathless second, I glimpsed the boy I'd been so in love with, but then a dark shadow shuddered into place. And all I saw was madness and cruelty.

"As lovely as this evening has been," Tievel said, pulling his newly filled goblet toward him as he tried to stand. "That was the last course, and I would like to return to my quarters so I can get drunk in peace."

"Sit down, son," Queen Thera murmured.

"I think I'd rather–"

"Sit down."

The ground rumbled with the king's anger. Tievel dropped into his seat and glowered. Kuga straightened and leaned toward the king, her bored demeanor replaced with intense interest. So, this was it, then. We were about to learn why I'd been invited.

"I wanted to make an announcement," King Brinley said, confirming my thoughts. "In six moon cycles, there will be another heir born."

Tievel swore softly, and I swayed in my chair. Another child. Another prince or princess. Only...I sucked in a breath.

"Ah, Morana seized the problem," Kuga said.

"As smart as she is lovely," the king said. His comment drew a growl from the queen.

"The child is likely to be stillborn," I whispered.

He nodded and leaned forward, putting his finger under my chin. "And that is precisely why you will relight the portals."