Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
“Ignore him,” Finn says, shooting Kane a look.
Kane shrugs. “She’s uncomfortable. I’m just trying to help.”
“It’s the season,” Finn says. “This part of the court could bring you snow in the morning and a warm enough evening to go swimming.”
“It’s true,” Kane says. “The only thing reliable about the weather here is that it’s unpredictable.”
“It’s not so different in Elora,” I say, remembering how volatile the weather could be at the end of the summer. I laugh. “Did you know that some humans blame you for any unexpected, unseasonal weather?”
Kane grunts. “Blame the fae? For the weather in an entirely separate realm? How powerful do they think we are?”
“The better question,” Finn drawls, “is why would we care enough to bring an early snowstorm or a winter heatwave to the human realm?”
I laugh again—so much of what I thought I knew about the fae was wrong—but then my smile falls away. “They also believe the Unseelie are wicked and cruel,” I say, shaking my head. “But even Mordeus couldn’t compare with the cruelty of the supposedly benevolent golden queen.”
“That was no accident,” Kane says. A fly buzzes around his face, and he waves it away. “Back before the portals were closed, the Seelie used the fear of the Unseelie to get humans to trust them.”
“Queen Mab used their fear to her advantage, though, like she did everything else,” Finn says.
“Was Mab the first Faerie queen?” I ask.
Kane pulls his canteen from his mouth and coughs.
“Not at all,” Finn says, shaking his head at Kane. “But she was the first shadow queen. She created the Throne of Shadows and provided a refuge for those the Seelie Court tried to enslave.”
“How did she create her own court?” I ask.
“This realm existed for millennia as a whole,” Finn says. “Faerie was one kingdom united by one king and one queen, but everything changed when Queen Gloriana came to rule. She did something unprecedented at the time: she took power before ever choosing a husband. Her parents passed the crown and its power to her and allowed her to step into the position before she chose her king, believing she hadn’t found her heart’s match yet. In truth, she was in love with two males—both were sons of a faerie lord but born of different mothers. One son, Deaglan, was born of the lord’s wife, and one, Finnigan, was born of the lord’s peasant mistress.”
“Finnigan?” I ask. “Another Finn? Are you named for him?”
Kane arches a brow. “She’s quick, that one.”
“He’s an ancestor, then?” I ask, ignoring him.
“Not by blood,” Finn says, “but you’re getting ahead of me. Legend says that Queen Gloriana loved them both and would’ve preferred never to choose, but the brothers were jealous and possessive, and together they demanded that she pick one to put on the throne beside her. Tradition would dictate that she choose Deaglan, since he had a royal mother and was of noble birth, whereas Finnigan was a peasant’s son, a bastard who would have to fight for the respect of the kingdom. But Gloriana’s advisors saw the extent of the males’ jealousy and told her that choosing either was dangerous. They told her to allow Deaglan and Finnigan to be her consorts but to choose someone else to sit beside her on the throne. Her advisors presented her with many options, and she determined to follow their advice, causing the brothers to believe that all hope was lost.”
I bow my head, hoping to hide my burning cheeks. This was what Juliana was talking about last night when she said the last time two brothers were in love with the same female it tore their realm in two.
Finn continues, “Although she was a peasant, Finnigan’s mother was also a priestess. Unbeknownst to any of her peers, she was the most powerful priestess in the history of our kind. Now she’s known as Mab.”
“I thought Mab was a queen, not a peasant.”
“She was a peasant first,” Kane says. “And she was a loving but mightily protective mother—of Finnigan and then of the court the gods gave her.”
Finn flashes him a look. “You’re getting ahead, Kane.”
“So Queen Gloriana was urged to choose someone other than the brothers,” I prompt.
Finn takes a stick from the ground and begins absently breaking off pieces. “The queen may have chosen one of the royal-born males brought before her, but she found herself pregnant with Finnigan’s child. Children are so rare among our kind that Gloriana took it as a sign from the gods that she was to marry Finnigan. He was delighted, and they began to plan for their wedding and bonding day, but on the morning of the event, she was poisoned, causing her to fall onto her sickbed, where she lost the baby.”
“Oh no,” I whisper. “That’s terrible.”
“Deaglan whispered into the ears of all the queen’s court, and even the ill queen herself, blaming her betrothed for the poisoning,” Finn says. “Deaglan claimed that Finnigan had been after the throne and the queen’s power for himself.”