A Sin Like Fire (A Fantasy Romance) (Kingdom of Betrayal Book 2) by Everly Frost

Author:Everly Frost [Frost, Everly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ever Realm Books
Published: 2024-02-28T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 19

A strange sort of disappointment blossoms within me.

I shouldn’t be surprised. Malak left hatred in his wake.

But once again, he is the lynchpin that pulls together the threads of my life. Without him, the fae might have considered me a friend and welcomed me without fear or reservation.

“What happened?” I ask, fighting the bitterness rising into my throat.

“I only know what I’ve heard,” she says. “Years ago, Malak was part of a delegation sent to form an alliance with the fae. Instead, he assassinated our former Queen.”

Once again, it seems Malak brought death with him.

“Queen Karasi rose to power after that,” Gliss continues. “She has never let us forget our hatred of Blacksmiths.”

“Why would she hate him?” I ask wryly. “He’s the reason she became Queen, no?”

Gliss peers at me, her eyebrows raised. “That’s a very cynical way of looking at things.”

“Are you telling me fae are immune to political intrigue?”

She gives a cold laugh. “Oh, far from it. Our Queen is the finest of manipulators.”

She quickly presses her lips together and glances at the closed door, as if she’s afraid someone may have heard her.

I picture the length of the corridor outside this room.

“Unless they disobeyed your orders, I doubt they can eavesdrop from the end of that very long hallway,” I murmur, fighting to stay awake now that my pain has lessened.

“You don’t know anything about my people, do you?” she asks, the sudden sharpness in her voice causing me to become more alert.

“True,” I say, speaking more carefully. “But why point that out right now? Unless you mean to insult me because of my ignorance?”

“I speak with regret, not contempt.” Her shoulders relax a little, but the tension in her face remains. “If you knew more about the fae, you would know that there are many among my people with the power to snatch the very air from your mouth and hear the words you say from any distance. Including from beneath closed doors and along hallways.”

I give a heavy sigh. “Well, that’s wonderful.”

“You would also have known that my sister was a healer from the moment she introduced herself.”

My brow furrows. “How so?”

“Our power is in our name.” This time, Gliss’s expression carries a hint of pity that rankles me. “Every fae belongs to one of two classes: Sunstream or Eventide. Fae in the Sunstream class have powers that reflect the seasons. For example, Solstice fae draw their power from the sun and therefore control heat and fire. Queen Karasi is of the Solstice. Our former Queen was a Frost fae. She controlled wind and ice.”

“Wind,” I murmur, thinking it through. “I take it the Frost fae are the ones with the power to snatch the speech from my mouth.”

She nods. “Our former Queen was a master at making use of what she heard.”

“What about you?” I ask, considering what I know of Gliss’s power to heal, but I’m not sure how that would relate to one of the seasons.

“I’m in the Eventide class. We’re rarer,” she says.

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