Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
They enter from every wall, their forms gliding through rock and wood as though neither exists. They find the in between spaces and work their way through. A hundred sluagh, it seems, form from near nothingness. Pale and wraithlike, their bodies show the way each died. Wounds on a sluagh are like jewels to a highborn lady, an expression of beauty. Even to the Unseelie, who understand the horrors of the planes, sluagh are monstrous.
And yet, I see an odd beauty to them.
“We seek the king.” They speak as one, their voices sending a fresh wave of chilled air through the hall.
My father stands, along with Beck and Cian Finn. They each nod to the group of sluagh, not an ounce of fear showing.
“The kings of the Seelie Fae welcome you.”
Father nods as well. “As does the king of the Unseelie.”
A single sluagh floats to the front of the crowd that moves, coalescing into a single mob. This sluagh was a sidhe at one time, the long lines of his body a dead giveaway. The flesh at his throat is mottled and gnarled, signs of the rope that he hanged from.
“The sluagh are grateful that such highborn men would stoop to speak with us. King Beckett and King Cian, you might be the rightful owners of the Seelie throne, but you do not sit upon it. King Fergus, you rule the Unseelie, but we have no use for you.” His head whips around, eyes locking firmly on…me. Every one of the sluagh turn in one motion, a great flock of wicked birds of prey. “We seek the King of the Dead.”
Duffy tugs at my tunic. “Damn me, Lach. I think they’re talking about you. Should I get me axe?”
“Hush, Duffy.” For once Shim sounds serious.
“What are you talking about?” Father’s voice booms through the hall. “Leave my son alone. He isn’t well. Guards, take the princes out.”
I stand. I’m not about to be hauled out like an idiot child who doesn’t know his place. I do know where I belong. I hate it, but the dead call to me. I turn my eyes to the guard coming in. “Touch me and I’ll kill you. Once you’re dead, I’ll take control of your corpse and turn you on everyone you love. Do you understand?”
The head of the guard stops, his eyes widening. “Prince Lachlan, we must do as your father requests. He is king.”
The sluagh leader is suddenly right in my space, a cold whisper across my flesh. “He is not the king of us, Your Highness, and you know this to be true. Your power is not whole yet without your bondmate at your side. Take power from us. We give it willingly. Show them. Show them all.”
I look down at Shim, seeking sound counsel, but my brother’s face has turned cold and hard. “I feel it, too, brother, though it is not my power to take. Take it. Show them. ’Tis the only way to prove it.”
Ice edges through me, the sluagh pushing death power my way. I can command this. This is no flare of uncontrolled talent. This is raw power, and I am the master. I reach out to call the dead to me.
A loud wail goes up. A grunting and then a scream as the boar that was preciously roasted and laid out on the table for feasting struggles to its legs. A headless fowl, plucked and covered in sauce, unfurls grotesque wings and tries to fly. The group of sluagh shimmers, their bodies humming with power.
“Enough!” My father roars through the hall. “Enough, son.”
I shut the power off with a wink and a great deal of regret. I could have gone further. I felt them all in that moment. I felt all the dead things of the palace rising again. I felt the animals lying dead in the fields and around the palace courtyard, small and large. I sensed the goblins who died in a recent sickness. I felt the ogre we killed but days ago stir. I felt them all and realized I could have an army.
And then I felt a softer stirring and a gentle whisper.
No, Lachlan. Let the dead rest, son.
My mother. I reached out and caught my mother asleep forever in her tomb.
I fall back into my seat, hands shaking with fear. Fear of what I could become.
The sluagh smile, a ghastly thing. “You begin to see, Your Highness.”
Father is suddenly at my side. “What have you done to my son?”
Beck Finn is there, too, studying me. “How has your power manifested without the bond? We were told you refused to bond.”
“We bonded long ago, but our mate is trapped on the Seelie plane.” Shim stares at the Seelie king, waiting to be laughed at.
“Fuck me, they’re powerful,” Cian Finn says, his eyes wide. “They couldn’t have taken on the full bond, yet they’re able to do all of this.” He frowns. “Could you leave supper alone next time? I don’t think I can eat that thing now.”