When Sterling finally clawed her way back to consciousness, she was no longer on the floor. There was a soft bed beneath her and rose-scented sheets tucked around her, which could only mean one thing.

  Someone had found her. Someone had seen her when she was weak.

  Panic sent her heart fluttering in her chest like a bird desperate to escape its prison. Word would get back to Gavaran, and he would know she’d used her power. It would only be a matter of time before he figured out what she’d done to Cylan, and if Gavaran knew what power she wielded—what she had been able to do to Cylan with little to no training—what would that mean for her?

  Sterling knew she could overthrow Gavaran if she so desired. She could bring him and this kingdom to its knees, but she knew nothing about this Winter Queen Cylan had mentioned. If it was as he had said, and the Winter Queen was the reason Sterling had her throne back, she needed to be careful. There had to be a larger game at play here, and it would be better if she didn’t reveal all of her cards yet. She would need any advantage she could get.

  Her show of power could have easily made her a prisoner.

  Sterling wrapped her fingers around her wrist, remembering where first her kidnappers, and then the human king’s men had placed manacles. There was nothing there now, but there were other ways to cage someone.

  The throne could be nothing more than a trap.

  Sterling reached tentatively for her magic, wanting—no, needing—to feel its reassuring pulse. There was only emptiness.

  Stupid girl, you wasted everything you had, the voices whispered, sounding fainter than they had since the first time she’d heard them.

  Sterling couldn’t argue with them. They were right. She’d pushed herself beyond her limits with only minimal encouragement from them. It should have concerned her more, but she pushed the thoughts aside. She had everything under control, including the voices. This one slip didn’t mean anything. It would not happen again.

  Sterling clutched at the sheet covering her. If it was as Inesa told her, and this was the path fate had chosen for her, she would not simply follow along. She would carve her own way.

  Sterling ripped the sheet away from her body and slid from the bed, ignoring the protest of her muscles. Her legs were stiff as though she had spent days laying there, but that couldn’t be. It couldn’t have been more than a few hours since she’d collapsed.

  Before Sterling made it more than a few steps, the door opened, letting in a slice of light, and the servant girl she had threatened earlier.

  “Your Highness, you should be resting! Your journey here has exhausted you, and you need time to recover.”

  “I can decide for myself whether or not I need to rest,” Sterling snapped before the rest of the girl’s words sunk in. “Wait. What did you say?”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  A flash of fear followed by confusion darted over the girl’s features. “The journey here. It exhausted you and that is why you collapsed. You must rest if you wish to recover.”

  Either this girl was stupid, or she, too, was playing some kind of game. Sterling had been resting for days already, trapped in this room. Her collapse could not be explained away as exhaustion from her journey.

  Sterling studied the girl through narrowed eyes. “What is your name?”

  “Iris, Your Majesty.”

  “Iris, tell me, how long have I been resting?”

  “Two days, Your Majesty.”

  Two days? No wonder her muscles didn’t want to move. But more importantly, a lot could have happened in that time, and she had missed it.

  “Was Gavaran informed of my condition?”

  “Not to my knowledge, Your Highness. He left the kingdom shortly after your collapse and has yet to return.”

  This was a turn of luck.

  “Do you know where he has gone to?”

  “No, Your Highness.”

  Sterling couldn’t read Iris’s expression to tell if she was lying or not, but she did have one other source of information she might try.

  “Send for Cylan. I wish to speak with him.”

  Iris curtseyed and retreated, leaving Sterling alone in the dark room with her thoughts.

  By the time Iris ushered Cylan into the sitting room, Sterling had done her best to hide the toll her magic had taken on her body. The shadows beneath her eyes remained even after all that time resting, but otherwise one would never know she’d spent the last two days unconscious.

  “Thank you, Iris. That will be all for now,” Sterling said, dismissing her.

  Cylan waited until the girl had left before greeting Sterling. This time he included a bow and the proper honorific. Other than a slight pallor to his skin, he seemed to have recovered well from his brush with her magic.

  “Sit,” she commanded, gesturing to the chair across from her.

  While she’d been waiting for Iris to return, Sterling had discovered she wasn’t in her original rooms. These new rooms were smaller and lacking the ocean balcony, but at least they didn’t remind her of Seraiah.

  “I am interested to know what you can tell me about this Winter Queen and why she has returned my throne to me. What does she want?”

  She had some guesses as to what the fae queen might want, namely power, but she’d like to hear it from someone else.

  Cylan’s fingers tightened on the armrests of his chair. “I’m not sure I have all the answers you’re seeking, Your Highness.”

  “I will be the judge of that.”

  “The Winter Queen is a fae queen, head of the Unseelie Court.”

  “Related to the Summer King?”

  “Yes, he is her brother. Twins, I believe.”

  “Twins, but ruling two different courts. Interesting. What else can you tell me about her?”

  Cylan shook his head. “Rumors. Nothing I would repeat.”

  “And what of her interest in our kingdom? Are the faeries enemies of the elves?”

  “I don’t know. The faeries have never been our enemies, exactly. They are technically family.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I know you grew up with humans, so you may not know our history, but faeries and elves are cousins, you might say. The gnomes, as well.”

  “Cousins?” She had no idea if he was making this up. This was basic knowledge she should have had, but Kai had never mentioned anything like it. “The fae are immortal, and we are not.”

  “The story goes that the gods punished us. Once we all enjoyed this world together, but no more. The elves kept the magic, the faeries kept immortality, and the gnomes were punished with life underground.”

  Sterling thought about this. If anyone would have a desire to change their position, it would be the gnomes. They had the most to gain.

  “I should be clear. Faeries have their own version of magic. They create potions and elixirs, and the rulers retain some level of elemental magic. It is not, however, like ours. Before the gods punished our world, everyone had magic like yours.”

  “I see,” Sterling said.

  And she did. The Winter Queen coveted Sterling’s magic. Immortality could be a wonderful thing, but what was the use of living forever if you didn’t hold all the power?

  But did the Winter Queen know about the other thing Sterling held?

  “I think I would like to meet this Winter Queen,” she announced. “Make it happen.”