Child of Darkness-L-D-2 by Jennifer Armintrout

ends of her antennae absently with a forefinger. “Surely, not every Elf in the Darkworld is privy to this plot, any more than a Faery beggar outside the Palace gates is privy to what we say here.”
    “Abduction could cause retaliation,” Ayla mused. “Retaliation could also indicate whether or not there is a real threat from these Waterhorses.”
    “Precisely,” Cedric agreed.
    Flidais sighed, the way she often sighed when she knew she was about to make an unpopular point. “This is true. But if they have raised the Waterhorses, they are in as much danger as we are from them. If this attack happened on the surface, where the Elves have no quarrel with Fae, then they are unable to control them. Or, the Ambassador is not being honest in his tale. Should we not follow the course of action that would not lead to war, and see first if Bauchan is telling the truth?”
    “Perhaps we should wait, just long enough to pull members of Court and the Guilds into militia service,” Cedric agreed. “In that time, we can investigate Bauchan, and we can defend our borders in case of attack. And we should let the Trolls and Dragons know that we’ve been threatened.”
    “The Dragons, yes,” Ayla agreed, “but not the Trolls. They are likely to start a war for the sake of violence. Besides, they supported Garret while he was in exile. They may turn against me as easily, again. We need not involve them until all other options are exhausted.”
    “I will go to the Dragons and seek an audience,” Flidais volunteered. “Give Cedric the time he needs to fortify our borders, Your Majesty. But do not let this Bauchan go. If he has brought lies from the Upworld Queene, then our quarrel is not with the Elves, but with our fellow Fae. He could be made an example of.”
    It was not a possibility that Ayla took lightly. It haunted her even after her council had departed. Malachi followed her, without speaking, to her chambers. He knew her mood well enough to know that there was nothing he could say, and so he remained silent. What did this Upworld Queene wish, besides to rule over the Lightworld, as well? Perhaps Ayla had lied when she’d told Bauchan she did not turn down Danae’s offer of aid out of pride. The gall, to send an Ambassador to her Court in the hopes of luring away her subjects—after all she had done to earn her throne!
    What did you do, besides kill your mate? And nearly get killed yourself, doing it? the familiar voice of doubt chided her. But she had earned her throne. Now, twenty years after she had killed Garret, she could finally say that. She could not have remained Queene, even for this short time, if the Court had not had faith in her and her abilities. She would have been assassinated, if they thought her weak or incapable of ruling. This false Queene, who wished to lure her subjects away from her, would have to do far more than simply scare her with monster tales.
    But if they were not tales, and if the Faeries of the Lightworld were truly in danger, what then? The Dragons were their allies, true, but would they be moved to actually defend the Fae? The Trolls would no doubt relish the chance to go to war with anybody, but they often made more problems than they solved.
    No answers would come to her. They would come, as they always did, in their own time, and Ayla’s impatience burned her. Even though a plan was in place, and even though that plan was the most sensible course of action they could take, it had not unfolded in her view yet; she could not see what lay on the other side of it. That was the true torture of her position. She could make all the decisions and declarations that she might like, but she could not control the outcome. In a few weeks, would she be the slave of an Upworld Queene? A trophy of her victory over the Faeries of the Underground? Or would her own Court lay in ruin, a monument to her pride and unwillingness to bend? Or would some unguessed third outcome be her people’s