IN THE DAYS THAT followed, Mab and Atla were their teachers. The Grand Queen helped the others strengthen their magic, while Kit, Selene, and Eurion went with Atla to learn more about the Sídhe and how best to deal with them in combat. Eurion and Selene were better than he was by every stretch, and Kit felt useless next to them. Where they caught on, he fell short, and he didn't know how he'd help the fight at this rate.
"Put your fists away, Kit, they won't do you any good," she told him, gripping both of his wrists with a single hand.
The two were finished with their training, and they'd left the Winter Queen to torment Kit until his body ached and he felt like a failure, as it had gone every day since the beginning of their training. He was exhausted, but Atla would never dare to give him a break.
"That's all I know how to do," he groaned. "I'm a lost cause, Your Majesty."
The woman yanked him close to her chest. She was as tall as him, but he felt so much smaller. "There are other ways to defeat a faery," she purred. "Deception, agility, seduction..."
Her fingers walked up his chest and he could feel his entire face heating up.
"You've been dead for fifteen seconds already, Kristofer, you fell for it again."
The corner of his mouth quirked up. "How couldn't I?" He let his gaze burn her skin up and down her entire figure. "Your people are all beautiful, but you... even yet, you are something else."
Atla's throat bobbed, and while she did her best not to be flustered, Kit took his chance to spin her around and hold her back against his chest, dull blade to her throat.
"And now you're dead, Your Majesty."
The young Queen stepped away with a scoff. "I thought I already killed you."
"Never let your guard down, darling, is that not what you've been saying?"
She made a threatening face, but before anything could escalate, Mab cleared her throat and caught their attention from across the training room. The two of them paused to look at her, bowing their heads as she neared. Kit could still feel the power radiating from the ancient woman, it never once dulled.
"I was waiting for that," she teased.
Atla's eyes were venomous. "Waiting for what?"
"For him to charm you," Mab said with a flourish of her hands. "It's inevitable, even for you, you stubborn thing."
"Shut up," Atla murmured, casting Kit a glare before she abruptly shuffled away, eager to leave her mother's presence.
A long moment of awkward silence ensued before Mab finally spoke up. "She's kind, really," she told him. "Deep down, she's as soft as they get. She couldn't hurt a flea if it didn't deserve it, she's just been uptight lately."
"I can imagine being a Queen is hard right now," he said.
Mab frowned at her hands. "That's why I wish she'd marry. That's the curse of Grand Queens, we can't get help like that. But she doesn't have that problem, if only she'd let someone give her a hand. Preferably someone who already knows how kingdoms work."
"I see," said Kit, unaware of her expectant look she sent his way. When he finally noticed, everything clicked. "Ohhh... you mean... a prince."
"Well, an ex-prince might do." Mab lifted a shoulder. "She's angry with me about it, but if she plans to rule as long as I have, she'll have it so much easier with a companion."
The floor became very interesting according to his searching amber gaze. He recalled the deal he'd made with Atla, and now he felt stuck. "It's a lovely offer, I'm sure your daughter is an incredible woman," he started.
"She is," Mab insisted. "But you've got your eye on another Unseelie already, don't you?"
Kit's cheeks paled. "No, that's not it." It was, though. At least, it was most of it. "I just... think that she should decide on her own."
The Queen screwed her lips and gave his shoulder a motherly clap. "I understand," she told him. "Give it some thought when you can, at least. I know this isn't a good time for you."
Kit bowed. "You're very kind, Your Majesty."
"Please, call me Mab." She gave him a motherly grin, and he felt his chest cave in. It reminded him too much of the woman he loved the most, and he couldn't bare that pain now.
"Your Majesty," he said again, voice trembling. "Where are the others?"
Her face fell. "The dining hall. That's really why I came to get you. Eurion and Selene are already there."
"Naturally," Kit murmured, and followed her out of the room.
The dining hall was full and budding with gentle conversation. Morgana was silent beside one end of the table, an empty chair waiting for Kit beside him. Across the Unseelie was another empty seat, reserved for an absent Atla. Mab was particular about it, putting the Unseelies next to her and the Seelie as far away as could be. Separating Morgana and Giselle didn't strike the prince as a wise idea, but there would be no arguing with Her Majesty.
"You alright?" Kit murmured as he slipped into place next to Morgana, who looked as unpleasant as ever.
"Why? Do I look like I'm not?"
His tone told Kit everything he needed to know. "Training still not going well?"
The faery fidgeted with his fork. "Mab won't let me reach my limit," he said. "Unseelies don't have limits, except for me, but she won't let me explore mine. This is the best place to do it, where I'm safe and there are people to help me if I go too far."
Kit gulped. "What do you mean, 'go too far?' Will this magic kill you?"
Morgana stabbed his fork into his untouched plate of food. "Don't. Not you, too, Kristofer, you push me and I'll stop talking to you."
"I'm sorry," he said, bowing his head. "I just... I n--we need you out there. So don't go killing yourself just yet, okay?"
"You're one to talk," Morgana poked, and Kit couldn't help but smile with him. "No promises."
Kit held up his little finger. "I only ask you to promise you'll tell someone if you need help, okay?" As much as he hated the idea, he loathed to think of what would happen if Morgana didn't trust him even more. If he was going to do this, he wasn't going to wait around for permission. The least Kit could do was make sure he wasn't doing it alone.
He made a face. "This is stupid," Morgana murmured, but clasped their fingers together after a moment of contemplation. "Fine. But don't get in my way."
Kit pressed his lips to the other's knuckle before releasing him. "It's a deal."
It was obvious he was trying not to smile, while Kit was beaming at him like a madman. He didn't ever expect to win with Morgana, but this one small victory warmed his heart and dusted his cheeks with a gleeful pink.
Their attention was forced away when Mab settled into her seat at the end, a grim look on her face. A single seat remained empty.
"My daughter won't be joining us today," she mumbled, eyes blank on the unattended plate of food. "No need to worry. Our business is nothing for you to fret about. We'll get on with our meals."
It didn't feel right to eat without her, especially not after the strange friendship they'd developed in their days of training. If Atla said she wasn't having dinner that night, though, he had no doubt she meant it. At least, she did until she felt bad and joined them later. It wouldn't be the first time.
But today, she didn't join. There was no sign of her, and Kit couldn't ignore the sour taste it left in his mouth. It wasn't right. His plate was still half-full when he excused himself from the table. Morgana wasn't far behind him.
"You never leave a plate until you've licked it clean, what's wrong?" the faery asked, more like a demand than it was a question.
"Do you feel that?" Kit pulled to a momentary stop, but kept moving before too long. "She's late. There's something very wrong tonight and it wouldn't be right not to figure out what it is."
Morgana struggled to keep up. "She said she wasn't coming."
"How many times has she said that and joined us anyways before the wine was gone?"
"Fair," he replied. The thunk of his cane echoed through the walls as they rushed along the hallways. "This palace is huge, it'll take a long time to find her."
As if on cue, Kit threw open the doors of a balcony overlooking the courtyard, where Atla was pacing back and forth, looking down at the ground like she was searching for something. Morgana grunted in resignation.
"You can't be here," Atla hissed.
"We can't be here or you don't want us to be here?" Kit pushed. "Something's wrong. Let me help."
Atla's pupils were wide. "You can't! There is nothing you can do to help this!"
"Is it your mother? She's fond of us, maybe we can talk her down for you."
The Queen was growing frantic, and only then did Kit notice the hot tears burning trails down her cheeks. "I said you can't be here, to hell with my mother, leave!"
The tone was so vicious, it froze Kit in place, and he couldn't react for several heartbeats.
"Your Majesty, I--"
Before he could finish his sentence, something sliced through the air, shooting through Atla's back and out through her sternum, and her icy eyes widened. Blood splattered across him, sticking his hair to his forehead and staining his cheeks with hot, sticky liquid. Kit could feel his knees buckling as he stared at the spike in her chest, her dark crimson blood trailing down the front of her thin gown. It leaked from her lips, spilled from the corners of her eyes, and her pale face turned blue as the life slipped from her body.
Beside Kit, Morgana crumbled into his side, clutching his own chest and gasping for air. He thought for a moment he'd been stabbed, too, but nothing came away with his touch when he searched his body. It was like he could feel her pain, and he didn't know what to do to stop it.
"Morgana, I've got you, look at me," he whispered, clutching the faery's face with shaking hands. "We need to get out of here, it's not safe for us anymore. Someone's here."
A blood curdling scream came from behind them, and he turned to find Mab several paces away, staring at her daughter in horror. Kit felt dizzy. The palace was safe. It was always supposed to feel safe, so why was Atla dead? There was only one creature awful enough and strong enough to do such a thing.
The realization made him want to vomit, but there was no time for that. Despite his shock, he somehow forced his legs to move, and as Mab ordered them to get back, he managed to haul Morgana away.
Nothing felt real. Their safe haven was as dangerous as everywhere else now, and they weren't even close to ready to deal with a war right there, right then. But that's what this was. This was a war, and they had no choice but to fight if they wanted a chance of life.
"It's her," Kit said when he found his friends. They rushed to the two men's aid without hesitation, even when he tried to tell them to leave. "She came for us, she knows we're here. Atla is dead."
The others froze in understanding. He wished this was a dream he could wake up from at any moment, but it wasn't. If the Seelie Queen was brave enough to enter Mab's territory to kill them, it meant she had no intention to fail this time.
"It's Titania," he finished. "She's here."