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"You vowed in open court that whichever of us becanant first would be your heir You may not have intended to keep your word, but faerie kept it for you Goddess and Consort have crowned ht and Shadows," she said

Cel screamed out, "And it is mine! You promised it to me!" Doyle&039;s sword tip pushed a little harder, and a drop of blood welled black in the ht

Andais stood there with her cloak of darkness and shadoirling around her Her helmet was tucked under one arround

"Did you promise hi me the chance to be queen," I said

"Before," she said

"You are an oathbreaker, my aunt The wild hunt lives"

"I know you and my Perverse Creature can summon the wild hunt I know you slew your cousin and the other conspirators of the Seelie Court"

"Would you have us hunt you?" I asked

"Would it save my son&039;s life?"

"No," I said

"But still, I am an oathbreaker I deserve to be hunted"

Andais was the ultimate survivor There was only one reason she would choose to die

"Before Sholto and I give chase, I will order Cel&039;s death," I said "Our chase will not give hih friends left in court to save hiround

I looked only at my aunt, not at him, as I said, "Siobhan is dead, and your so-called allies fled when they could The only one who came to save you is your mother If she is dead, then I think, cousin, you will find that you have no allies left They don&039;t follow you They follow her"

"They will not follow you, Meredith," Cel said "Crown, or no crown, if it is not me on the throne, then they will kill you and choose their own ruler My spies have heard thehed, and finally looked down at Cel Whatever he saw on my face widened his eyes, and htened him "You never understood me, cousin, or you, my aunt," I said "I never wanted to rule I know they hate me, and no matter how much power I show them, they will always see me as the future of the sidhe They see me as the diminished theroeak They would rather hide in their hollow hills and waste away than change and go outside to meet the world I had hope for our people My father had hope for our people"

"His hope is what killed hiround, Doyle&039;s sword at his throat, but he didn&039;t look frightened He believed that Andais would save him Even now, he was confident in her power to protect him

"How do you know that hope killed h his eyes, soht or emotion I smiled at him

"It&039;s just an expression," he said, but his voice wasn&039;t so confident now

"No," I said, "it&039;s not" I knelt beside him

"Cel," Andais said, "Cel, don&039;t "

My sh I wasn&039;t happy "I hadn&039;t seen you fight before I didn&039;t understand how good you were"

Cel tried to sit up, but Doyle&039;s sword point pushed hilad you finally understand that I could lead our people"

"You killed him You killed Prince Essus You yourself It&039;s e couldn&039;t find an assassin It&039;s why noto tell us about my father&039;s death"

He yelled, "She&039;s ainst s"

"But you didn&039;t plot," I said "You did it yourself Because you were good enough with a blade, and because you kneould hesitate You knew my father loved you You counted on it"

Andais&039;s voice was al"

"She&039;s wrong," he yelled

"Swear by the Darkness that Eats all Things Swear by the wild hunt Swear, and I&039;ll believe you," she said "Swear those oaths and I will fight to the end for you"

He tried "I swear by the Darkness That Eats All Things " and for a , then he stopped He tried again "I swear by the wild hunt I swear" He screamed it "I swear!"

"What do you swear, Cel? Son, tell me you did not kill my brother For the love of Goddess, tellfroathered around us He stared up at us, his eyes wide, shifting back and forth as if seeking a way out Rhys stood beside Doyle, his face a ood ar ainst my cheek, and whispered, "I&039; where he&039;d been left, which meant he was hurt indeed But he called out, "Essus was the best of us"

Cel yelled, "So good,They wanted hi"

"Essus would never have done that," Doyle said

"My brother loved us!" Andais screamed it at him She looked at me, and there was real pain in her eyes In all the years of seeking, it had never occurred to her that it was her own son

"Yes," Cel said He grabbed ht another drop of blood from his throat "Do you knohat your father&039;s last words were, Meredith?"

I could only shake my head

"He said he loved me" Then I felt his power spill up and over us all One moment he was helpless, the next he was the wielder of old blood, and everyone around him had wounds to be reborn