The Lost Queen (Book 1 of The Lost Queen Series)

Chapter Forty-Eight

In exactly half an hour, everyone was assembled in Kai's study as he had ordered.

Seraiah was still tired, but at least now she was clean. She'd left her wet hair loose around her shoulders and wore a deep blue gray dress the color of storm clouds that Wisteria had selected for her. She'd tucked the vial the Summer King had given her in exchange for the scale into her bodice. It hadn't left her person since she'd received it, and she had no intention of giving it up now.

"What happened at the Seelie Court?" Kai asked as soon as they were settled. The circlet he usually wore was discarded on his desk, and his hair was mussed like he'd run his fingers through the strands multiple times.

The question, of course, was directed to Kestrel. He hadn't so much as looked in Seraiah's direction since she'd arrived.

Assets only existed when they were needed.

Kestrel shifted in the chair to Seraiah's right. The two of them had taken the seats in front of Kai's desk while Eryx leaned against the wall behind them like a jailer. Lonan perched on a stool on Seraiah's other side.

"We arrived, we spoke to the Summer King, a deal was struck and carried out. Now we are here," Kestrel said. "If you want more details than that, you'll need to ask Seraiah, since she is the one who made the bargain and got what we asked for."

"You were the one who was supposed to make the deal," Kai said, "that was—"

"Oh, leave her alone," Seraiah said, cutting off whatever lecture he'd been about to give. "The Summer King was only interested in me. It was my fault, and I should have stayed in Nyrene. Is that what you want to hear, Your Highness?"

She may not have had his attention before, but she certainly did now.

Seraiah plucked the vial from her bodice and held it up for him to see. "This is the information we need to find Sterling. In exchange for retrieving a golden dragon scale for the Summer King, he gave me this."

Kai's eyes went from her face to the vial. "There is no gold dragon," he said.

"So I have learned, but I completed the task anyway."

"By yourself?"

Seraiah bristled, slightly offended at the question and the implication that she hadn't done it on her own. "Lonan guided me through the mountain to the dragon cave. Without his assistance, I would not have found it."

"Thank you for aiding our cause," Kai said, inclining his head to Lonan. "You are welcome to stay in Nyrene as long as you like, though I will warn you it might be safer to return to Metrius. Eryx, would you show Lonan to some accommodations?"

It was obviously a ploy to give them privacy, but Seraiah didn't protest. There was no reason to make Lonan sit through this, and he was likely just as tired as she was.

With a murmured thanks, Lonan and Eryx left the study.

As soon as they were gone, Kestrel leaned forward. "Did something happen while we were gone?"

An emotion Seraiah couldn't name flitted across Kai's face before disappearing. "No," he responded.

He was lying—even she could see that, but she wasn't sure why.

"Explain to me how that is information about Sterling," he said, pointing to the vial still clasped in her hand.

"The Summer King promised he would give me a vision of Sterling in exchange for the scale. This is what he gave me when I returned," she said.

"What were his specific words when he gave it to you?"

Seraiah pressed her lips together as she thought back on her return to the Seelie Court. She'd been so nervous about the scale, she couldn't recall if he'd said anything or not.