“Then you’ve also been told I bite,” I warned. “Don’t touch me. If you’ve come here to damn Ryder for the deeds of his father—your father—you can leave now. If you damn him, you better damn well damn yourself in the process. He killed his father! He killed him for what he’d done to helpless women who he protected long after his father had gone. He’s a better man than any of you, for he’s fighting this war alone! He’s been fighting it, for you, for this world, and for what? To protect you, all of you. He’s better than I am, for I would have called for blood if I’d been left alone to fight for entire world. He doesn’t ask anything from any of you, and yet you think because of some crap his father did, that you are all lesser beings and not valid? His father was a tyrant, and incorrect in his beliefs. You all have power, if you all stand together. Do not let the deeds of one monster sway your choices. We’ve asked you all here because we need you. This is no longer a fight we can win alone, and it’s not one we should even consider fighting alone. It’s not only the High Fae who will be pushed out of Faery; you will all be pushed out. If this world dies, and the Mages win, we all lose. It doesn’t matter of you are lesser Fae or born of the higher Castes, in this fight we are equal and we can win, but only if you can all pull your heads out of your asses and stop listening to some tyrant that has long been gone from this world. You all have a place in this world, as do we.”
“Beautifully said, for a mother who is willing to do anything to save her babes,” Elijah stated.
“You’re not wrong,” I admitted. “I am a mother, and I will see that my children are accepted by Faery. Make no mistake, I am desperate. What I am not is stupid. I was raised by Humans, and while you may think it makes me weak, I say it makes me stronger than you. I have felt mortality, and I have lived in its world. I’ve also lived in this one. I’ve been on both sides, and I see us as one. I’m willing to break down walls and create a world where we all live as one; can you say the same?” I challenged him.
“I can, because I too lived in the Human world for a very long time. I’ve also seen their weaknesses, and I know without a doubt that my people could live amicably with them, should this world die.”
“For how long, Elijah, or how long would Humans continue to exist should the Fae fully come into their world? The half-breeds could, and depending on who sired them, they might even get along with the Humans. But then add the Horde, the rest of the High Fae, and the rest of those who live in Faery into the Human world, and recalculate the odds. How long before their Gods move against us for touching the Human race and wiping them out? How long before your mother’s God intervenes and removes us as a threat against his children?” I asked.
His jaw ticked, and it reminded me of Ryder’s when he was angry with me. I turned to him and found him sizing up his brother. He’d stepped away from a challenge, probably for the first time in his entire life. He’d done it for his children and I couldn’t have been more awestruck and in love with him as I was right now.
“I asked the Winter Queen to speak with her council, because we need you. The Tree has been frozen by the Mages, and for those of you who are not up to date on the Mages, they want us all dead.”
“Not us, just your kind,” someone shouted to Ryder.
“My kind?” I asked and watched as one of the pasty Elves approached us. He was unclaimed Unseelie, of that I was sure judging by his fierceness, and his eyes.
“His kind,” he corrected with a tilt of his head.
“His kind is your kind,” I said softly. “You are my kind. We are all Fae, and that’s all they see in their rage of hatred. You think this war won’t come to your door? How long after they kill us would it take them to find you? They don’t want to rule this world; they plan to wipe us out by killing our world. Now correct me if I am wrong, but you live here too. If the entire Horde dropped dead tomorrow, they wouldn’t stop. If the entire high born Fae Castes left this world, they’d come after you next. They’d either want to rule your people, or kill them. It’s hard to say when they are fucking insane.”