2_-_court_of_mist_and_fury_a_-_sarah_j._maas

“Please,” she whispered through her pointed teeth, her silvery, mottled skin glistening
as she began trembling. “There is nothing left in the lake.”
Tamlin’s face didn’t change. “You have three days—”
“But we have no gold!”
“Do not interrupt me,” he said. I looked away, unable to stomach that merciless face.
She ducked her head even lower. “Apologies, my lord.”
“You have three days to pay, or bring double next month,” he repeated. “If you fail to
do so, you know the consequences.” Tamlin waved a hand in dismissal. Conversation
over.
After a final, hopeless look at Tamlin, she walked from the chamber. As the next faerie
—a goat-legged fawn bearing what looked to be a basket of mushrooms—patiently waited
to be invited to approach the dais, I twisted to Tamlin.
“We don’t need a basket of fish,” I murmured. “Why make her suffer like that?”
He flicked his eyes to where Ianthe had stepped aside to let the creature pass, a hand on
the jewels of her belt. As if the female would snatch them right off her to use as payment.
Tamlin frowned. “I cannot make exceptions. Once you do, everyone will demand the same
treatment.”
I clutched the arms of my chair, a small seat of oak beside his giant throne of carved
roses. “But we don’t need these things. Why do we need a golden fleece, or a jar of jam?
If she has no fish left, three days won’t make a difference. Why make her starve? Why not
help her replenish the pond?” I’d spent enough years with an aching belly to not be able to
drop it, to want to scream at the unfairness of it.
His emerald eyes softened as if he read each thought on my face, but he said: “Because
that’s the way it is. That’s the way my father did it, and his father, and the way my son
shall do it.” He offered a smile, and reached for my hand. “Someday.”
Someday. If we ever got married. If I ever became less of a burden, and we both
escaped the shadows haunting us. We hadn’t broached the subject at all. Ianthe, mercifully,
had not said anything, either. “We could still help her—find some way to keep that pond
stocked.”
“We have enough to deal with as it is. Giving handouts won’t help her in the long run.”
I opened my mouth, but shut it. Now wasn’t the time for debate.
So I pulled my hand from his as he motioned the goat-legged fawn to approach at last.
“I need some fresh air,” I said, and slid from my chair. I didn’t give Tamlin a chance to
object before I stalked off the dais. I tried not to notice the three sentries Tamlin sent after
me, or the line of emissaries who gaped and whispered as I crossed the hall.
Ianthe tried to catch me as I stormed by, but I ignored her.
I cleared the front doors and walked as fast as I dared past the gathered line snaking