Huge thank you (once again) to everyone who reviewed. I replied to all of them.

But for the anonymous reviewer Cheshire Cat: LOL. Your review made me laugh. Thanks so much! Le woot! (I officially love that phrase now).

I'm a bit confused, guys. I get reviews telling me that this is awesome and I need to update soon – but then the people don't put me on alerts. Am I missing something? How are you going to know when a new chapter is up if you don't have the story on alerts? (Thank you to those who already do.)

This chapter would have been up earlier, but you have no idea how much crap I had to go through to get this to you. My internet's a spaz, my USB (the only place I had this saved) broke, my Spanish teacher is the devil, school is killing me, exams are going to be super hard, one of my best friends is moving, my grandparents are coming, I had to shift to a new room (on the bright side, it's super cute!), basically all of my grade went on a trip to Florida but I was stuck at school doing boring stuff (except for Friday. That was actually pretty good – we watched movies all day and they gave us snacks), and the list goes on and on…

Enough of my rambling. Pages 196-211 of Ironside: The Negotiation

Enjoy!

Rath Roiben Rye ducked under the braches that formed Silarial's chambers. Seeing the peaceful land where he grew up once again reminded him of how much things had changed.

No, that wasn't right – nothing here had changed. It was still the peaceful land of his youth, full of lush greenery and laughter and the age-old smell of freshly picked ripe apples. He had changed. He was no longer the knight who would have been overjoyed at the prospect of being invited into the Bright Queen's chambers. No, he was dreading this visit. If he never saw Silarial again, it would be too soon.

But he must. He had to save his court. Yes, he loathed them and their wicked ways, but it was his duty as the King. And his hate for them was nothing compared to the way he despised Silarial. At least those monsters were honest about their intentions; they did not hide behind a curtain of feigned virtue and purity.

He entered the chamber, his pale eyes quickly scanning the room. The human attendants were lined against the wall along with a table piled with different types of wines and drinks. And there, in the center of the room, Silarial was lazily stretched across her cushions.

She looked up at him as he walked in, giving him a glance that once would have made his knees go weak. Now all he felt was disgust for himself for ever feeling that.

He remembered that when his Bright Lady glanced at one of her knights, it was like the sun shone for that knight alone.

"Ethine tells me you will not agree to my conditions."

"I did not think you expected me to, m –".

He stopped abruptly, realizing what he had been about to say and hoping that she had not picked up on it. Of course, he had no such luck.

Silarial laughed. "You nearly called me 'my lady', didn't you? That's a habit in need of breaking."

He looked down, his mouth twisting, but not in amusement. "Indeed. You have caught me being foolish."

"Nonsense. I find it charming."

He gritted his teeth when he heard her use the word 'charming' to describe him. After everything she had done, she had the nerve to think he was charming?

She did not deserve to be able to call him that. Or any other term of endearment. Not after what she had put him through.

She swept a regal hand toward the attendants. "You must be parched for a taste of the changeless lands of your youth."

A human clothed in blue stepped forward, taking some wine in her mouth and kneeling before him, tilting her head up so he may drink.

"Drink," the Bright Lady said, her eyes glittering with laughter. She knew as well as he did that he did not want to kiss this girl, even if only to drink. There was only one person in the world he wanted to kiss, and she was not present. She couldn't be, because of what he had done. She could never be near him again. He would never get the chance to kiss her again. He would never even get the chance to see her again. And even if he did, it would not be to kiss her. It would be to beg her forgiveness.

He looked back at the human, knowing he must humor Silarial, play along with her games. He imagined Kaye's face instead of the girl's. Her green hair, black eyes, quick grin…

Roiben leaned down and pressed his lips to hers gently, taking the wine from her mouth and pulling back afterwards.

"Decadent." He settled back on the cushions, focusing on appearing relaxed and at home. "Do you know what I really miss though? Roasted dandelion tea."

Silarial sent the girl back, and Roiben drank again, wishing the Bright Queen would merely offer them cups in which to drink.

"So tell me," Silarial said after he had taken a sip, "What conditions do you propose?"

"You must risk something if you wish me to risk everything."

"The Unseelie Court has no hope of winning a battle. You should take whatever I offer and be grateful for it."

"Nonetheless, if I lose the duel against your champion, you will become sovereign of the Unseelie Court, and I will be dead. Quite a lot for me to wager against your offer of transient peace, but I do not ask for equal stakes. If I win, I ask only that you make Ethine Queen in your place."

There seemed to be a glimmer of something in Silarial eyes, but he could not be sure. As quickly as Roiben saw it, it was gone.

"Only? And if I don't agree?"

He leaned back into the cushions. "Then war, winnable or no."

Her eyes narrowed, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "You have changed from the knight that I knew."

He shook his head. "Do you recall my eagerness to prove myself to you? Pathetically grateful for even the smallest regard. How tedious you must have found me."

"I admit I find you more interesting now, bargaining for the salvation of those you despise."

He laughed, but there was no happiness in the sound. It was thick with Roiben's self-loathing. Self-loathing at the fact that Silarial had hit the nail on the head.

"But perhaps you despise me more?"

Once again, she was precisely right. But he could not say that. He looked down at his fingers as they played with his onyx cuff.

"I think of the way I longed for you, and it makes me sick." He looked up at her, knowing he still had to play the games. "But that doesn't mean I've stopped longing. I yearn for home."

Now it was her turn to shake her head. "You told Ethine you would never step down from being Lord of the Night Court. You would never reconsider your position. You would never serve me. Is that still true?"

"I won't be as I once was." He gestured to the attendants. "No matter what I long for."

"You have said that nothing about me tempts you. What of it?"

Now he must seriously bend the truth if this was to work – if he was to make her believe he was in her power.

He forced a smile. "I told Ethine to tell you that. I never said it."

"And is it so?"

He knew what he must do now, even though he was dreading it. He walked to where she reclined and knelt before her.

"I am tempted."

To kill you.

He reached toward her, and his hand trembled with the intensity of his loathing.

It was all her fault. All of the pain he had suffered was caused by her. She had sent him Nicnevin. She had pretended to love him then thrown him away. And now, now that he had finally found someone he loved, someone worth loving, she and her idiotic war had ripped them apart.

Silarial leaned forward to press their lips together. He forced himself to stay in place and not jerk away. This felt wrong. Like he was cheating on Kaye, betraying her trust. And he hated it.

He tried to do what he had done with the human, pretended he was kissing Kaye. But he found that he couldn't. Kaye's kisses were special. They meant something; they were heartfelt. This was nothing – just lust. And as much as he tried to pretend and assuage his guilt, he could tell the difference.

The first kiss was short and chaste, but he reacted to the second.

He cupped her skull and bent her, wanting more than anything to break her in half. Every injustice – to himself, to others – flooded his mind, followed by the familiar anger at the fact that she assumed she had power over him, that he was her toy to play with and manipulate as she liked.

He was sorely tempted to increase the force he was putting into the kiss. It would be easy. All he had to do was put a little pressure on his hand and crush her skull, break her neck. And she would never be able to hurt him again. He wouldn't have to worry about her trickery and treachery. It would be over. As simple as that.

But, as much as he wanted to, he did not. Her knights would surely kill him as soon as he did. And while death did not sound like a bad course of action, he had responsibilities.

He drew back and saw the hunger in her eyes. Another stab of fury shot through him at that. She only wanted him physically, but cared for him not at all. He was merely a diversion, something to amuse her – but easily expendable.

The anger was accompanied by a jolt of smugness at the sight of blood on her lip. He had hurt her. Good. She deserved much worse. Let her think he had done it out of desire, though nothing was further from the truth.

He watched warily as she stood. "You must want me to agree to your terms very much." She spoke lightly, but Roiben heard the unsteadiness in her voice.

"Ethine would very probably give you back your crown were she to win it."

"If you should defeat my champion…" she paused and placed a white hand on his cheek. He forced himself not to flinch away from her touch. "If you should defeat my champion, you will regret it."

He half-smiled.

"But I will grant you your boon. Ethine will be Queen if you win. See to it that you do not win."

She let her hand drop and walked to the bowls of liquids. "Of course, all this negotiating matters not at all if you will merely join me. Leave the court of those you detest. Together we can end this war today. You would be my consort –".

Never. He would never be the Bright Queen's consort, and he told her so. "No. I told you that I won't –".

"There is someone here with the means to convince you." He stood suddenly as the words sunk in and realization hit him. He whirled toward the wall of human girls. At least, they looked human. But he knew that one of them was Kaye.

His eyes scanned their hands, looking for the telltale marks that he knew would be there.

His gaze stopped on a girl who looked unfamiliar. But he knew it was her.

"Kaye." His voice was anguished. He had only dreamed of seeing her again, but he had not imagined it like this. And now, after what she had just seen, she would hate him even more than she already did.

She wouldn't make eye contact with him, dropping her gaze to the floor instead.

"How did you guess?" Silarial sounded puzzled.

He walked to her and touched her arm, but she shifted away. "I should have guessed sooner." Silarial would never invite him here if she did not have some advantage up her sleeve. "Very clever to glamour her so thoroughly."

"But how did you choose her from among my other maidens?"

He took her delicate hand into his, reveling in the warmth of her skin after all this time. He turned it over so the Queen could see the red half-moon indentations in her flesh where Kaye had dug her nails into her hand. "It was that, really. I don't know anyone else with that particular nervous habit."

With that one sentence, he tried to convey to her everything he couldn't say in front of Silarial.

I love you. Enough to know your nervous habits. Enough to pick you out from among other maidens when you're disguised. More than anything else in the world. Please believe me.

She looked up at him, and he tried to plead with his eyes.

Apparently, it didn't work. She snatched her hand away and rubbed it against her skirt as if she could rub away his touch. That small action spoke volumes to him, and he felt as if someone had just plunged a dagger into his heart. He should have expected the pain, but it hurt him nonetheless.

"You're not supposed to see me until I can solve your stupid riddle." Roiben heard the venom in her tone, and he knew he deserved it.

He spoke softly. "Yes, I deserve whatever scorn you heap upon me. But what are you doing here? It's not safe."

"This is where I belong, isn't it? This is where I came from. The other Kaye is home now, like she always should have been. With her mother, Ellen." He could hear the hint of sadness in her tone, though she seemed to be unaware of it.

He was furious. No, he wanted to shout, you don't belong here; you belong with me.

But he could not. He couldn't do that to her, put her in danger that way. She didn't even want to be with him. She hated him.

"What did Silarial make you promise for that?" She did not do anything without a price. And he hated, with every fiber of his being, the fact that Silarial had power over Kaye because of it.

She didn't answer his question. "It must suck to love her, since you don't trust her at all."

There was a silence in which he looked at her in desperation. He wanted so badly to tall her that he didn't love her. Not at all. He hated her. Kaye was the only one he would ever love. He wanted to repeat it to her until she finally believed it. He wanted to fall to his knees and beg her to believe him, to let him prove himself. He wanted to tell her that he would go to the ends of the earth to prove that love. He wanted to tell her that he would throw himself under a bus if it would make her happy. That he would do anything to make her happy. Anything to have her beautiful smile directed at him. Anything to have her love again. He wanted to say those words more than anything.

But he didn't. It no longer mattered what he wanted to do.

Let our new Lord also be made from ice.

"It doesn't matter what he thinks of me or of you," Silarial said, coming close to where they stood, her words soft. "Use his name. End the war."

Kaye smiled. "I could, you know. I really, really could."

I know.

With one simple sentence, she could condemn him to another life of servitude.

But he did not think she would. She was too kind, even if she did hate him.

"Will you rule over me, Kaye? Shall I bow to a new mistress and fear the lash of her tongue?" he asked softly, suppressing a shudder. He had vowed to be his own master, to never let anyone control him.

Yet the next words out of her mouth could send him back to servitude.

She was silent.

"What if I promise that I won't use the name, won't even repeat it?" Silarial said. "He would be yours alone to command. Your toy. I would just advise you how to use him."

Kaye still said nothing, and Roiben realized that she may actually do it.

"Kaye, I…" He closed his eyes. "Don't". He spoke with despair, knowing that she very well may. He deserved it. But did she really hate him that much? Could she really hate him as much as he hated Silarial?

Yes.

What they had done was basically the same. They had given those who declared themselves an impossible or difficult quest. A quest that would undoubtedly cause pain.

Silarial leaned close to Kaye's ear, and he could barely discern what she was saying. "You must command him, you know. If not, I would threaten your mother, that human boy of yours, your changeling sister. You would be persuaded. Don't feel badly about giving in now."

Would Silarial's threats never end? Roiben knew that, on top of all the pain he had caused Kaye, he would not be worth the lives of all those she cared about.

"Say you won't repeat it," Kaye said. "Not just 'if I promise', the real oath."

Silarial's voice remained a whisper. "I will not speak Roiben's true name. I will not bid him with it, nor will I repeat it to any other."

"Rath Roiben," Kaye started. He flinched, bracing himself for what was to come, his hand going to the hilt of his sword but staying there, his eyes still tightly closed. Rye. He waited for her to say the word and make him her prisoner.

Please. Please don't say it.

He knew that, no matter what she promised, Silarial would find a way to exploit his true name.

Please, Kaye.

"Riven. Rath Roiben Riven, do as I command."

He glanced at her quickly, his eyes widening with hope. She wasn't going to do it.

But as he watched, her smiled turned cruel.

"Lick the Queen of the Seelie Court's hand, Rath Roiben Riven," she said. "Lick it like the dog you are."

Just those words were enough to make him feel as if his heart was being ripped apart.

Lick it like the dog you are.

The dog you are.

That was what she thought of him. A dog.

How could he have betrayed her trust like this? Made her hate him so? All he had ever wanted to do was protect her, save the thing dearest to him.

He went down on one knee. He almost rose before he remembered himself. He must do as she said, or else Silarial would know it wasn't his true name. He drew his tongue over her palm, feeling ashamed and disgusted.

She laughed lightly, wiping her hand against her gown. "Lovely. Now what else shall we make him do?"

Roiben looked up at Kaye, and she smirked.

"I deserve this," he whispered. "But, Kaye, I –"

"Tell him to be silent."

"Silence," Kaye said.

He obeyed, lowering his eyes and falling silent.

"Command him to pledge his loyalty to me, to be forever a servant of the Seelie Court."

He heard Kaye's barely audible intake of breath. His face was grim, waiting to see if she would do as Silarial said.

She shook her head. "I'm not done with him yet."

The Queen frowned, obviously not expecting this answer.

"Rath Roiben Riven. I want you to–"

A scream tore through the air, and Silarial took a few steps away from them. Roiben tried to seize the opportunity to apologize, to explain, to do something, anything, to regain her trust.

"Kaye–" he began.

A group of faeries pushed their way under the canopy, his sister among them.

"My Lady," a boy began before stopping, stunned at the sight of the King of the Unseelie Court on his knees. "There has been a death. Here."

"What?" The Queen glanced toward Roiben.

"The human–"

"Corny!" Kaye yelled, panic evident in her voice. She tore through the curtain of willow branches and took off running in the direction that the others were going.

Roiben followed after her, as did the Queen and her entourage. They reached the crowd that had formed to see Talathain pointing a crossbow at Cornelius.

Kaye stopped abruptly, and she looked so relieved that even Roiben felt glad.

She knelt in the pale dirt by Cornelius, then looked up and talked quietly to a dark-skinned human boy who had her purple jacket draped around his shoulders. Roiben felt a stab of jealousy, yet another emotion tugging at his heart. Who was he? Had Kaye moved on to someone else so quickly?

But, looking closer, he thought he recognized the boy from somewhere. He looked somehow familiar…

In a flash, it hit him. This was the boy that had accompanied the human girl to the Unseelie Court. He remembered her bravery now, and the way he had seemed afraid of the fey.

He scanned both of their expressions minutely, trying to discern if there was anything going on between them. In his heart, he prayed that there wasn't. He had no claim on her anymore, but he desperately wanted it. He didn't want anyone else to be able to snatch her up. He didn't want anyone to take her away from him.

She wasn't even his to steal away from.

But as he watched their expressions change, he noted with relief that the looks they shared were merely those of camaraderie. He let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding, turning to his knights. He felt his sister's gaze on his back as he talked to Ellebere and Ruddles, but he ignored it.

"You promised Corny would be safe," Kaye said to Silarial. He turned his attention to her. He could see that she was scrambling for time, for an excuse that would get them out alive.

"He is safe," came the Queen's sharp reply, "while one of my people lies dead."

She said nothing in reply to the accusation, instead standing and walking away from her friend. "We're going."

If Kaye wanted a diversion, he would give it to her.

"Let them go," he said to Silarial.

Talathain turned his crossbow toward Roiben. "Do not presume to command her."

Roiben laughed and drew out his sword slowly, daring Talathain to fire. He felt the anger rushing back to him, and he welcomed it and the clarity it brought. The rage pushed back the shame he still felt. "Come. Let us make another corpse between is two."

Talathain reached for his own blade, drawing it out. "Long have I waited for this moment."

They circled each other warily, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Let me fight him," Dulcamara said. He smiled and shook his head. Turning back toward Kaye, he mouthed "Go", then swung at the Seelie knight in front of him.

Their blades clashed together as they advanced and retreated. Roiben's concentration was on the fight, but he dimly heard Silarial speak. "Stop them. Order him to stop."

"Roiben," Kaye yelled. Unlike Silarial's voice, which sounded to him as if it was coming from a great distance away, hers was crystal clear. He went as still as a stone. If she wanted him to stop, he would. Could it mean that she still felt something for him, that she did not want him hurt by Talathain's blade? He tried to quell the hope rising in him, knowing that it would only complicate matters. Talathain lowered his weapon as well, but he did it regretfully.

The Queen walked to where he stood and ran a snow-white hand over his cheek before looking back at Kaye. "If you want to leave here with your friends, you know what you must order him to do."

Kaye nodded and walked toward them. He braced himself for what was to come, hating Silarial for using the people Kaye cared about against her. She stopped by Ethine, and Roiben could almost see the gears in her head turning rapidly as she tried to think of a solution. He never expected what she did next, though.

She drew a knife from the folds of her dress and held it to Ethine's neck.

He heard his shocked voice call her name, along with half a dozen others. His blood ran cold as the scene sank in.

"Corny! Get up! Luis, help him!" He saw her swallow hard. "We're leaving right now."

The Bright Lady was no longer smiling; she looked stunned. "There are things I could –"

"No!" Kaye shouted. "If you touch my mother, I'll cut Ethine. If you touch Luis's brother, I'll cut Ethine. I am going to walk out of here with Luis and Corny, and if you don't want her hurt, you and all of yours are just going to let me."

"My Lady," Ethine gasped.

Anger filled him again, but this time, it was directed at Kaye. How dare she threaten his sister? She had no right. A small part of him whispered that she was just trying to save the people she loved, but the bigger part screamed that he could not let her hurt his sister, no matter what the cost.

Talathain pointed his sword at Kaye, twisting it like a promise – and a part of him wanted to do the same.

"Let the pixie and the humans through. But I think she will regret it," Silarial ordered.

Silarial waved her hand and swept away the glamour covering Kaye. In an instant, she was back to the familiar pixie form he knew. For a second, she seemed lightheaded and she looked as though she might stumble. Normally, he would have helped her, but he made no move toward her now.

"Not with my sister. Not my sister, Kaye. I won't let you." His voice was cold and deadly, a tone he had not used with her since the night of the Tithe.

"Rath Roiben Riv –" she started. He cut her off. He wasn't going to stand by and pretend he was in her power while she threatened his sister.

"That's not my name." There were gasps from the other fey, but he ignored them, his gaze focused solely on Kaye.

She looked him square in the eye and spoke, the fury in her voice enough to make another knight flinch back. But he was not just an ordinary knight. He would not have lasted as long as he did in Nicnevin's court had he been. "You can't stop me. Try, and I will command you," she spat at him.

Looking into her eyes, he knew she wasn't bluffing. She would do it. So, against all his instincts, he stayed where he was.

They marched past, making their way to the end of the island. Roiben watched with cold eyes and a heavy heart as they trudged by. Kaye and Ethine were possibly the only two people in the world that he cared about at all. And now, they were both walking away, disappearing from sight.

Questions swirled through his head. Kaye had done this? She had threatened his sister? What had happened to the kind, brave girl he fell in love with? Had her hate for him swallowed her up to the point where she would do anything to hurt him? Was she going to follow up on her threat? How was Ethine going to get back? Where had they gone?

He turned, walking to his tent, where the other fey could not see him. He let himself fall into the grass, putting his head in his hands. He didn't know what to think anymore.

Phew! 4,489 words (not including A/N's). I think all my effort deserves some reviews… (Please?).

There is a small problem that has come up for this story: I don't own these books. I'm borrowing them from the library, and I have to return them. I would renew them, but it's the school library and school is closing. So please give me a few weeks to get the chapters from Tithe to you – I will go and check it out from the public library as soon as I can. But I will write them, I promise. I have the next three chapters already written, though (that's all of the scenes from Ironside – I typed furiously for days to have them ready before I had to turn in the books) so that gives me a cushion of time so I don't keep you guys waiting. :) Thanks for your understanding!

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