If the prince’s father, King Haratt, ever found out just how merciful and secretly kind his youngest son was, he would likely disown him and banish him to the far reaches of the realm, if not kill him outright.
I almost laugh when I consider how close I came to attacking the prince in the banquet hall, all because I’d feared he might harm Amelia.
I remain in the prince’s room until he escorts the human woman outside at dawn, summons wings, and flies her to her parents’ house. I follow them at a distance, keeping my invisibility shield intact. The prince, of course, glamours Amelia after he passes her a bag of silver. But I suppose he can’t have her blabbing to everyone about how he helped her.
“Your services are no longer needed in the castle, Amelia,” the prince says. “Do not return. Marry your old lord in a month and have a happy life. Put the twenty pieces of silver in your skirt pocket and hide it from your parents and your soon-to-be husband. Keep it for yourself in case you ever have need of it. It’s yours and yours alone. Be well, Amelia.” His eyes glow bright blue, and I suspect he’s silently erasing her memories of him, and understandably so.
Prince Lucas turns Amelia to face the door, knocks on it three times, then bolts skyward. I observe as a middle-aged woman answers the door, and Amelia soon enjoys a happy reunion with her mother. I watch through the window as her father approaches and gives her a suspicious look, but he eventually welcomes her home, though his manner is standoffish.
Safe. The pretty human female named Amelia has been safely returned to her family. I exhale with relief. Then I launch into the sky and fly back to the castle while trying to ignore the painful tug in my chest.
Amelia. Will I ever see her again?
CHAPTER 2
Six months later…
AMELIA
I bolt upward in bed,pulled from sleep with an abruptness that leaves me disoriented and gasping for air. My heart clenches with terror and I instinctively shield my face, expecting to find my bad-tempered husband looming over me. When the blow I’m anticipating never lands, I peek between my fingers and glance around the room.
He’s not here. I’m alone. I’m alone in the tiny room I’m renting at the boarding house in Glenville, a remote mountain town that’s far from my home city of Sorsston. I arrived here just hours ago after several days of arduous travel on foot.
I lower my hands and exhale a long breath.
Safe. I’m safe. Well, as safe as I can be while on the run from the husband who would likely kill me if he ever found me. At the very least, he would drag me home and make me pay for leaving him. I pray he never finds me, and I vow that I’ll do whatever I must to remain hidden.
Though I could’ve sworn I heard something when I awoke, a strange noise or perhaps an unusual vibration, I tell myself it was only a dream that drew me from my slumber, even though I can’t remember any details.
I’m about to lie back down when shouts and screams ring out in the distance. I freeze and listen carefully as a slight tremor rattles the boarding house, and more cries rend the night, this time a bit closer.
The panic I initially felt upon waking returns.
No no no, please no.
It sounds like the town of Glenville is under attack. A sickening sense of remembrance falls over me. Just six months ago, only weeks before my ill-fated marriage to Lord Nevel, Sorsston was captured by the fae. I survived that attack, but will I survive this one?
I throw the covers off myself and rush to the window. At first, I can’t make out the enemy in the darkness. It could be a fae army, or it could be marauding orcs or even a human foe. Glenville isn’t a large town, and it wouldn’t take a massive force to conquer it. But I’d mistakenly believed I would be safe here in this little settlement deep in the Warrlish Mountains.
A distant building goes up in flames, followed by another and another. Dozens of people rush through the streets in the firelight, though it’s still difficult to discern whether they’re all human or… other.
My question is soon answered when a massive, winged form swoops through the sky very close to the window. With a gasp, I yank the curtains shut and take two steps back. My heart gallops in my chest.
Fae. We’re under attack by the fae.
Most fae don’t have wings, but the highborn ones do, and the larger fae armies always have a good number of winged,highborn fae in their ranks. It’s a terrible fact I learned when Sorsston was conquered by the Summer Court army.
Voices boom in the hallway, and footsteps pound right outside my door. The other tenants are waking up. I swallow hard and try to decide the best course of action. Should I hide in my tiny, rented room until the battle ends? Or should I make a run for it and try to escape Glenville?
In Sorsston, prior to marriage, I’d worked as a servant in the castle. During the attack on my home city, I’d holed up in a storage room with the other servants, and though it was a frightening experience, I survived unscathed.
The weeks following the capture of Sorsston, however, were equally terrifying, if not more so. I’d remained in the castle, forced to serve the fae who’d conquered the city, forced to watch as many of my fellow servants were killed or taken as slaves. Some simply disappeared, while others were used and violated in ways that make my blood run cold.
Somehow, I’d been lucky. It’s weird because I can’t recall exactly what happened, but I have vague memories of an encounter with a highborn fae in the castle. The highborn fae rescued me from some danger, the details of which I can’t recollect, then dropped me off at my parents’ house and gave me a bag of silver coins. Try as I might, I can never piece the memories together or make them feel entirely solid.
But most fae are cruel, conniving, and violent. I can’t count on a rare, kind fae to shield me from danger during this attack and probable occupation. The fae are known to inhabit and rule over the cities and towns they conquer. Indefinitely.
If I don’t escape now, I might never get the chance.
