A Court Bright and Broken (Age of Fae #1)

19. Trapped

Chapter 19

Trapped

R aewyn

A collective gasp rippled through the room. Utter silence followed.

Tearing my gaze away from Stellon’s, I looked around. It wasn’t just a single set of furious turquoise eyes burning a hole through me.

Hundreds of pairs of Elven eyes stared at us. Waiting.

A figure in the crowd caught my attention because she was hopping up and down. It was Ronia, beaming at me and clapping her hands.

This was real. It was actually happening.

And there would be no slipping away from the ball quietly. Literally everyone in attendance had seen me now.

Stunned numbness turned into mounting panic. What am I going to do?

There was only one thing to do.

“Yes,” I said in a bit of a croak. Clearing my throat, I repeated the word. “Yes.”

After another long beat of silence, applause began, the weak claps becoming stronger and turning into thunderous applause.

It was joined by cheers. The music started up again.

Stellon rose and held out his hand to me. “It’s tradition for the betrothed couple to dance a celebratory dance. Shall we?”

My legs were shaking so hard I worried I wouldn’t even make it down the steps, much less be able to perform an unfamiliar Fae dance in front of a large crowd.

Once again, there was no choice.

Stellon slipped an arm around my waist, and with his other hand, took mine, holding it up and to the side.

“Just keep your eyes on me,” he said in an encouraging tone. “And move with me. You’ll be fine. Starting tomorrow, we’ll get you a dancing instructor. There are a lot of royal balls in your future.”

I nodded, just trying to get through it. Hopefully when this dance ended, everyone would go back to minding their own business and I could find an excuse to slip away.

There was less than an hour left until midnight.

Once the hands of the enormous clock on the wall opposite the throne joined at the top, my disguise would dissolve—along with the love spell Sorcha had obviously cast.

Then everyone would see what Pharis had already seen. How wrong a choice I was for Stellon.

And why.

What would be the punishment for enacting a deception like this? For being a human with the audacity to mix with the Fae and pretend to be one of them? Instant imprisonment if not a swift execution.

Not only would my life be over, my sisters and father would suffer.

Unaware of my subterfuge and private torment, the Crown Prince seemed thrilled. He smiled at me tenderly.

“For a moment there, I wondered if you might refuse me… but you have made me the happiest man in the kingdom.”

“How could I refuse you?” I asked honestly.

Stellon grinned. “Someone once told me there’s always a choice—if you’re willing to own up to what you really want and make it. That’s what I did tonight. I hope you didn’t say yes out of obligation?”

“Of course not.”

I’d said it out of sheer terror of what would happen if I’d said no.

“I am nervous, though, having so many people watching me.”

And not for the reason you think.

“Yes, I know your clan is a reclusive one. But you’ll get used to it because you’ll have lots of practice,” he said.

“And we’ll have time to get more comfortable with one another before the wedding,” he added. “The ceremony will take place in a fortnight at the end of the Assemblage. If my brother manages to move past his grumpy sulking and select a bride of his own, it’ll be a double wedding.”

I swallowed hard. “Sounds wonderful.”

The music ended, and other couples joined us on the dance floor. Stellon appeared to want to continue dancing, but I had no time left to waste in getting out of this place.

“I’m exhausted,” I told him. “It’s been quite an emotional night. I wonder if I might be permitted to make my exit now?”

He gave me an indulgent grin. “You are a future princess. You don’t need anyone’s permission to go and rest. I’ll escort you to your chambers.”

Placing a hand on my lower back, he began steering me off the dance floor. My feet skidded to a stop.

“My chambers?”

“Yes, of course. You didn’t realize you’d be moving into the palace immediately?”

Stellon’s hand slipped around my waist, his arm at my back like iron as he compelled me forward. “As my betrothed, you must be protected around the clock. The crown has enemies, and you’re now part of the royal family.”

“But my family—”

“They’ll be informed,” he told me. “It’s too bad they’re not here tonight to celebrate with us, but one of our palace Auspexiates will send a Swift bird first thing in the morning to Altum and notify your father of the good news. Your entire household will be welcomed here as honored guests.”

This was bad. So, so bad. My ruse was falling apart in every possible way.

Darting a glance at the ticking clock, I walked faster. Could I excuse myself to the washroom down the hall and sneak out before my twenty-four-seven “protection” began?

When we reached the grand hallway I said, “I need to use the washroom, if you’ll excuse me for a moment.”

Stellon’s pace didn’t even slow.

“There’s one in your suite. It’s much nicer than the ones on this floor for the guests,” he said. “I’ll give you a tour of your chambers. They’re right next to mine.”

Was it warmer out here in the hall or was it just me? My dress suddenly felt too tight, and a trickle of sweat ran down between my shoulder blades.

Everything was happening so fast, and it seemed I had no control over any of it.

To underscore my thought, a pair of guards appeared from a side corridor, falling into step behind us.

“This is Ser Quillen and Ser Keane, your new personal guard,” Stellon said as both men nodded their heads at me. “They’ll go everywhere you go and keep you safe.”

As well as keep me trapped .

This was really, really bad. How would I escape now?

Stellon led me across the wide marble-floored entrance hall to an intricate door that appeared to be made of solid gold. It slid to one side, revealing a tiny room.

Not even a room really, more of a box. There was a man standing inside. Stellon began to step inside as well, but my legs locked.

“Have you never seen a lifter before?” he asked. “It’s quite safe, I assure you. I thought it would be easier on you to take this up to the third floor instead of you having to climb several flights of stairs in those shoes.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

I followed him into the golden box, as did my guards, and stood, looking around at its interior. When the contraption began to move, I clutched Stellon’s forearm.

He laughed, covering my hands with one of his. “There are quite a few things you’ll need to get accustomed to here.”

Riding the mechanical lift was the weirdest sensation I’d ever experienced. Actually the second weirdest—being transformed by Sorcha’s spell took the top spot. But this was close.

As we rose, my stomach seemed to fall. A minute later, the door slid open again, and we emerged to an entirely different environment from the one we’d left.

The third floor of the palace was quiet. Instead of bare marble floors, these were covered in a rich red carpet. A very long, high-ceilinged hallway was lined with candle lamps and punctuated by three tall closed doors.

“Your rooms are this way,” Stellon said, turning to the left and walking down the hall.

The guards’ footsteps behind us were silent now, thanks to the plush carpet. Walking on that was a strange sensation as well.

I’d stood on a rug or two in my life, but this was a whole different thing, soft and supportive at the same time. Even the beds in our cottage would be less comfortable.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Stellon commented.

“Just tired. And a bit overwhelmed.”

“It has been an emotional night—and a busy one,” he said. “Feel free to sleep as late as you’d like.”

He stopped in front of the first door. “And here we are. Would you like me to come inside and show you around?”

“No,” I snapped.

Then, remembering I was supposed to be happy about the recent developments, I modulated my tone.

“I’m so tired. The only thing I need to see is the bed, and I trust I’ll have no trouble spotting it.”

Stellon grinned at me as if I’d said the most clever thing he’d ever heard. “Very well. I’ll leave you to it.”

For a moment, I was hopeful. The guards who’d followed us walked away, disappearing down the hall. I’d assumed they’d be posted outside my door all night, but maybe they just patrolled this level of the palace?

If I could get rid of Stellon quickly enough, maybe I could slip out of my room and then out of the front doors before the clock struck twelve.

He must have noticed my surprise because Stellon said, “Don’t worry. They haven’t gone far—they’ll be back in just a moment. I asked them to give us some privacy to say goodnight.”

Asked them? I hadn’t heard him say anything to them. Oh. He must have spoken to them mind-to-mind.

Gazing down at me, Stellon cupped my cheek in one hand and set the other one on my waist.

“I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am that you decided to come to the Assemblage and attend the ball tonight,” he whispered. “If you had not, I would have ended up marrying the wrong person and probably being miserable for the rest of my life. Now I can’t wait for the rest of my life to begin.”

Though the rest of my life might end up being quite short indeed, I couldn’t help but be captivated by the aching tone of his voice and the beauty of his face.

His eyes glittered in the candlelight, reminding me of the jewels I’d seen some of the fine ladies wearing tonight.

If I’d been a real Elven noblewoman, I would probably have been in paradise right now.

“I hope both our lives will be happy,” I said, and I meant it.

I wished Stellon no harm—I just wanted to get far away from him and his whole world.

“I know they will be,” he said. “I intend to spend the rest of my days making sure yours are as perfect as you’d wish them to be.”

Bending his head down to mine, he kissed me.

The last thing I needed to do with my final half hour before midnight struck was to fall under the spell of his kiss and forget entirely that time existed.

But refusing him would only raise suspicion about what I planned to do—leave as soon as he stepped back into that lift.

So I kissed him back.

And since it was impossible not to, I let myself enjoy it. It might very well be the last kiss I ever experienced.

It started slowly, but after a few seconds, Stellon slid both arms around me and pulled me against him.

When I reached up and sank my hands into his hair, he made a growly, gruff sound and held me tighter, running his hands over my back and waist. To my surprise, I liked it.

Loved it actually.

Our mouths moved together as if it were pre-planned, luscious, heated, stroke-for-stroke contact that escalated until my breath was puffing from my nose, and my head was spinning.

Then abruptly our lips parted. Stellon let his hands fall from my waist and blew out a long breath.

“This might be the longest fortnight of my life.”

He bent again and kissed my forehead carefully.

“Goodnight, sweet lady. Sleep well. Tomorrow I’ll introduce you to the rest of your staff and show you around your new home.”

Then he turned and walked down the hall, pausing to look back to shake his head and smile at me before stepping into the lift.

My eyes went to the top of the staircase, and I shook my own head to try to restore some sense to it. I needed to think.

How long should I wait before going to the stairs and descending into the entry hall where I could slip out the front doors?

I didn’t have much time left in my contrived Fae form, but I needed to give Stellon time to reach the first floor and go back inside the ballroom.

Two minutes should be enough. I hope. I began counting the seconds, poised and ready to make my dash.

Unfortunately, by the time my count reached fifteen, the guards returned. Noticing me standing behind my cracked door, Ser Quillen gave me a bow.

“Is there something the lady needs?” he asked. “We can send a servant to fetch whatever you may be lacking for your comfort.”

“No, there’s nothing, thank you.” I quickly shut and locked my door, turning and pressing my back to it.

What was I going to do now?

Opening my eyes to survey the opulent suite, I dashed from room to room, checking the sitting room, then the private washroom, and finally the bedroom, praying there was another door somewhere.

There was not, except for the double doors leading out to the balcony from the adjoining sitting room.

Shaded stars.

My hands came up to my head, grasping my hair and destroying whatever style it might have left. I was trapped.

Which meant I was dead.

Noticing an ornate golden clock on the bedside table, I lifted it and looked at its face. Ten minutes till midnight.

My beautiful dress and shoes were still intact, but soon they would dissolve like salt in a rainstorm, along with my Elven features.

As I was behind a locked door, no one would know until morning, but then my last hope would vanish as thoroughly as my Fae disguise.

Whoever opened that door tomorrow would discover my real identity, and any chance of returning to my family would go out the window.