Of Night and Blood: Special Edition (The Coveted #1)
Prologue
A sher Daniox had always been told she was special.
As Mia Mounbetton, the queen of the Fae Realm, wove the five-year old’s hair into intricate braids and hummed a lovely tune, Asher felt abundantly special. The pair sat facing a golden wall bare of decorations except for the sole painting depicting the great Fae Realm. Like she often did, Asher found herself staring at the islands, attempting to decipher where she fit in.
“Mia, why do I not have a mama and dada like everyone else?” she asked, her small voice showing no signs of hurt, just simple curiosity. The queen’s fingers halted, causing Asher to wonder if she was not allowed to ask such a question.
“Well Asher, I was hoping to save this conversation for when you were older, perhaps not until you started Academy. However, I will tell you now. Your mother and father were dear friends of mine, and they had been spending a day in the gardens with you and my son, Baron—”
“You have a son?” Asher asked, cutting off Mia’s story. The queen flicked Asher in the back of the head, scolding her impolite behavior.
“Mind your manners now, we do not interrupt others. But yes, I had a son. That day, demons came. Their goal was likely to kill Baron, but your mother and father fought bravely against them. They both died, along with my sweet son. You barely survived. Guards found you with your little ears mangled, left in the cold to perish.”
Mia began braiding again, effectively ending the conversation, but Asher thought the story did not seem finished. No, to the youngling, the story seemed wrong somehow. When the queen finished, Asher reached up to her ears, which were always deliberately hidden underneath her long brown waves. Tears pricked her stormy-gray eyes upon feeling the jagged tops. She looked at the beautiful points of the queen’s ears, her heart breaking at her own inadequacy.
For the first time in her life, Asher felt true sorrow. She opened her mouth to object, but Mia shushed her, motioning for her to practice the piano forte. As she stood, indescribable pain overcame her, and she sensed something in her chest swell. She was unsure what had happened until Mia cried out. Asher turned around to see that the queen was grabbing her head, pulling on her hair and clawing at her skin as if she were on fire.
“Please, Asher, stop!” she screeched. Asher blinked and suddenly Mia’s face relaxed, her body going slack. The queen opened her eyes and looked at the youngling. Asher feared retribution for what she somehow did, staring at her shaking hands in horror. Mia merely smiled though, a joyous and triumphant lift of her lips. “It seems we have work to do, little love.”