Chapter Six
JOON
“When you say you found the thief…” Mingi trails off. The air is heavy with his unspoken question as he and Imugi await my answer.
Did you murder them?
He and Imugi exchange a glance. Both remain silent, waiting for me to answer.
There is no reason for him to assume otherwise. My hands have been stained with blood since the day I cursed myself and this kingdom. Yet, this time, it grates against my nerves.
Turning away from them, I lean against the pavilion’s balustrade and stare past my rippling reflection into the water. Silver fish glide past. Their shimmering, slender bodies catch the light of the setting sun.
This is one of the few places in the palace where it is unlikely anyone can eavesdrop unnoticed. Nevertheless, we remain careful to speak vaguely.
I release a long breath through my nose attempting to push down my ire.
It doesn’t work.
“It means exactly that—I found the thief,” I grind out the words.
The facts are straightforward and simple. An ordinary woman who stole from the fae prince—a weak woman who could quite literally die of fright.
No. It’s bad enough that I am cursed—admitting that someone without powers of any kind or malicious intent is responsible for my downfall by mere happenstance would be too embarrassing.
“Do not worry. I have ensured they will not speak a word of it to anyone.”
Water laps against the pavilion’s stone base.
Imugi whips around to hover before me. “And did you get it back?” their whisper is a sharp hiss.
“No.” I hold up a hand before they can interject. “However, it is not entirely without access.”
Mingi’s boot taps against the wood floor with a single step forward. “Then, it wasn’t destroyed beyond use?”
I can practically hear the gears in both of their heads as they attempt to put everything together. I clench my teeth until my jaw aches.
Demons damn that woman to the Otherworld. There is no way to avoid this humiliation.
Whirling around to face my second, I say, “In three days, I will choose a bride from Firnhallow.”
Mingi’s eyes narrow with suspicion.
The demon and Mingi remain silent, waiting for me to elaborate.
I remain still and quiet.
Imugi brings their face so close to mine that I must cross my eyes if I want to focus, which is no doubt the demon’s intention. “What use is a bride without it?” they demand.
“Everything must go on as usual,” I deflect, both answering and not answering their question. “That is all I can say for now.”
There are still a few details they do not know yet, but it will become clear in time.
“I am afraid I don’t quite understand, My Prince,” Mingi says haltingly. “You’ve already… chosen a bride?” He shakes his head.
Imugi hovers beside him, staring at me with an identical expression of confusion and disbelief.
“Yes.”
The two exchange a not-so-subtle side glance.
I sigh. Their misgivings are understandable, as my behavior for this Choosing is outside the norm, and I am not in the habit of withholding pertinent information from either of them.
However, I cannot afford for anyone to suspect that anything is amiss this time. The less they know for now, the more natural it will seem.
“My Prince, where exactly is it that you went riding off to the other morning?” Mingi asks slowly. Then, his eyes bulge at the realization. “Was she—? How is that possible? How did—how could she? She would need—” he cuts off.
How a human managed to stumble upon the knowledge to—not only harvest but prepare the tonic properly when such information is only found in the ancient healing texts, all of which have been forbidden to humans for generations—is exactly what I intend to find out.
It was surprisingly easy to make her admit to her crimes. I had been intent on carrying out the punishment up until the moment she pleaded for me not to hurt her. Her soft words were not cowardly but held a tangible, desperate longing to live in a way I have not felt outside my own thoughts.
“You will understand before the day is out. Until then, I ask that you trust me.”
Mingi’s features relax. “Of course, My Prince, that was never in question.” Silence fills the space for several moments before he asks, “What is her name, so I will know her when she approaches?”
My lips are parted as I go to answer, only to hesitate before finally saying, “Her name is of no importance.”
Imugi gives an annoyed huff and curls up on the cushioned bench beside me. Mingi arches a brow in a clear indication that there is something more he wishes to say, even as he holds back.
The carriage stops, and the sounds of the festival die to a susurration of waves along a shore.
Every human city in Arum celebrates the Choosing each year, glad when they know their community has been chosen in the previous years, and when the day ends without my arrival.
It is difficult enough to keep gossip to a minimum.
With the curse of the dragon paying visits to towns at random, the last thing I need is for rumors of kidnapped and missing women to circulate.
Doubtless, it wouldn’t take much for the humans to let their imaginations get out of control and spur them into an uprising.
I lift the curtain corner over the window a sliver to peek out.
The people of Firnhallow gawk from where they stand, ignorant to the necessity of the spectacle they are about to witness.
Their expressions are a mix of emotions—none of which can be mistaken for anything flattering.
It is as expected. As it always is when they realize they have been selected to provide a willing bride.
Nevertheless, it sours my mood further.
A middle-aged man rushes up to the stage in the middle of the square. He holds his hands aloft, signaling for everyone’s attention. When few bother, he clears his throat and calls out. One by one, the people tear their gazes from our procession.
The man stumbles over the first few words as he begins his speech. In his nervousness, he needlessly introduces himself as their mayor, then begins to read directly from a letter detailing what he is to say, sent the day before.
He tells the story of a curse—a truth. And how it is said only a human woman can break it—a lie. The story is a pile of demon shit with enough small grains of truth to make it believable.
The Choosing was Mingi’s idea when we realized what needed to be done to stave off the affects of the curse. He understood that they would be more willing if we gave them a noble purpose to fight for.… That and more wealth than human settlement would refuse.
I let the curtain slip from my fingers and face Mingi. “You know what to do. Treat this the same as every other Choosing.”
He nods, then steps out. The crowd parts, allowing him passage.
Imugi curls up on the bench beside me. Their body begins to emit a frosty blue glow. “Your pearl.”
I take it and hold the dull, listless thing in my palm. It is nothing more than an ordinary, small, white stone. All I need to do is cast a simple glamour at the right time, and no one will be the wiser.
Such a forgery is considered treasonous. Other than Imugi, only Mingi has seen it up close to know the truth. But he has kept my secret all these years.
Mingi climbs the steps up to the stage. The mayor rushes to meet him. He nods emphatically as Mingi explains how to proceed, then scurries back toward the center of the platform with a large smile of pure showmanship that fails to reach his eyes, plastered on his face.
He clears his throat again—which seems to be a nervous habit—before addressing the crowd.
“Our Prince, heir to the Arum throne, has graced our humble city with his presence on his search for a future queen. Those willing will be presented to him in turn to see if there is a woman suitable among them.”
Mingi steps up beside him. “We wish to bestow a gift for Firnhallow’s generosity in hosting the royal procession.” He raises a hand to gesture toward ten men approaching the stage, each with a chest laden with gold and jewels.
The mayor’s jaw goes slack as the heavy burdens are lined up behind him.
“This gift is for the people of Firnhallow, regardless of our success or failure here,” Mingi says, to move things along.
“However, if we are successful, the family of the Chosen will be gifted a bride price to ensure they are taken care of for the rest of their lives, and that of their children, and children’s children. ”
At this, the crowd turns to murmur among themselves, faces bright at the possibility of riches they never dreamed possible.
The bride price is nothing more than payment for keeping up the pretense that I am in search of a queen to sit on the throne beside me—as if I have not taken a bride once a year for the past six years.
For them to forget their belief that I will sacrifice her to the dragon terrorizing the kingdom and turning the inhabitants into eternal ice sculptures if they dare to cross its path.
Few mind at all, whether they have eligible daughters or not.
Mingi gestures for the mayor to continue.
“We ask any eligible and willing to join us on stage now.”
The clot of people shifts and gradually five women make their way forward. But she is not among them. I close my eyes and summon the thread that will seek out the woman with the frost flower’s power within her.
It wends through the air, weaving around the people until it finds her, then wraps around her. The world shifts to a muted gray as the soft glow of the thread envelops her, making her stand out as a colorful beacon among a colorless world.
A man holds her back by the forearm, preventing her from doing what she must. A frowning woman beside him says something before he can. The two accompanying her seem close to her age, maybe a year or two older. Their small group is too far away to make out what any of them is saying.