Twelve
“Don’t move,” I instructed Gray before I turned back to the canvas.
Portraits were not my strong suit. When I had decided to practice, the lord had graciously agreed to pose for me.
After dinner, we found ourselves in the library, much to Tom’s dismay.
The adviser had been dismayed often in the past week since Gray had been spending more and more time with me, as much as his schedule allowed.
Aside from morning coffee, the library had become our usual meeting spot.
Gray often read to me or played with Quilliam while I painted.
At times, we both read our own books in silence, enjoying the quiet companionship.
The lord hadn’t mentioned what I had shared with him about the wards and acted as if nothing was amiss.
He also hadn’t mentioned that night in the library when I had almost kissed him.
I hadn’t broached the subject, either, relieved that we were able to carry on as if nothing had happened.
Gray was my mentor, and I wanted him to remain only that—at least for the time being.
I needed to focus on my magic instead of how his enticing mouth would feel on mine.
I blinked and shook my head to clear my thoughts. I stared at Gray’s near-perfect features on the canvas. In the painting, as in real life, he was leaning against the bookshelf, reading the tome in his hand. When I glanced at him, he was watching me.
“Your gaze needs to be on the book,” I said, blushing.
He cleared his throat. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” He looked down at the pages.
I studied him for a moment, taking note of how the yellow glow from the lamps gleamed in his dark hair and reflected in his silver eyes.
With those nuances in mind, I turned back to the canvas and applied a few brush strokes.
When I glanced back at the lord to pick up on more details, he was watching me again.
“Sorry,” he muttered as he looked down at the book, a smile playing on his lips.
I smiled, too, and it was hard to drag my gaze away from him and focus on the painting. As I was about to add another touch of color, commotion sounded in the hallway.
“You can’t barge in there,” came Thea’s rushed words a second before the library door flew open.
“Lord Gray,” said the man who had walked in. He was a border guard, judging by the armor. “There’s been an incident on the border.”
My breath left me as the brush and the palette I had been holding slipped out of my hands. They hit the floor with a loud clatter.
“Emelin!” Thea exclaimed as she rushed to my side.
“I’m all right.” I bent down to pick up the items.
When I rose back up, Gray glanced at me, and our gazes locked for a split second before he focused on the guard.
“What happened?” he demanded, his features instantly taut with unease.
“There’s been”—the guard glanced at me—“a sighting.” He swallowed thickly. “I jumped on my horse and rode here as soon as it happened.”
“Thea, please ask Killian to prepare the carriage for me and Tom,” Gray ordered.
With a nod, Thea left my side and strode to the library’s entrance. She halted by it and looked back at me as if expecting me to follow. When I didn’t, her brows pinched in a scowl a moment before she swept from the room.
“Thank you, Briar. You can ride back and tell the others that we will be there as soon as we can,” Gray said calmly to the guard.
“Will do, my lord,” the man replied before he turned to me. “Your Highness.” He bowed to pay his respects and left the library.
The moment he was gone, I stepped out from behind the easel. “I want to go with you.”
“That’s a terrible idea,” Gray threw over his shoulder as he headed for the exit.
“It’s not a request.” I followed after him.
He halted in the doorway and turned to face me when I caught up with him.
When he opened his mouth to argue, I spoke first. “Knowing what you know now, you must understand why I want to come.” The words were low, as I didn’t want anyone in the house to overhear.
“Knowing what I know now is all the more reason why you should stay behind,” the lord countered, matching my quiet voice.
“I’m coming with you,” was all I said, staring at him. I refused to sit here and wait to find out what had transpired on the border.
With a rough exhale, he dragged a hand over his face before he turned and stepped to the side.
“After you.” He motioned for me to walk out of the library.
We found Tom and Thea in the foyer. They were arguing harshly about something, but stopped when Gray and I walked in.
“The carriage is ready. Shall we?” Tom turned to the lord. He was already garbed in a navy-blue cloak.
“Emelin is coming with us,” Gray said as he draped my cloak around my shoulders.
Tom’s gaze darted to me, and his shrewd hazel eyes narrowed.
“Not a wise choice for the princess to visit the border, given the circumstances.” The adviser’s words were meant for Gray, even though he was still looking at me.
“It’s not open to negotiation,” the lord replied, his tone final. He put on his cloak, and the three of us walked outside and loaded into the carriage.
The ride to the border was spent in miserable silence.
Tom kept shooting daggers at me as I tried my best to ignore him.
It was hard not to fidget under his heavy gaze, and a breath of relief almost escaped me when he finally shifted his attention to Gray sitting to my right.
The lord met his gaze, and the two of them exchanged a silent message I wasn’t privy to.
The unease rolling off Gray was palpable, increasing my own growing anxiety.
I tried to tamp the feeling down by telling myself that there was no need to panic.
The guard hadn’t said that anyone was hurt, though I wasn’t sure he had meant by a ‘sighting’.
Had they seen a Fae slip through the faltering wards?
I shuddered at the thought, hoping that the protective barrier hadn’t deteriorated enough to allow that to happen.
“We’re here,” Tom announced as the carriage jerked to a stop. He climbed out of the cabin first when Killian opened the door.
Gray shifted in his seat to follow him out, but hesitated. “Is there any way you would agree to wait in the carriage?” he asked me, but his tone wasn’t in the very least hopeful.
“You already know the answer to that,” I replied low.
“Your father ordered me to guard you with my life.”
“Then you had better keep me close.”
I wanted to ask him if he truly thought that I would be in danger but held my tongue to avoid giving anything away in front of Killian, who was still holding open the cabin door, watching our exchange.
“After you,” Gray finally conceded with a heavy sigh.
Killian helped me out of the carriage, and I stepped to the side, close to where Tom stood waiting for Gray.
Irritation pulsed around the adviser as he gave me a side-eye.
Thankfully, the lord joined us a moment later, and together we began walking toward the border.
To my surprise, Killian didn’t stay behind.
He fell in step on the other side of Gray instead, which I found strange until I remembered that he was trained and could defend us if need be.
My heart slammed against my ribs at the thought of that possibility.
Tonight was my first time on the border after sundown, and the demarcation line between the two realms looked drastically different from how it did during the day.
Lit torches stretched the length of the border, bathing the woods beyond in an orange glow.
Guards were stationed evenly along the tree line, looking more tense and alert than usual.
A few of them were gathered in one spot.
Was that where the ‘sighting’ had occurred?
When one of the guards noticed us, he separated from the group and ran up to meet us halfway.
It was the same man—Briar—who had been at the manor earlier, having gotten back to the border faster on horseback.
“Lord Gray, you’re here,” he greeted the lord. “And you brought the princess,” he muttered to himself as his gaze darted to me.
Gray ignored his comment and didn’t break his stride, his eyes focused on the border ahead. The guard joined our little group, walking with us as we approached the tree line.
“What happened?” Gray demanded as soon as we halted by the guards.
A few of them stood with their backs to us but turned around and stepped out of the way when they heard the lord’s voice.
Gray’s gaze slid over all the drawn faces before it fastened on the lone guard left standing directly in front of him.
The man, who was as white as a sheet, quickly wiped the sweat off his brow as he stared back at the lord.
“Leland here was the one who saw it…er…him,” Briar explained.
“What did you see exactly?” Gray asked the witness, his voice calm yet sharp with urgency.
“A Fae warrior,” Leland replied in a hushed tone.
My blood turned to ice as his words rang out in the cold night air, lingering long after he had uttered them.
I wanted to glance at Gray but forced myself to keep my gaze on Leland.
“He was lurking in the woods,” the guard continued.
“At first, when I saw a flash of silver armor, I thought it was just my imagination. But then I blinked and he was closer…testing the wards, I think…”
A foreboding quiet settled over the group. All eyes were on Gray as everyone waited for his reaction to what Leland had shared. I also let my gaze shift to the lord. His face was hard as he stared at the woods behind the guard.
“What happened then?” he asked, refocusing on Leland.
“Then, he just…disappeared. As if he were never there.”
All blood drained from my face as my legs grew weak under my dress.
“What about the other guards? Did they see anything?” Gray asked, looking down the length of the border.
“No, my lord,” Briar spoke up, clearly the leader of the group. “Only Leland spotted a Fae. Show him.” He nodded at Leland, who immediately turned around and pointed with a slightly trembling hand toward the woods.
“Right there is where I saw him.”
I peered into the trees at the spot where the guard was pointing. The forest stood dark and ominous but otherwise quiet.
“Princess Emelin is here for a reason,” Gray said, drawing my attention back to him.
My stomach dropped. Was he going to expose the truth about the wards?
Gray’s eyes were calm when my panicked gaze met his. Trust me, the look in them conveyed.
“As you all know, only the royals can sense the magic of the wards. Emelin will inspect the part of the barrier where the Fae has been spotted,” he explained. “Everyone should disperse and give the princess space to do what is required.”
All the wary gazes locked on me. I shifted from foot to foot, trying to maintain a neutral expression to hide my anxiety.
“You heard him. Disperse!” Briar barked an order, jarring everyone into action.
The guards scattered, but Tom and Killian lingered behind.
When Gray gave them a pointed look, the adviser sneered. “You must be joking.”
“Give Emelin some privacy,” the lord said sternly.
With a sound of exasperation, Tom conceded. He and Killian stepped away from me and Gray, but didn’t go far, joining the guards huddled by the nearest guard post.
“They’re watching us,” I said in a hushed tone when Gray and I were alone.
“They’re frightened. There had never been a sighting before,” he replied, eyeing the guards. “We need to put them at ease.”
“You know I can’t do that,” I whispered.
His intent gaze focused on me. “Yes, you can. You should inspect the wards.”
I was frozen in place, terrified of what I might discover. I struggled to subdue my fear. If the wards had failed, the sooner I confirmed that, the sooner I could alert my father that our time had run out.
“Please don’t let that be the case,” I whispered, lifting my gaze to the starry night sky. “Please, we need more time. I need more time.” To do what, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I wasn’t prepared to find our only line of defense obsolete.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I followed Gray’s suggestion and stepped closer to the border.
My body felt numb as I closed my eyes and opened up my senses, still praying to the Stars under my breath.
The colors of the barrier appeared in my mind, bleak and translucent, but still there.
“Oh, thank the Stars.” The words burst out of me with a harsh exhale of relief.
“The barrier still holds,” I said low, turning around to face Gray, who had stepped closer to me.
Relief relaxed his pinched features.
“See.” He gave a half-smile. “You can reassure them.”
The pressure on my chest didn’t alleviate.
“I can’t.” I shook my head as tears burned behind my eyes.
“The wards still hold, but for how long? I can’t lie and say that they are as strong as ever.
” It wasn’t lost on me that I was acting unfit for a princess.
I had a duty to fulfill, even if at this moment my duty required me to lie to my people.
Gray’s half-smile fell as we stared at each other. His keen gaze was penetrating, making me feel like he wasn’t just looking at me but into me. Could he see my inner turmoil?
“I could never ask that of you,” he finally said in a strained voice. “I will talk to the guards.”
I was speechless for a moment, deeply touched by the gesture. “You would lie on my behalf?”
His brows knitted as he looked conflicted. “Sometimes lying is necessary. Like in this case. We wouldn’t want to spread panic.”
“Thank you.” I lifted my hand to reach for him but dropped it, giving him a weak smile instead.
Gray nodded and left my side. He walked over to where Tom, Killian, and the guards were waiting.
I couldn’t hear what he said, but the group visibly relaxed after he had delivered the message.
He had sold the lie that would help them sleep at night and still place trust in the royal family.
The lie that one day soon might cost them their lives.
I whirled around from the group and clamped my hand over my mouth to stop a sob from escaping.
Until recently, I could have pretended that the Fae were a terrifying myth that lived only in our history books.
But the events of tonight couldn’t be ignored—the Fae were real, and they were knocking on our gates.