Chapter 3
Seda
Seda opened her eyes, focusing on Cahir’s outline through the misty, pink fog around her.
The pink haze gradually cleared, and she saw him holding onto a woman’s thigh from high on a dais.
Cahir was staring at her with wide eyes, the same green eyes he had stared down at her with false love and emotion for years.
She noticed that he looked different than before.
He had grown taller and broader, his face now framed by a hint of rugged facial hair.
His skin tone had subtly changed, glowing with a jade undertone, and he had tattoos along with more defined features than when she last saw him.
He wore a tall, three-spiked golden crown with a diamond-shaped hole in its center.
It took her weeks to get to this place, and his betrayal scorched her heart into a ravenous fury.
Her escape from the Camp, the long journey to the Wisps, and finally reaching Umbrea took her through dark, haunted woods, where she learned to defend herself and others.
But most of all, that journey taught her that the life she knew had been a lie, and that she had to believe in herself.
Cahir had been her best friend for years. She had isolated and strapped herself to his side, leaning on him for emotional support, only to discover that he had been lying the entire time she knew him.
He wasn’t who he pretended to be.
He was someone and something else entirely.
And it wasn’t just him. Kalon had also entered her life, taking her first kiss and her moonstone necklace, then disappearing into the darkness of the Amanita Copse unnoticed. She needed that stone back.
Elco roared beside her, shaking the ground beneath her feet.
Elco was now her best friend.
Fuck Cahir. She and Elco had been chained together in the Camp, not only learning how to find themselves and survive in that dark place, but also discovering what true friendship was: loyalty, support, trust, and above all else, honesty.
Cahir shouted for everyone to stop, quickly releasing the woman’s leg he was holding, and held up his hand to the guards rushing toward her and Elco.
Seda’s eyes slowly scanned the woman he was touching and noticed her breasts were exposed for everyone in the room, just moments before for him. A sudden, intense pain pierced her chest, and a swift, overwhelming wave of rage engulfed her.
He was fucking all kinds of women, Kalon was right when he told her that. How dare Cahir act like he’s upheld moral standards all these years?
Without any hesitation, her powers flowed through her arms, and sparks of electricity flickered from her fingertips.
“You lied to me!” she snapped at him as everyone murmured around her display of power. “You LIED to me!”
The Fae surrounding her began to murmur in hushed tones.
“Is that a monster?”
“She looks human.”
“How does King Ael know her?”
Cahir quickly stood from his throne, raising his hands in an apparent attempt at mock surrender. “Can we talk, please?” His green eyes begged her to accept, looking so familiar, so trusting. Seda watched him with a broken heart, consumed by betrayal.
She wouldn’t trust him; she couldn’t. He broke that. He broke her.
A beautiful woman, with the same skin tone and pointed ears as everyone else in the room, whispered something into Cahir’s ear.
She wore a silky red dress, and her hair was in a long blonde ponytail.
Seda narrowed her eyes, her anger simmering like a fueled inferno, causing her magic to vibrate violently in her chest.
A dark cloud formed in the ballroom, sparking against the ceiling.
She didn’t know what to do with the surge that pulsed from within and threw her hands at the window above Cahir, wanting it to scare him as she discharged a violent arc of electricity that shattered the glass in every direction.
The room erupted in screams.
She smiled as she watched the glass shatter, noticing how Cahir and the others on the dais had to cover their heads to protect themselves.
The guards rushed toward her, colliding with each other as Elco’s mighty roar echoed through the room, stopping them from their approach.
“I said STOP!” Cahir shouted at everyone. He looked back at Seda, his eyes softening. “Seda, could you please pull your powers back in, and we’ll find somewhere private to talk? I can explain everything.”
The woman with exposed breasts casually tucked them back in and looked at Seda with raised brows as she brushed glass off her shoulder. Her eyebrows slowly relaxed, and a smile spread across her lips.
Seda slowly looked between the woman in red silk and Cahir. Did she want to talk to him? So far, everything she had argued with herself on her journey here without him had been true.
“What do you want to do, moon-flutter? I’ll follow your lead,” Elco asked, his body tightening around hers. He watched the guards with baited interest.
When had he eaten last anyway?
She waited a few moments before answering Cahir, allowing the people in the room to wonder as they watched their king nervously fidget.
“The Wisps sent me here. I have a lot of questions for you, King Ael,” she shouted, sarcastically emphasizing his title and name.
He winced at her use of his true name, and Seda smirked as the Fae in the room murmured over her mention of the Wisps. She watched him slowly descend the dais and head toward a door on the far side of the room.
She would have her revenge. The shattered glass wasn’t enough.
“This way,” a woman’s voice said from beside them, and Elco snarled, flashing his sharp fangs as he turned to see who it was. The woman in the red silk gown appeared at her side, guiding her to follow Cahir out of the room. “Your friend is welcome to join you.”
Seda’s slitted eyes followed her as she walked away. She grumbled and moved away from Elco’s protection, walking beside the woman and smiling as the guests watched her leave, enjoying the fear on their faces.
She glanced back at the woman and felt venom rise at the sight of her. Was she one of Cahir’s whores? She regarded her beauty, which enraged her. She had long, golden hair and pointed ears adorned with earrings.
Seda didn’t wear fancy dresses or stylish jewelry.
She bit the inside of her cheek and silently scolded herself. Why should she feel any animosity toward this woman regarding that liar? He was dishonest, and if this woman desired him, she was free to have the lying bastard.
With a devious smirk, as if she had just uncovered some juicy gossip, the woman looked at her. “That was quite a grand entrance. I’ve never seen anyone make Ael fidget like that before. Please do it again?” She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow at Seda.
Seda noticed that the woman didn’t give Cahir a title when she referred to him, as if she were close to him.
“And who are you?” She tried to hide the sharpness in her tone, pretending she didn’t care, but her emotions were a tangle of currents. The woman chuckled, and Seda clenched her fists as sparks of electricity flickered across her knuckles.
The woman glanced at Seda’s glowing hands, her face paling. “I’m Luelle. I’ve been friends—only friends—with Ael since childhood. I’m also one of the three advisors here in Umbrea.”
“Seems like he has quite a few friends. Did you know he made me feel like I was his only friend? Did you know he lied… for years?” Her tongue moved of its own accord.
Sure, she occasionally missed him during her journey, but seeing him with these wretched women upon arriving changed that. She held back the vibration of her simmering magic that wrapped around her throat, choking her.
“Ael doesn’t claim to be friends with just anyone. If he says he’s your friend, he means it.” Luelle turned away from her, and Seda rolled her eyes.
Luelle was obviously a fool for believing anything that man said.
The ballroom door closed as they left. Elco followed, snarling at anyone who dared to come too close. Mostly, people dropped their wine glasses with muffled shrieks as they hurried away from her path.
When they entered the hall, they saw Cahir waiting a few doors away, holding a door open.
“I can take it from here, Luelle. Please give us some privacy.” He looked at Seda, his cheeks flushed, and then back at Luelle.
“Can you please see to it that Fran sets up that room for her in the East Wing? She knows which one.”
“The East Wing?” Luelle asked, the corner of her mouth curling upward.
“Yes. And make sure there’s room there for Elco, as well.” He cleared his throat and quickly glanced at Seda before looking away.
Luelle politely stepped aside, allowing Seda to walk through. Seda glared at him as she walked past, hoping her eyes stabbed him in his stupid face as she entered the small, brightly lit room with a large table.
She looked back at Elco and said, “You wait here, too, please. I’ll be out shortly. This room doesn’t look big enough to fit you.”
Elco stared at her and puffed out his chest. “I’ll stay at this door until you come out. Call me if you need anything. I will make myself fit if I have to,” he replied.
She nodded in response and entered the room, choosing not to sit at the table and instead standing in the far corner with her arms crossed over her chest.
Cahir stepped in, and Seda glanced at him, taking in his new appearance. He must have grown a foot in height between his human and Fae forms. His teeth and ears were pointed, and his skin had that slight luster of jade to it.
She didn’t know him at all.
Anger simmered beneath her skin, and hot tears began blurring her eyes. She looked away, unable to handle his betrayal any longer.
Cahir walked to the table and sat down, his chair squeaking under him. He took his crown off and set it aside, placing his hands on the table with his palms facing up. She glanced back at him and glared, a single tear quickly falling from her left eye.