Chapter 8
I could have sworn the shadows by the door were watching me.
But when I looked closer through the crack, they vanished. A shiver of unease rippled over me, but I shook it off and turned back to the mirror to prepare myself for the ceremony.
The wedding garment was certainly the most revealing thing I’d ever worn in my life.
Two swaths of black silk were draped over my torso, barely covering my breasts.
They came together at my waist, with two identical pieces of fabric at my front and backside that covered the space between my legs.
While the silk reached all the way down to my ankles, it left the sides of my legs and buttocks completely exposed.
Not to mention if I turned a certain way, one would get a full view of my breasts.
I kept wringing my hands together, feeling restless and anxious, until Enzira took one of my hands in hers to still me. She gestured to my chest with a clawed hand. “Is fine.”
I swallowed, still feeling uncomfortable.
Enzira seemed to sense my distress. Her dark brows drew together as she tried to form the right words. “For Shadow Fae… is fine. Dress is… like this.” She pointed to my garment again.
I nodded, but this did nothing to loosen the tight knots in my stomach. If a loose and revealing garment was customary for the Shadow Fae, that must mean I would be expected to wear things like this all the time.
Would the Wraith King wear something similar, too? Panic flared in my chest at the thought.
Enzira seated me at the vanity so she could do my hair. Her hands went to the amber necklace at my throat, and I quickly stopped her, my fingers catching hers.
“Please,” I said quietly. I wasn’t sure how to convey to her the importance of such a thing without giving too much away.
But Enzira was more perceptive than I gave her credit for.
She scanned my eyes, then nodded once with a gentle smile.
She dug inside a drawer of the vanity, and I caught sight of sapphires and diamonds that made my eyes go wide.
She found a matching pair of amber earrings and placed them on my earlobes.
My fingers itched to sift through the gemstones in the vanity to see what powers they would grant me, but that would have to wait.
Would these gems work differently because they were in a different court?
The diamonds alone would provide a huge advantage.
To wear diamond jewelry was one thing—it granted me boldness and bravery, but not physical strength.
However, if I wielded a weapon made with diamonds, then my body was granted the endurance and agility of five fae warriors.
Like with my amber necklace, there were certain caveats in order for my magic to work to the fullest extent.
What if I could find a way to embed these diamonds into the hilts of other blades? Then I would have a whole arsenal of Wraith Killers.
“Do you know the king well?” I asked.
Enzira’s brow furrowed again, her fingers busy weaving through my hair. “King Varius?”
“Yes. Do you know him? ”
She pressed her lips together, her eyes flicking to the ceiling as she considered how to respond. “King Varius is strong. And good. He is saving Shadow Fae.”
I licked my lips. “And what about humans? Does he hate them?”
Enzira was quiet for a long moment as she continued working, pinning sections of my hair into small knots in the back of my head. Then she said, “Not hate.”
Well, that wasn’t very comforting.
When she finished, she tugged a few strands of hair loose so they framed my face, highlighting its heart shape. She gripped my shoulders tightly and looked in my eyes.
“King Varius not hurt you,” she said firmly. “He is good .”
I blinked at this unexpected conviction. When she continued looking at me as if expecting a response, I stammered, “O-Okay.”
I wasn’t sure I believed her. Varius could be the most benevolent king in the world, but if he detested humans as much as my people detested the unseelie, then none of that benevolence would apply to me.
“I found it!” Ramia chirped from my doorway. She bustled in, nudging past Enzira to face me. In her hands was a gleaming diamond tiara, which she arranged neatly in my hair.
My breath caught in my throat. It was stunning.
A row of sparkling diamonds spread across the length of the tiara, and in the center was one of the largest diamonds I had ever seen.
I sucked in a sharp breath as my blood warmed.
A strange energy and boldness took hold, blotting out all fear and uncertainty.
Ramia bent close to me and whispered, “To give you strength.”
My gaze cut to hers. I didn’t like that look of shrewd understanding in her eyes. Did she know what diamonds could do? Did she know the full extent of my power?
I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. Between the scandalous black dress—which made Ramia purse her lips on multiple occasions—to the dark kohl lining my eyes, I looked unrecognizable. Truth be told, if I looked like this in the Earthen Court, people would expect me to work in a brothel.
But with the tiara and other jewels, plus Enzira’s insistence that this was the custom in her court, I could envision myself through new eyes. I’d seen Shadow Fae before, though it was mostly castle attendants. They did dress differently. And they embraced the beast that was a part of themselves.
In a sense, I was doing the same. I might not have had horns or fangs or a tail, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t proudly display the body that belonged to me.
I sat up straighter, the diamond tiara making me feel more confident. This was what I had been born to do. I had known from the beginning that this was my fate. And I would accept it with all the courage and grace I could muster.
I stood, smoothing my palms along my skirt, and turned to find Enzira handing me a small ceremonial dagger. Rubies and sapphires glittered from the hilt. My breath hitched as I recognized the glint of diamond as well.
“I—what is this for?” I asked breathlessly. Did Enzira realize what a dagger like this could do, if I were to wield it?
“For blood,” Enzira said. “King Varius has knife. You have knife. It is fine.”
I was learning that when Enzira said fine , she meant it was customary to her people. My throat knotted, and I swallowed hard before accepting the dagger. As soon as my fingers wrapped around the hilt, power swelled within me, making me gasp.
Enzira took a hesitant step back, assessing me with concern in her eyes. “Is good?” she asked uncertainly.
I nodded quickly, my breaths sharper and faster now.
My body felt empowered, like I could run for miles and not tire.
“I am well. It’s just—it’s so beautiful.
” I lifted the blade to better inspect the gemstones.
Along with the diamond, I recognized rubies and sapphires.
Rubies allowed me to see across vast distances, and sapphires gave me the gift of music.
Neither of these powers would be helpful to me today.
Enzira brought a leather strap with a sheath that blended in with my dress. She tied it around my waist, then gestured for me to tuck the dagger inside.
I didn’t want to part from it. I wanted more. But as Enzira watched me expectantly, I knew I couldn’t hold onto it without arousing suspicion. My hand shook as I slid it into the sheath, then released my grip on it.
Immediately, the energy left me, and I almost wilted from the exhaustion that took its place. In an instant, Ramia was at my side, lacing my arm through hers. I made a mental note to ask her exactly how much she knew about my powers, but in this moment, I couldn’t be mad about it.
“Shall we?” Ramia asked, patting my hand.
Enzira offered a wide smile, then led us out of the bedchamber. To my surprise, she only strode two steps down the hall before reaching for the first door on the right and pushing it open.
I frowned. The hall for the wedding ceremony was located in the guest suite?
But when the door swung open all the way, I gasped. Light filtered in, but it wasn’t the dull gleam of the white orbs I was accustomed to in the castle. This was outdoor light. Pinks and purples and reds from the setting sun cast a warm glow on me as I stepped forward, entranced.
Through the doorway was a courtyard surrounded by several burning braziers.
A square fire pit stood in the center, within which burned an ethereal violet flame.
Mighty pillars supported a dome-shaped pavilion that provided shade for the entire square, and directly across from my doorway was a decorative archway made of stone.
Intricate designs had been carved on every inch of it, and I yearned to draw closer and inspect it with greater scrutiny.
The courtyard was full of unseelie fae, most of them castle staff I recognized from my arrival. They were flitting about, arranging flowers, painting what looked like runes in crimson paint on each of the pillars, and tending to the roaring fire in the center.
I stared at the scene before me, transfixed. “Is this—is this real?” I wanted to reach through the doorway and try to touch it, expecting the image to ripple like water. Was I looking into a magical portal? We were in the highest level of the castle, and yet, this door led to an outdoor courtyard.
“Go,” Enzira said, nodding her head. “Is fine.”
There was that word again. Fine. I inched closer, trusting her, but Ramia gripped my arm, her face stricken with terror.
“We are human,” she said to Enzira, her voice a touch too loud. “Will this harm us?”
Enzira pointed to the courtyard. “Safe,” she assured us. Then, she gestured to the doorframe. “Magic. The door knows.”
The door knows. It sounded rather cryptic.
But I recalled her admonishment to keep all doors open, and I wondered if this was why.
If the doors closed, did that mean they somehow became portals to other places?
I was torn between curiosity and fear. The idea that these doors could think was terrifying.
What if they could read my mind? What if they knew of my plan to kill the king?
Ramia’s fingernails dug into my arm. It was clear she wouldn’t let me step through the doorway.
Enzira seemed to notice this. She sighed, then drew forward, walking over the threshold and emerging into the amber light of the courtyard.
Sunlight illuminated her form immediately until she stepped underneath the pavilion cover for shade.
A few servants muttered something in Agnarrish as they jostled past her, one of them bumping her shoulder .
She was there. She was actually there in the courtyard.
“It’s fine, Ramia,” I whispered.
She shot me a dubious look but loosened her hold on me. Her hand was still clamped around my arm, so I linked our elbows and walked us both through the portal.
The effect was instantaneous. One moment we were standing in the hall of the castle, our surroundings dark and chilled.
The next, warmth and light engulfed us, a stark contrast to the confinements of the castle.
Even with the shade of the pavilion, the area was so open .
A wide expanse of forest surrounded the courtyard, and the sky seemed to stretch on for an eternity.
In the distance, I could make out the mountains of the Earthen Court.
A wide smile of amazement spread across my face.
I turned around completely, facing the way we’d come, and found the open door.
The frame was built into a stone wall, and as I looked beyond it, I made out the turrets and towers of the castle.
It was much farther away than before—perhaps a quarter of a mile.
How did we get transported so far? What kind of magic was this?
I turned to Ramia to share my wonderment with her, but I found her face pale and her eyes wide as saucers. The sheer horror on her face was so different from my excited curiosity that my exclamation died on my lips.
For her, this was just a reminder that we were in a strange land with a strange magic that could easily destroy us if we weren’t careful.
Someone nudged my shoulder, and I turned to find Enzira beaming at me, a pot of crimson paint in her hand. “I paint you now,” she said.
I nodded, holding perfectly still as she painted runes along my arms and shoulders, then one on each of my cheeks. They were similar to the runes being painted on the pillars, and I wondered what they meant.
Before I could ask Enzira, she had finished painting and was ushering me toward the stone archway.
I gladly obeyed, moving close enough to gaze at the carvings on the arch.
At the bottom was a large cloud next to a lightning bolt.
Above that was a figure with horns and a tail with a crown atop his head.
As my eyes moved over the carvings, I became more and more enthralled.
They seemed to be telling a story of a king’s demise.
I saw a woman with a mighty scepter, and several people with anguished expressions on their faces.
My heart lurched in my throat when I reached the other side of the arch and found a single rose etched into the stone. My pulse quickened, and I glanced around, worried someone was watching me. I looked back at the rose, running my fingers along the grooves of the carving.
What did this mean? Could these carvings tell me where I could find the enchanted rose?
“Enzira…” I began, turning to find her, hoping to coax some words out of her.
But when I looked behind me, I found the castle staff parting, scurrying like frightened ants until they formed an aisle between them.
When they were in position, they went perfectly still, chins lifted and backs straight.
Shadows poured down the aisle between the servants, curling and coiling like smoke. I flinched, ducking my head to avoid the toxic fumes that would almost certainly kill me.
But when the chilled tendrils of shadow brushed against my arms, raising the tiny hairs on the back of my neck, I realized they weren’t poisonous. The air was clean. In fact, the faintest smell of dark spices and heavy rainfall reached my nose. Far more pleasant than the putrid scent I envisioned.
I had never encountered shadows like this before.
I extended a hand, and the shadows twisted around my finger. It was colder than the air around me, and slightly moist, like a cloud.
Before I could inspect it further, every single servant fell to their knees, heads bowed. I stiffened, glancing around to find a dark figure making its way down the aisle, moving slowly toward me.
The Wraith King had arrived.