The Princess #2
I had no idea there were feral Demon Fae who actually lived out here, preying on travelers. Otherwise, I never would have settled in Knockspur. If there was even a chance of encountering another one, I never would have risked it.
Frisk was silent for several long moments. The subtle stiffness in Mauro’s back told me the stag was listening carefully. Kendra poked her head out of my satchel, her wide blue eyes darting between the three of us with interest.
“We fae creatures don’t like to associate ourselves with the Demon Fae,” Frisk said at last. “They make us look bad.”
“Us?” I repeated.
“The unseelie,” Frisk said. “Demon Fae are unseelie, like us.”
I knew my forest friends were unseelie. Any fae who could take the appearance of a non-human creature was technically part unseelie.
But that didn’t explain why Frisk was comparing himself to a Demon Fae.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I demanded.
“Just say it,” Mauro mumbled, panting from the effort of sprinting for so long.
I swallowed hard around a lump in my throat, holding my breath as I waited for Frisk’s response.
Frisk took a long breath before he said, “We fae creatures are… part Demon Fae. There is Demon Fae blood running through our veins.”
My body jerked with surprise. He couldn’t be serious. “You—you—are Demon Fae?” My voice came out as a high-pitched squeak. Every ounce of me was frozen with terror.
“Only partially,” Mauro said defensively.
I shook my head, unable to process this. It was absurd. Based on the stories I’d heard, the Demon Fae were dark, terrible creatures—not at all like Frisk and Mauro.
“B-But you look nothing like them,” I argued. “And the smell of their magic, it’s… It’s not possible!”
“We don’t possess fae magic like they do,” Frisk said. “And our bloodline has been watered down by many other species over the generations. It’s only a distant connection, really. It wasn’t worth mentioning.”
“Not worth mentioning?” I seethed. “Frisk—” I broke off with a frustrated sound, running my hands through my hair. Shivering bones, my head was spinning right now.
My gaze snagged on Kendra, who promptly ducked her head back inside my satchel.
“Hey!” I jabbed a finger at her. “Get back here. Did you know about this?” As a dragon, she wasn’t part fae at all, but I suspected she knew more about fae bloodlines than she let on.
Slowly, Kendra poked her nose out of the bag. She sniffed once before replying. “I… suspected.”
“Damn it, Kendra!” I wanted to scream into the sky. “Did everyone know except me?”
“Don’t blame me, Snow,” Kendra said, her voice quivering. “My dragon blood allows me to scent magic on other creatures. But it would have been rude for me to bring it up. It’s… quite personal. And it wasn’t really my place to share it with anyone.”
I rubbed my forehead, trying to ward off the looming headache from absorbing such a shocking revelation. My entire world had been rattled. Everything I thought I had known for the past five years was a lie.
A hot lump formed in my throat, my eyes burning with unshed tears as I remembered the day I’d been told my father had fallen ill. How I’d suspected Calista at first.
But the physicians told me he’d been poisoned by a Demon Fae in the woods, and the creature had run off before the hunters could catch it.
Now that I’d seen what Calista was, I knew better. Calista had poisoned him.
And my closest friends shared the same blood as my father’s killer.
“Now you understand why we don’t like to announce it to the world,” Frisk said bitterly. “People dislike fae creatures enough as it is. But to label us as Demon Fae? That’s basically a death sentence for us.”
“The hunter may be an ass, but he is right to be wary of fae creatures,” Mauro said. “Not all are as friendly as we are.”
“We never thought you’d encounter any of them, Snow,” Frisk said apologetically. “The forest in Knockspur is only populated with civilized beasts like Mauro and me. But in the wilds, you’ll encounter all sorts of monsters.”
I was shaken. Frisk and Mauro—my friends—were Demon Fae. Deep down, I knew they were the same creatures I’d known all these years. And yet the truth of their bloodline rattled me.
My life in the palace had sheltered me from the existence of fae creatures.
I knew they were out there somewhere, but they were so far from my reality that I never concerned myself with them until I was banished.
And once I’d met Frisk, Mauro, and all the other sentient fae beasts that lived in the woods of Knockspur, I assumed they were just another species of fae. Like the unseelie.
Oh, how wrong I’d been.
“For what it’s worth,” Kendra chimed in, “the scent of Demon Fae I can smell on them is quite faint.”
“Snow,” Frisk said, “we are still your friends.”
“I know,” I said quickly. Too quickly. I did know that. And yet, they’d hidden their identity from me for years now. “But you deceived me. You kept this from me when I deserved to know.”
Frisk and Mauro said nothing. I ground my teeth together, trying to subdue my anger. They might not have lied to me, but they’d hidden the truth. And it stung.
“We were just trying to protect ourselves,” Frisk said at last. “You were the first seelie fae to truly befriend us, and we didn’t want you to think of us any differently.”
I had no response to that. Because if I had known they were Demon Fae, I would have fled from their presence. We never would have become friends.
“Besides, if you remained in Knockspur, you would never have encountered any other Demon Fae but us,” Frisk went on. “There was no need to tell you. You would never be in any danger.”
“But I would have left those woods eventually!” I argued. “It was always the plan for me to return to Taerin and take back the throne.”
“Yes, but it didn’t seem like…” Frisk trailed off uncertainly.
“Didn’t seem like what?” I prompted. When the fox didn’t say anything, I said, “Frisk!”
“It didn’t seem like that was what you truly wanted,” Frisk said, his tone chagrined.
His words stunned me. “What?”
“You seemed so content to live in the woods!” Frisk said hastily. “We thought—maybe even hoped—that you’d forget about this plan to take the throne and just live happily with us in the forest.”
I hissed a breath through my teeth, prepared to throttle Frisk. “That crown is my birthright.”
“We know. But, Snow, you belong in the forest. That is your true home.”
“You know nothing about my true home. You lied to me for years, and now you claim to know what I want? What I need?” I huffed a hollow laugh and shook my head, too furious for words.
“We care about you, Snow,” Mauro said, his deep voice gruff and strained. “And the queen is powerful. We didn’t want to see you get killed.”
“I’m so glad you two have such confidence in me,” I snapped. “Do the others feel this way, too?”
“The humans?” Frisk asked. “No, they have complete faith in the success of this mission.”
“But the creatures, yes,” Mauro admitted. “They adore you, Snow.”
“It’s true,” Kendra agreed. “We all do.”
Something in my chest softened at those words. I knew Mauro included himself in that sentiment, though he would never say it aloud. How would I feel if one of them concocted a dangerous plan that would likely result in their deaths?
Besides, I’d been keeping secrets from them, too. I couldn’t stay angry at them for this.
And in a way, they were right. A part of me did long to stay in the woods for the rest of my life, away from Calista and her poisonous clutches. The farther away I was from her, the safer I was. Perhaps I had put off this coup for so long because I was so content with my life in Knockspur.
But I couldn’t ignore my people and their suffering at her hand. Regardless of my fears about my impending death, I had to save this kingdom from her.
Before it was too late.
Every creature, whether fae or human, deserves our respect, Father had said. No one species is better than another.
I had always interpreted that in favor of humans. But now I was thinking of my animal friends. Just because Calista was evil didn’t mean that my friends were. I knew better than most how it felt to be judged by one’s bloodline.
“Don’t hide things from me again,” I said to my friends. “Even the ugly truths you want to keep to yourselves.”
“We won’t,” Frisk said at once.
“We’re sorry, Snow,” Mauro added.
“I know.” I stared ahead at the blur of snowy trees, my jaw tight.
I could never tell them the truth—that the reason I was so afraid of the Demon Fae was because I’d encountered one before.
And it was the Queen of the Winter Court.
If all went according to plan, I would expose her to the entire realm. But if it didn’t, I couldn’t risk my friends knowing her secret.
Otherwise, she would hunt them down, too.