Chapter 1 #2
Dread pooled in my chest, a heavy and cold feeling that rattled me and had me clinging to my courage. I needed to come up with a plausible story, one that would convince him that I had been through hell during my time at the Shadow Court and concealed my true feelings for its king.
“Why did we land here, rather than the castle?” I lowered my dagger and glanced beyond him to the white towers that speared the too-blue sky, and then shifted my gaze back to him, my tone bland. “Was it because you wanted to impress me with the view?”
Letting him know I didn’t find it impressive at all.
I looked at the roofs of the castle and the flags that fluttered in the breeze, their embroidery catching the light to glitter at me.
The most glittering of gold.
Carved from blades of bone.
And blood.
Neve had seen me here in that vision I now felt was coming true.
He chuckled warmly and gracefully stepped aside, clearing my view of it. His tone was gentle as he said, “I thought perhaps you might need a moment to gather yourself after what you had been through. You seemed rather… distressed… earlier. I did not want you feeling overwhelmed.”
I thought about Neve’s other vision—the one that haunted me and felt like a puzzle with missing pieces, impossible for me to solve.
You must stay in the light and when the time comes, you must drink the water to drift in the dark and embrace all that you are, have been and ever will be.
Or at least it had felt impossible to solve before I had been brought here, into the seelie side of Lucia, faced with its blinding brightness.
Was this the light she had been talking about?
I had heard the fae refer to the unseelie side as Lucia shadows and this side as Lucia light. So it had to be the light I was meant to stay in. The rest of it remained a mystery. Drink the water. Drift in the dark. Embrace all that I was, had been and ever would be.
Ever would be?
Had Neve seen me becoming something else, something more than I was now?
I wished I could ask her.
The weight of Sylvan’s gaze grew so heavy I could no longer ignore it.
“Thank you.” I dipped my head, just enough to be polite and look as if I really was grateful that he had saved me.
“I admit, I am a little… I am better now. It was all a bit… it was a bit overwhelming, like you said. Luthryn… he said that I would be a guest here. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t believe him. ”
“It is expected that you might have difficulty trusting our kind after your ordeal.” Sylvan eyed the dagger again.
I did too. I lowered it further, letting my arm hang at my side, trying not to look as if I wanted to drive it through his eye and into his skull.
“I must warn you, when you enter that castle, all eyes will be on you.” Sylvan’s tone was soft, gentle, the warm and caring steward. I still wanted to stab him in the eye. “Are you prepared for that?”
For everyone to stare and gawp at me as I was paraded through it?
Nope.
Not at all.
I knew what would happen when I set foot in that castle, and I knew how I looked.
Drab dark dress. No shoes. Dishevelled hair.
Dried blood on my fingers and face. Haunted eyes.
I felt bone-deep tired, and knew I probably looked it too.
They wouldn’t know I had come fresh from a fight where I had killed my fated mate, severing that bond destiny had cruelly woven between us and freeing myself of it.
They wouldn’t know that mate had stolen my parents from me. Had taken everything from me.
I hated Lucas for what he had done to me, despised him with every fibre of my being and hoped Kaeleron kept his promise to me and that he would suffer in death.
But my fated mate had done one good thing for me.
He had made me look as if I had been through hell at the Shadow Court, as if I had fought for my freedom with claw and fang. I looked the part. Now I just needed to play it well enough to convince everyone I was just a little lamb and not a wolf.
I stared at the castle as I shored up my defences, as I perfected the image of a beaten and broken female who had suffered through a terrible ordeal, as Sylvan had called it.
It really was beautiful, but I wanted to pivot on my heel and run in the other direction.
I pulled down a breath, wincing as my battered ribs hurt, and steadied myself.
I wanted nothing to do with this seelie court, or my new family, not after what they had done to Kaeleron and to my family, but I did want to stick to my deal with my Shadow King.
I wanted to help him have his revenge—his closure—and find out what had happened to his brother.
I was determined to take down this court, and the only way to do that was to play the role assigned to me.
That of the new heir and future ruler of the seelie Summer Court.
I would give it to Kaeleron on a silver platter to prove to him that what ran in my veins didn’t matter—it was what beat in my heart that did—and that heart beat for him.
But part of me hesitated.