7. Evanee
Evanee
Aiden had said that the town would be small. He wasn’t kidding. It wasn’t because of its size—the town had been destroyed.
Only four buildings remained standing. The rest were burned to the ground.
Recently, it would seem. The air was thick with the acrid scent of charred wood and smoke.
Even the tang of ash lingered on my tongue.
I would’ve thought the town abandoned if not for the soot-streaked figures that picked through the wreckage. What the hell happened?
Aiden allowed us a brief ten-minute stop, claiming discomfort with the way the town’s people—humans—stared at our entourage with open hostility. Hostility wasn’t what I saw on their worn faces. I saw pain in the way their shoulders curved in, and sorrow as they embraced one another.
One woman clutched a small charred body in her arms, wailing, her tears carving tracks down her pale cheeks.
“What happened here?” My voice was a whisper on the breeze, the destruction making my insides curdle.
The woman rocked back and forth, her lips moving, murmuring to her dead child. My eyes burned as she looked to the other townsfolk with desperation, until an elder man ran to her and embraced her, his shoulder muffling her cries.
Aiden barely spared them a glance as he tightened the straps on his stallion.
“As I said before, there’s been unrest among humans and Fae alike.
Even some of the Shadow Stalkers have tried to rise against the Fae King.
He likes to make examples out of defiance—stamp out rebellions before they grow.
” He looked around, his expression hardened.
“No different than the Elementals. They rose against the Fae and the Council; now they’re extinct. ”
My stomach cinched. I’d only heard of that race a handful of times. I didn’t know much, but I did learn they’d had power that rivaled the Coven Council.
His words churned in my head, and blood drained from my face.
“Did you do this?” I hissed, my expression sharpening. His eyes snapped to mine.
“No. I wouldn’t… There must’ve been another unit sent.”
I turned my attention back to the smoldering all around us, the smoke suffocating. Even if Aiden hadn’t done this, his calm detachment was unsettling to say the least.
“Would you have?”
He sighed, turning his attention to me. “Would I have what?”
“Blindly followed orders and murdered innocents to set an example?” My voice shook, angry tears burning a trail down my cheeks.
It was foolish to ask him these questions—to talk to him in such an informal manner at all.
Yet I couldn’t help myself. To escape what I viewed as hell, only to see this?
This was hell. Losing my memories was nothing compared to this mother grieving her child.
To the people who lost their homes—their tiny sliver of life within a realm of monsters, obliterated. Stolen.
Aiden smiled tightly, his eyes losing their steel for a split second, as he finally shifted his attention to the woman.
“I can’t say if I’m being honest.” His teeth ground before he turned back to me. “I have a blood oath with the Fae King that can’t be broken except by death. I’m bound to him.”
“At what cost?” I breathed.
“Some things are worth darkening your soul for.” Steel slid back into place as he turned away, ordering everyone to mount up.
A chilling sensation crept along my spine, my throat suddenly dry. Fear didn’t grip me as it should have from his words. Instead, a dangerous thrill sparked in my chest at the knowledge that some of the darkness tainting him was nailed to the wall back at Castle Aurelia.
And it didn’t bother me one damn bit.
We didn’t talk after that. The death and destruction had laid a heavy blanket on us all, dampening any chance at conversation. Even Lyra looked pale and grim when we left.
Iron screeched, making me perk up in the cramped space.
The carriage finally slowed as we approached the “friends” home.
I couldn’t wait to get a break from the four walls surrounding me—my containment.
The dungeons hadn’t felt this claustrophobic.
At least in there, I had room to move and was alone.
In here—it’s as if my world was growing smaller.
“Oh, I wish they’d hurry! I need to piss!” Lyra squealed, holding herself as she bounced up and down.
“Lyra, stop that! That doesn’t help!”
“You know you’re not the boss of me, right?” she huffed. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
“Maybe not, but if you wet yourself, you’ll look like a child. Not to mention all the males will see,” I shot back. Her mouth twisted as she mocked me, exaggerating every word. I dragged a hand over my face.
The carriage door clicked open, and my stiff joints screamed as I stretched out my legs.
“My Queen.” Aiden bowed.
I fought the urge to smack him as I brushed past, irritated at his insistence on calling me that. But that feeling was fleeting as I gaped at the home before me. Home wasn’t an appropriate word. Small Castle was more accurate. It was almost the same size as Castle Aurelia.
Made of pale stone, it rose high, with giant black pillars on either side of the stairs that led to the entrance.
The entire property was surrounded by iron fencing, with the greenest grass inside, a garden, and miles of forest beyond.
My face fell—escape would be impossible to attempt here.
Between the ten-foot-tall wrought iron fencing and the seemingly endless forest, I wouldn’t make it far.
That’s if I were to get away at all. There was still my invisible tether to the captain to deal with.
The large wooden doors opened, and out walked a tall male in finery, his smile broad as he glided down the stairs to greet us.
His tanned skin shone as brightly as if he were glowing.
Pointed ears poked out around his close-cropped, curly hair.
But something in the way he carried himself told me he wasn’t Fae.
He was different. Older. The tension among the guards tightened as he approached; the males seemed to keep their distance, subtly stepping back.
Eyes of the deepest gold scanned over us, though his weren't like the guard on the horse, whom I learned goes by Malachai. But more severe. As if he held an ancient power in them that demanded respect.
“Aiden!”
The male embraced Aiden in a hug, and the captain returned it with a smile. A genuine one that I didn’t think him capable of. A warmth spread through me—stop it.
“It’s been too long!”
“Yes, it has.” The corner of Aiden’s mouth lifted.
“Thaddeus, may I introduce you to Evanee, a queen visiting from the Southern Realm.” He gestured toward me.
I didn’t know what to do. Thaddeus didn’t look like a male easily deceived.
Yet that powerful gaze washed over me before he folded into a very dramatic bow.
I fidgeted with the sash and curtsied, averting my gaze.
Lyra snorted a laugh behind us. I shot her a glare, noting that she was squeezing her legs together and dancing. One of the other guards looked at her and coughed into his arm, a hint of a smile on his face.
“Your Majesty, it is an honor to have you here at my home.” Thaddeus lifted, and his attention flicked to Lyra, his brow raised. “Uh, my dear. Why don’t you use one of the toilets in the house? My butler can show you where it is.”
“You have a working toilet? Damn! Thought only the Queen had those, and she don’t let anyone use them. I knew this would be the best adventure ever!” She hooted and hollered as she shuffled past.
Thaddeus shook his head, expression dumbfounded as he watched her go, then dragged his gaze back to us, smiling once more.
“Come! I’ve had dinner prepared. We have much catching up to do.
” He smiled once more, flashing all of his teeth as he clapped Aiden on the shoulder, then bounded up the stairs.
Aiden motioned for his guards to walk ahead.
My eyes slid skyward, the setting sun already casting an orange glow through the clouds. I held up my skirts and obediently followed until a savory aroma of smoked meat wafted over me. It triggered my mouth to water. My lips pressed together, clamping down a moan, but my stomach wasn’t so subtle.
I placed a hand over my abdomen, cringing. Hopefully, it wasn’t that loud. We didn’t get decent meals back at the Queen’s Castle. Blanche mostly fed us gruel in the mornings, broth with bread and cheese for lunch, and, for dinner, leftovers from the main kitchen—which were scarce.
“That’s not a very queenly sound,” Aiden whispered in my ear. I cursed.
“Nor language. You really shouldn’t talk like that.”
“I wouldn’t be this irritable had we just stopped and eaten earlier in the day.”
Though my irritability had nothing to do with hunger and everything to do with the goosebumps spreading from his breath on my neck.
My body reacted to him in a way I couldn’t control—I hadn’t been with anyone in my time at the Castle.
It was hard to grow close to someone if they all treated you like a plague.
Sure, there were those I fended off. But they hadn’t been males I was interested in.
I wasn’t blind to the captain’s attractiveness, but that’s where it stopped.
Those feelings weren’t an option. Especially when it came to someone who willingly served the Fae.
He chuckled. “I told you we had to keep moving. I’ll have more provisions for tomorrow.” He walked past me, lightly brushing against my arm, the steel in his eye gone.
“Wait,” I lowered my voice. “Does he know I’m not an actual queen? Thaddeus? Won’t he be… angry or offended if he finds out I’m just a human slave?” The Queen would’ve been offended to waste any food on an imposter. Not that I cared if it made Aiden look bad. I cared about lying.