CHAPTER 13
The air changed again as soon as we passed under the archway, wrapping around us like a silk veil. I’d never felt anything like it before. Like a soft caress, it tickled every part of my body. Even the dirt walls seemed to hum with life as we made our way down the hallway lit by violet orbs.
“Can you smell that?” I asked Raena in a hushed voice. The scent of spring blossoms was thick in the air around us. I could practically taste the power radiating off this place.
“I don’t smell anything,” she replied, her voice equally quiet, “but this place certainly scares me.”
We carried on until we reached the archway before the spiral staircase. Each step seemed to be moulded from the roots of the willow, but it was too narrow to walk down together so Raena courageously let me lead the way. As we descended, I could hear a faint voice talking beneath us, and then another that replied to the first voice with a deep, rumbling chuckle.
Just as we reached the final steps and the doorway to lead us out of this tower, the faint voices quietened. Then, I heard a sudden hiss of panic and the clattering of swords.
“Who goes there?” a male voice squeaked.
Carefully, we stepped out under the archway, and I raised my empty palms as a sign of innocence. Before us, was another much grander corridor. These dirt walls were lined with dark wooden beams, and violet orbs suspended from golden chains lit the hallway. At the end of the corridor were two men that appeared to be guarding a large round door.
At least I thought they were men.
The longer I looked, the more I realised just how inhuman they were. Their cheekbones were sharp and the tips of their ears extended into long points. Even their eyes seemed strange, as their irises glowed with an unnatural purple hue. And while they didn’t seem much taller than each of us, their limbs were longer and more fluid. It didn’t take me long to realise why they looked so… inhuman. It’s because they weren’t human at all. These were faeries. Angry faeries whose faces began to drain of colour as they pointed their swords towards us.
“Humans!” they growled.
“We come in peace,” I shouted, keeping my arms raised. Raena quickly mirrored my action, stepping towards me and lifting her palms too. “My name is Princess Naria Alderbrook of Corlixir, and my companion is Lady Raena of Ryntook.” I swallowed down the trembling in my voice. “We have come to request an audience with the Faery King and Queen.”
The two guards’ mouths swung open as though they were completely dumbfounded. Then, their heads whipped back and forth as they exchanged looks at each other, and then back to me.
“No one is supposed to come down here,” one of them hissed to the other, “especially not humans!”
“Shh.” The other grabbed the head of his partner, yanking it close to whisper something into his long ear. After a few moments of frantic hissing and whispering, their heads popped back up, and one of them stalked towards us, aiming his sword out in front of him.
“If you are a princess,” he sneered in a grating voice, “then prove it.”
A cold knot formed in my throat. “I… I have no proof.”
“Why are you really here?” he pressed, lowering his sword to the hem of my skirt. “Are you hiding any weapons under this pretty dress? I can’t believe the humans would send two puny girls to try to assassinate our king. How weak do they think we are?” The pair of them snickered as the nearer one used the tip of his sword to lift my skirt.
“Stop that!” Raena cried, and suddenly she dropped her hands to tug something sharp out of her boot. It glinted in the violet light as she held it out towards the guard.
An iron dagger. My heart sank.
“You are assassins!” the guard yelped, staggering backwards. “Get them!” he barked at his companion, who almost dropped his sword in shock.
“Run!” I all but screamed, grabbing Raena’s hand and pulling her into a sprint. We charged towards the round door, the dagger still locked in her grasp. “Please be unlocked. Please be unlocked,” I pleaded as the huge door came closer and closer.
Thankfully, the divine beings must’ve been smiling down on us that night, because as soon as my palms crashed against the door, it swung open to reveal a bustling night market town. Rows of stalls and carts, each one crammed full of exotic treasures, lined a winding cobblestone path. Behind them, tall, oddly-built terraced houses stood watch over the busy street, the flickering lights from the windows casting a warm glow on the people below.
That’s if you could consider them to be people.
Flitting between the stalls, laughing and bartering with the market sellers, were dozens upon dozens of long-limbed faeries. They moved so gracefully, like fish in a stream as the unusual fabrics of their clothing shimmered in the light. Their complexions were strange, too, their skin tones ranging in every colour from natural hues to bright pastels. And while some of them were blue, none of them had the horrid, gnarled look of that ‘faery’ in the portrait.
I could’ve spent hours taking it all in. But unfortunately, with the sounds of clinking armour rapidly approaching behind us, we had no time to marvel.
With a quick breath, I charged into the crowds, Raena following closely behind. Either side of us, faeries leapt out of the way, some yelping upon noticing our human faces and then Raena’s weapon.
“Hide that dagger!” I hissed.
Raena didn’t dare argue. Within seconds, it was concealed behind her cloak.
“Why do you even have that?” I demanded, plunging deeper into the market crowds. Apologies bubbled out of my throat as our bodies bumped into so many innocent faeries.
“Why do you think? We couldn’t just come here without any sort of protection!” Raena shot back, struggling to keep up.
“We would’ve been fine if you hadn’t overreacted!”
“Me? Overreacting? He was about to lift up your skirts! I’m surprised you didn’t smack him yourself.”
Behind us, the guards’ furious shouts sliced through the market noise. “After them!” one barked. “Assassins! Human assassins!”
In the distance, a deafeningly loud horn sounded. It echoed across the streets, the shocking volume causing the faeries around us to clasp their hands over their pointed ears.
“We have to get out of here,” I said, not wanting to wait and find out what the siren meant for us. Chest burning, I raced through the crowds, Raena sprinting alongside me. Together, we moved with such urgency that I didn’t even stop to apologise as we sent a faery man crashing into a barrel of strange fruit. Golden berries tumbled down the cobbled path as we struggled to keep on our feet.
After a few more panicked minutes, we both skidded to a halt. The market stalls had disappeared and before us was a crossroad.
“This way!” I grabbed Raena’s hand and pulled her to the right, not daring to stop and think about it. Tall houses flew past us as we kept panting and running down the long winding road. From the fading sound of their steps against the stone, the two guards behind us appeared to slow. And for a moment, I thought we might actually escape. That was until, up ahead, I heard the sound of at least twenty more footsteps, and then fifty, and then at least a hundred – all charging towards us.
Suddenly, a small army of guards, their swords and spears drawn, marched down the street. When I went to whirl around and pull Raena back the way we came, another few squads came bounding over from the opposite direction.
We were completely surrounded. Every possible path was blocked.
“Oh Oceans…” Raena squealed. “This is it.”
“Stay calm. Seraphina promised they wouldn’t harm us.” Although I struggled to believe her with the faery guards prowling closer and closer, gaining on us until I could see our panicked faces reflecting in their silver armour. My eyes squeezed shut. The heavy footsteps and clanging metal was almost louder than the pounding heartbeat in my ears. Maybe death wouldn’t be so bad… Perhaps my parents would be waiting for me.
And then, there was a short deathly silence until a male voice cut through the heavy air.
“My my… What do we have here?”
Slowly, my eyes fluttered open, and as the darkness faded from my vision, I could see the tall, imposing figure of a dark-haired faery standing just metres away. He wasn’t wearing any armour, only a well-fitted black shirt and matching breeches. Across his chest, the black fabric of his tunic appeared to mimic scales, or perhaps leaves, each one held together by thin silver thread. These clothes were much finer than those worn by the faeries in the markets, and resting upon his head, cushioned by the thick black waves of his hair, was a smooth silver circlet.
His gaze felt hot against my skin as I remained rooted in place. I didn’t know how faery ageing worked, or if they even could age, but judging by his clear pale face, he appeared no older than twenty. His irises were a fiery amber, while his jawline could cut through steel like the edge of a thorn. And yet, despite the inhuman sharpness of his faery-like features, that perfect face could probably break more hearts than there are stars in the sky.
“Your Highness,” one of the guards surrounding us announced with a bow. My heart leapt. So this was the prince? “These girls were apprehended at the gate. One of them has a dagger.” He shuffled in place nervously. “Apparently, they’re assassins sent by the humans.” A murmur of fear rippled through the crowd of guards.
“That is not true!” I blurted out.
The prince smiled, a subtle darkness flickering across his lips. “Two human girls, and one with a dagger, just so happen to wander into Faelenna.” His voice lowered. “My dear, if you are not an assassin, then why are you here?”
“I…” I glanced around as the guards edged closer. “My name is Princess Naria. I am here to request an audience with the Faery King and Queen.” Another murmur rippled through the guards, this time one of disbelief.
“A princess? How intriguing,” he mused, his smile widening. “Tell me, Princess, what news do you bring that is important enough to disturb my parents?”
I tried to steady my beating heart as I answered, “I have come to propose the idea of some kind of alliance. My own mother and father were King and Queen of Corlixir.” The last few words seemed to send the guards into a gasping frenzy.
“Corlixir?” The prince’s eyebrows shot up, and he raised a hand to silence the guards. “Corlixir was destroyed, burnt down to ashes by the Great Blaze all those years ago.” He stalked closer, trailing long sweeping looks down my body as he began to pace around me in a small circle. “But how do we know that you speak the truth?” He leaned in, dropping his voice to a whisper. “How can you prove that you were not just sent here to drag your friend’s dagger through the heart of the King?”
Had Raena not been such a trembling mess beside me, I would’ve been resisting the urge to murder her.
“I assure you, Your Highness,” I began, gulping down the fear that had risen in my chest, “whatever happened with those two guards, was a complete misunderstanding. We come here in peace.”
“You certainly made quite a peaceful entrance,” the prince chuckled darkly as he returned to his original position. “But very well, Princess, I will take you to speak with my parents.”
“Oh, thank you tha—”
“Although—” the prince silenced my gratitude by raising his hand again – “I will need to verify your identity first, to make sure you are really who you claim to be.” For a brief second, something almost threatening flashed across his face, but I brushed any fear aside, along with all the other unwanted feelings this encounter was stirring up inside me.
“Of course,” I accepted.
The prince’s attention then snapped to a young green-skinned faery guard. “You,” he barked.
The guard straightened. “Y-yes, sire?”
“Search her.” The prince aimed a slender finger towards Raena, who quivered where she stood.
“This is quite improper!” I protested. But my complaints were completely ignored as the guard marched over and roughly patted Raena down. It didn’t take him long to extract the dagger from her cloak, slipping it into his belt.
“Want me to do that one too?” the green-skinned guard huffed, nodding in my direction.
The prince shook his head. “Take the one with the dagger to the palace dungeon. Put her in the block with the other important prisoners. You know where.”
The guard nodded and grabbed Raena, twisting her arms behind her back. She shrieked and kicked her legs wildly as he began to wrestle her away.
“Stop! Let her go!” I rushed to stop him, but before I could intervene, the prince was behind me, grabbing and twisting my own wrists just as the other guard had done to Raena.
“Don’t try anything foolish now, Princess.” He pulled me against his hard chest until I could feel the warmth of his body on my back, his breath teasing my ear. “You and your violent friend will be reunited once we’ve had our little chat…”
“Let her go, please,” I begged him.
My captor ignored my pleading, holding both my wrists with one moonlight-pale hand and using the other to run his slender fingers down my cheek. In that moment, I feared that perhaps I had left the cold, steel-eyed Prince of Drothmore for someone far more dangerous. Someone who saw no issue with manhandling a princess and her companion in the middle of the street.
“It is normally frowned upon for a royal to beg, but on you… it is quite becoming, assuming you are even a royal,” he taunted in a low voice, letting his fingers trail down my chin and neck. They paused just before my collarbone, then followed the curve of my left shoulder. “I’ve never seen a human before. Are they all as pretty as you?”
“Please, just let her go.” I tried my hardest to ignore the way my cheeks heated as I felt his lips brush my ear.
“You’ll see her soon enough,” he murmured, “but for now, pretty assassin, you’ll come with me.”
Suddenly, a tingling sensation sprouted in my toes and crept slowly up my wobbling legs. It carried a strange warmth that seemed to lull each of my muscles into a heavy, forced sleep. As the tingling hit my knees, they buckled, but before I could collapse onto the cobbled floor, a pair of strong arms caught me under my shoulders. With each passing second, my body felt weaker, more fluid, as stars fizzled in the corners of my vision. The last thing I remembered before darkness overtook me completely was the faery prince’s taunting smile as I was swept up into his arms.