Especially for my VIP list members, here is the beginning of Book 2 of the Age of Fae series. Please keep in mind this is unedited and may change slightly before publication. Enjoy your sneak peek! Hugs, Amy
CHAPTER ONE
Raewyn
So this was how it would end… my grand adventure in the Fae palace, my whirlwind love affair with Stellon. My life.
Standing at the locked door of my dark cell, I rattled the bars, hoping that this time it might actually do something. I’d paced the small enclosure most of the day—at least as far as my ankle chain allowed me to roam.
Exhausted by the time complete darkness fell, I’d attempted to sleep, but the stench of this place was nauseating, and the fear of what would happen to me next wasn’t exactly rest-inducing.
My life could end at any moment, either by execution—or by ending up in the King’s retinue where I’d only wish I was dead.
As the solid bars in my hands reminded me, escape was impossible. Gaining freedom from the dungeon once had been a miracle. I wasn’t going to get another one. Stellon couldn’t rescue me now. Like me, he was locked away by his father, the King, being punished for the crime of loving a lowly human.
What a mistake it had been to let myself come to depend on him, to believe in his promises of happily ever after. Love had made me blind.
Now both of us would face the consequences of that foolish faith.
He would never take another free step in his eternal lifetime, forcibly married to an Elven woman he didn’t love, spending the rest of his days under his powerful sire’s thumb.
And my days… well they might be numbered in the single digits. The fact I was still breathing meant Pharis hadn’t yet told his father about my involvement in the assassination plot.
But he would. And then I’d be hanged.
Yes, that was the most likely scenario. Perhaps I’d never have to worry about the horrifying prospect of becoming one of the King’s personal attendants—or the torture of being a member of Stellon’s retinue where I’d always be at arm’s reach and yet a world apart from him.
Just close enough to see him living his life bonded to another woman—and be constantly reminded how close we’d come to happiness.
I seethed with renewed anger at the way Pharis had lied to his brother, promising Stellon he’d never betray his trust and then minutes later turning around and alerting their father to our escape.
How else would the King have known?
Perhaps I should have carried out the Earthwife’s plan after all—at least with the royal spare and his evil father, the bad half of the Fae royal family.
The thought of killing someone still turned my stomach, but the King deserved no less for what he was doing to the human women in his retinue, keeping them brainwashed, at his beck and call until he tired of them and put them out to be shunned by their villages and communities.
And Pharis… if I ever saw his beautiful, wicked face again, I would finish the job. Stellon would make a far better ruler than King Pontus for both the Fae and the human inhabitants of Avrandar. Though I never got the chance to meet her, he’d said his sister Mareth literally wouldn’t hurt a fly.
My own little sisters and my poor father would be left at the mercy of Sorcha, who had none. I’d utterly failed to deliver on my end of our bargain, and once I was gone, they’d have no one to protect them or advocate for them. The witch would make it out of here eventually one way or another.
Was she even still here in the dungeon or had she used her wiles—and her mysterious magic—to escape already?
Yanking again at my chain, I let out a roar of frustration. “Quiet, girl.”
The jailer’s voice. In the darkness, I hadn’t seen him coming. He was apparently just outside my cell though, and I heard the jingle of keys.
“What is happening?” I asked, my heart exploding in a mad scatter of beats.
Was this it? Had Pharis told his father? Would I be led to the gallows now? The jailer grunted. “Don’t ask me. All I know is you have some kind of mysterious appeal to princes.”
What?
He stepped close and unlocked my ankle restraint then jerked my arm, dragging me toward the cell door.
“Where are you taking me?” I demanded to no avail. Was it possible he was taking me to Stellon?
A mysterious appeal to princes. What did that mean?
As we drew closer to the dungeon entrance, I saw a tall, broad-shouldered figure standing there, silhouetted in the candlelight. My heart leapt with hope but crashed to the filthy stone floor a moment later when the man’s face came into view.
Pharis gave me a cocky grin accompanied by a facetious bow. “My esteem falls upon you, my lady.”
Drawing up to my full height—which was a foot or more shorter than his—I tilted my chin up in defiance and glared at him.
“Come to do the deed yourself, have you?”
Pharis’ eyes roamed over my body then returned to my face. “What deed is that, exactly?” he drawled in a provocative tone.
“Executing me of course.”
Pharis’ grin widened. He turned to the jailer, depositing a heavy-looking bag in his palm. He must have been the richest man in the kingdom by this point, excluding the royal family, of course.
“Not a word to anyone or you won’t get the chance to spend a coin of it,” Pharis warned him.
“I understand, Your Highness.” The man nodded, a sober expression on his face.
“One more thing,” Pharis said. “I’ll need you to tie her hands.”
My head jerked up toward him. “Why? What is happening? Where are you taking me?”
He ignored my rapid-fire questions, simply watching as the jailer did as he instructed, pulling my arms behind my back and securing my wrists with a cord of some kind.
Draping a cloak over me, Pharis gripped my upper arm. “Come on then,” he said. As if I had a choice in the matter.
It was a struggle to keep up with his long stride. I stumbled along beside him, firing questions at him all the way up the long, winding staircase to the main floor of the Fae palace.
“Does the king know? Have I been sentenced to death? Where is Stellon? Is he okay?”
“Be quiet,” Pharis said as we reached the top of the staircase.
He lowered his voice to a whisper. “If you want to keep your pretty little head on that pretty little neck of yours, you’ll keep your mouth shut until we’re away from the palace.”
We were leaving the palace? That was unexpected.
As I did indeed want to keep my head attached, I asked no more questions, just moved along with Pharis as best I could down a narrow hallway then through a doorway out into the night.
He increased his pace further, speeding us along until we reached the stables. It was the worst kind of deja vu as we ducked into the building. The last time I was here, the king and his guards ambushed me and Stellon.
This time, there was no one around but the horses, who all lifted their heads in curiosity as Pharis opened the large stable doors. He took my arm again, leading me down the row of immaculately kept stalls.
We stopped in front of one that housed the largest horse I’d ever seen. Black as night, it looked like some creature from one of the Fae legends I’d read, beautiful and powerful and almost as dangerous as the man urging me toward it.
Opening the stall, Pharis led the horse out and, without warning, lifted me and tossed me onto its saddled back. In one swift move, he mounted the horse behind me then took the reins and commanded it to trot toward the stable exit.
I held my breath as we rode out into the night, half expecting to find armed troops surrounding the building. Nothing waited for us but a clear night sky full of stars and the road leading away from Seaspire.
It felt like an eternity had passed since I’d arrived at this place on the night of the ball. In actuality, it had been only two weeks ago. The most terrifying—and amazing—two weeks of my entire life. So much beauty and wonder. So much pain. So much love.
Pharis urged the horse into a gallop, and as we rode away, I turned back to look at the palace. Under the stars and moonlight, it almost seemed to possess a light of its own, the high walls and towers taking on a ghostly glow.
And somewhere inside it was Stellon, whose kind face I’d never see again. Who had fallen in love with me and done his best to protect me, in spite of the world of differences that separated us.
Was he watching from one of those windows right now as his brother spirited me away to gods knew where? Was the King watching, nodding his approval?
No one had attempted to stop Pharis at the gates, just waving him through without a question. Perhaps he was carrying out his father’s orders to get rid of me, to take me somewhere far away from the castle and slay me where Stellon wouldn’t know about it.
When I’d last seen Pharis, he’d been telling his brother how stupid he was for trusting me, calling him a fool for loving me and believing my side of the story.
Though I was grateful to be out of that dungeon, I was not out of danger. This man despised humans and had a particular hatred for me.
“Where are we going?” I demanded.
“I thought I told you not to speak.”
“You said until we were away from the palace,” I said. “We’re away from the palace now.”
“I’d still prefer it if you didn’t speak,” Pharis said.
“I don’t really care what you prefer,” I snarled. “I want to know where you’re taking me.”
He chuckled, the sound close behind my ear as he leaned forward and whispered, “I don’t think you’re in any position to be making demands, little Wyn.”
I arched my back and leaned forward, trying to put some distance between our bodies. I was already highly uncomfortable riding a horse for the very first time, with my hands tied behind my back, no less.
Pharis’ strong legs bracketed the outsides of mine, and when he leaned forward like that, my bound hands came into contact with some part of his body—I dared not imagine which.
One of his arms clamped around my waist and pulled me upright. “Don’t do that,” he ordered. “You’ll lose your balance and fall off. Do you have any idea how to ride?”
“No, I don’t, but I suspect it would be a whole lot easier if I had the use of my hands,” I snapped back.
“Yes, well I suspect what you’d use them for is to claw my eyeballs out,” he said. “I’ve never seen such a feral human in my life.”
“We tend to get that way when you lock us in dungeons and then kidnap us in the dark of night, tied up like a trussed hen.”
He snorted a laugh. “Is that what you think I’m doing? Kidnapping you?”
“I think you can’t stand the thought of me being anywhere near your brother," I said. "And you’ve decided to take matters into your own hands and remove the ‘human infection’ from the palace. Or your father asked you to serve as executioner. Either way, I fully expect to wind up in an unmarked grave somewhere before the sun rises.”
“Stellon never mentioned your dark side,” Pharis quipped then chuckled again. “You’ve quite an imagination.”
“What else could be going on?” I said. “You’ve hated me from the moment you laid eyes on me.”
“The moment I laid eyes on you was at the ballroom entry,” he reminded me. “If you’ll recall, I was quite polite.”
“I was talking about when you found me in Stellon’s bed,” I clarified. “In my real form… as a human.”
Pharis gave no reply apart from a grunt. He stopped the horse. I looked around to see we were in the middle of the crossroads where the Fae lands split off from the human ones.
I had been here not all that long ago, walking Stellon home from the market after he’d taken a beating because of me. It was called The Wheel, named after its many spokes leading off in different directions toward various villages.
“Well?” Pharis said.
“Well what?”
“It would help tremendously if you told me the name of your village and what territory it’s in.”
“Why?” I asked in alarm.
“So I can go there and single-handedly massacre the entire town,” he answered in a withering tone. I could practically hear his eyes rolling upward.
“So I can take you there, of course. That is why I removed you from the dungeon—at great personal risk and expense, by the way.”
After a pause, he added, “You’re welcome.”
I couldn’t respond. I had no breath.
Twisting in the saddle, I tried to get a look back at him, to read the expression in those enigmatic turquoise eyes.
They told me nothing other than that he was waiting for an answer.
“Are you being serious? You’re really taking me home?” I asked.
“Against my better judgement, yes. I think you should go as far from Seaspire as you can get, but I’m told you’re quite eager to get back to… wherever it is you’re from.”
For a long moment I just sat there, breathing fast, my eyes scanning his face. I did want to go home—more than anything.
I wanted to go there and reunite with my family then gather some supplies and get them out of town before Sorcha managed to find her way out of the dungeon. Perhaps she already had.
“In answer to your obvious question, I’m delivering you to your village because my brother asked me to,” Pharis said. “And because I happen to agree it would be better if you are not in the palace. We’re all safer without you around.”
“Waterdale,” I wheezed. “It’s called Waterdale. It’s in the Three Peaks Valley.”
Pharis looked surprised. “That’s only a couple hours’ ride from here. You said at the ball you were tired from the long journey.”
“Yes, well… I lied.”
“Why am I not surprised?” he asked with a cluck of his tongue. “An assassin and a liar.”
“About that…”
The quick jerk of the horse to one side interrupted me. I looked up and spotted what the animal was reacting to—a lone rider coming our way.
Pharis pulled the cloak over my head so I could barely see. His hands moving rapidly, he released the bonds that held my wrists.
“Keep your mouth shut and your face turned away,” he said under his breath. “Lean against me like you’re drunk or sleeping.”
I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I could read the seriousness in his voice. Twisting in the saddle, I relaxed my body, allowing it to slump against him so that my face was on his chest, turned away from the road and the approaching rider.
CHAPTER TWO
Raewyn “Ho there, another night owl,” the strange man called out in a jovial tone. When the sound of his horse’s footfalls came closer, a new note of recognition entered his voice.
“Prince Pharis,” he said. “You’re out and about late—or should I say early? Dawn is near, as my wife will soon realize, unfortunately.”
Tension filled Pharis’ body, his chest going rigid beneath my cheek. His deep voice vibrated against it as he responded to the man.
“I don’t sleep much. Far too many things to… do,” he said then added a suggestive laugh.
The man laughed as well. “I see. I was just returning from the pleasure house in Grayport myself. Don’t tell my bond-mate, Your Highness, but the King isn’t the only highborn with an itch for human companionship now and again.”
Pharis’ body tensed further, but he laughed loudly. “I won’t tell, if you don’t. I have no taste for human women myself, but I don’t mind a little stroll on the lower Fae side occasionally. Some of the commoners wash up quite nicely.”
His body shifted in what I could only assume was a gesture toward me. The other man’s lewd laugh confirmed it.
“I’ll let you get back to it then,” he said, urging his horse forward. “A pleasure not-seeing you, Your Highness.”
“Same to you,” Pharis said and pressed his legs against his horse’s sides. As soon as we rounded the next bend, Pharis directed the horse off the road, into the dark woods.
I lifted my head and looked around. Here in the forest, the waning moonlight was mostly obscured. I wasn’t sure how Pharis could even see where he was going.
“Are we hiding?” I asked, keeping my voice low. “Who was that? Someone dangerous?”
“Just some randy lord. I forget his name. And yes, as far as you’re concerned, he’s dangerous. They all are.”
“That’s why we’re getting off the road,” he added.
“Are you afraid he’ll come back and follow us or something?”
“I’m not worried about him. He’s attempting to beat the sunrise and get home before his wife wakes,” Pharis said. “But he might mention seeing me to someone, and word could travel to the wrong ears. As day breaks, there will be more and more riders on the road. We’ll be taking a different route.”
I looked around again at the dense trees and thick underbrush. The large horse would have to move painstakingly slowly to pick his way through this. I didn’t know any way other than the road to get to my village, but this couldn’t possibly be the best route.
“The road would be much faster,” I said.
“No doubt,” Pharis agreed. “And we could take it… if you’re in a hurry to end up back at the palace in Stellon’s retinue—or my father’s. Is that what you want?”
I shuddered at the thought of having to serve the cruel king in such a manner. “Of course not.”
Pharis continued. “The King is a late sleeper and not likely to learn you’re missing for a few hours yet. But when he does, he’ll send out patrols in every direction. Apparently he considers you quite the prize.”
“Because he wants to publicly accuse me of attempted murder and execute me in front of the entire Fae Court?”
“No.” There was a pause. “Because you’re important to my brother. I wasn’t there obviously, but Stellon told me our father intended to use you as a bargaining chip… to ensure he’d remain the obedient son he’s always been. You’re the closest I’ve ever seen Stellon come to rebellion.”
And he was the closest I’d ever come to being loved. A feeling of emptiness came over me that had nothing to do with the inedible quality of my last meal.
Poor Stellon. He’d been so full of joy and hope and misplaced optimism. And misplaced trust. I twisted to try and see Pharis’ face, but it was shrouded in shadows from the trees.
“Is that why you broke your promise and told the King about us? So he could save him from the ‘terrible human?’”
“I kept my promise to Stellon,” Pharis said, sounding offended, “and I’ll continue keeping my promises. I told no one about the two of you. I swear it. I swore it to him, too, and he knows it’s true. I was with him before I went down to the dungeon.”
“Is he okay?” I asked eagerly. “I’m worried about him. Your father was furious when he found us together in the stables.”
“Stellon will be fine. The King wouldn’t hurt a hair on that pretty golden head,” Pharis drawled.
I didn’t know my riding companion well—at all, really, but he sounded resentful.
Turning back around, I faced forward as we moved at a snail’s pace through the forest. The sky above the trees began to lighten noticeably. Dawn was breaking.
Pharis spoke again. “In case it isn’t clear, by the way… whatever was between you—is over. My brother intends to never see you again. He told me that himself.”
I rubbed my chest to soothe the heavy ache inside. My response to Pharis came out in a hollow whisper. “I know.”
We were quiet for a long while after that. I almost dozed off. I hadn’t been able to sleep at all in the cold, reeking dungeon last night. The horse’s slow pace and gentle rocking motion was nearly hypnotic.
The rumble of Pharis’ deep voice against my back caused my eyelids to fly open.
“About what?” he asked.
“What?” Had I actually dozed off and missed the beginning of his question?
“Before we ran into the errant husband back on the road, you started to say something. You said, ‘About that…’”
I shook my head trying to clear it, trying to remember. I gripped the pommel in front of me and sat up straighter, realizing I’d sagged back against Pharis in my drowsy state.
He huffed an aggravated sigh, rustling the top of my hair with his exhale. “I called you an assassin and a liar, and you said, ‘About that…’ What were you going to say?”
Oh. I was stunned he actually wanted to hear my side of the story. “I was going to say that Stellon never had anything to fear from me, and neither did the rest of your family. I’m not an assassin. Not really.”
“You had poison,” Pharis argued reasonably.
“I did. But I would never have used it,” I told him. “And I knew nothing about it when I got to the ball and met you and Stellon. Sorcha brought the poison to the palace.”
Knowing he wasn’t likely to believe me, I explained anyway. “After she gave it to me and told me what she’d sent me to the ball to do, I started trying to find a way to get out of there and go home— so I could get my family to safety. She threatened them with retribution if I didn’t follow her orders.”
I wished I could see his face. What I pictured was a set of eyes so hardened they looked like tourmaline gemstones.
He said nothing, so I went on. “This whole thing has been about them. I was desperate. They were literally days away from starvation when I made the bargain with the Earthwife. We all were. I didn’t know what it would entail. If I had, I never would have agreed to it.”
A long moment passed before Pharis responded. “If you’re expecting me to react like my brother and go all gooey, pouring sweet forgiveness all over you, you’re in for some disappointment.”
“I didn’t expect you to believe me,” I said. “But whether you do or not, the truth is the truth—I had no intention of hurting any of you. I could never kill anyone.”
“I could,” he said flatly. “If they were truly threatening my family, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
A knot formed in my belly. It was hard to take a full breath. I couldn’t let myself forget for a moment that this man was not a friend. He was not his kind brother. We were literally in the middle of nowhere, and he was vastly larger and more powerful than me.
He was helping me out of obligation to his brother—nothing more—and I had no idea how far that motivation went or how long it might last.
“Why did you agree to help me?” I asked. “You hate me.”
His breath huffed against my hair again as he let out a small laugh. “I don’t hate you. I just didn’t think my brother should marry you. You’re not… well-suited for him.”
“Because I’m ‘just’ a human?”
After a protracted pause, he said, “Well, you are human, aren’t you? And he’s Elven royalty. Do you think you’re a suitable mate for an Elven prince?”
I answered immediately. “No. I tried to tell Stellon that—many times.”
Pharis made a satisfied sound, a little hum in his throat. “My brother was spellbound.”
Now I did turn and look at him. “There was a love spell?”
I knew it. Why else would someone like Stellon fall for someone like me?
“What did Sorcha tell you?” I asked. “Not much. The woman speaks in riddles,” Pharis said. “But I got enough out of the old witch.”
He made a growly sound that sent shivers down my spine. “I should have killed her on the spot when she confessed what she’d done. I was in too big a hurry to get back to Stellon’s suite and stop him from—”
He stopped speaking abruptly. “
From bonding himself to me,” I finished for him. “Stellon told me how it works for Elven people, how you can only have one bond-mate for a lifetime.”
“Yes,” was all Pharis said.
“So Sorcha’s still in the dungeon then?”
While I also would have preferred her dead, I was relieved she was at least still locked away. For now.
“She’s still in there. I confirmed it with the jailer before I sent him to free you.”
“She won’t give up, you know,” I warned. “She was adamant that your whole family needed to be eliminated. And she’s crafty.”
There was a smile in his voice. “I’m not afraid of an elderly human woman, no matter how many parlor tricks she may know. Besides, it’ll be hard for her to plot regicide once her head is disconnected from her neck.”
“She’ll be executed?”
“As soon as I return to the palace, I’ll tell my father she is the assassin they’re looking for, and she’ll pay for her crimes,” Pharis said. “It’s true enough that I’ll pass any lie-detecting glamour he might wish to use.”
Lie detecting glamour? “Your father wouldn’t take your word for it?”
Pharis snorted a bitter laugh. “He wouldn’t even see me last night when I told his guards it was of the utmost importance. He was too caught up in his fury over his number-one son deceiving him and falling in love with a human.”
It seemed the king didn’t treat Pharis with any more respect than he treated Stellon. I couldn’t imagine having grown up with a parent like that. As far as my own father, I’d be seeing him soon, along with my little sisters. It seemed like a dream come true after all this time apart.
I shifted in the saddle, feeling like I might burst out of my own skin as I looked around and then up at the treetops. “Can’t we go any faster?”
The day was growing brighter, and I could see much better now. Surely the horse could too?
“Of course, my lady,” Pharis said in a facetious tone, “if you wish to run headlong into a tree—or for Dargan to break an ankle stepping in a hole or on a rock. Don’t worry, you’ll be rid of my company soon enough.”
The morning wore on with the horse moving step by plodding step, and I grew more and more restless and uncomfortable. I squirmed, trying to find a better position.
“Stop that,” Pharis barked so loudly it made me jump.
“Why? Is it really that sensitive?” I asked over my shoulder.
His response sounded choked. “What?”
“I mean, it’s huge,” I said.
Pharis let out a cough and shifted positions behind me.
“This is by far the largest horse I’ve ever seen,” I continued. “He must be the largest in all the lands. And this can’t be the first time you’ve ridden him with a lady in this position.”
Behind me, I felt Pharis’ body relax, and he let out a chuckle. “What makes you say that?” he asked.
“Your reputation of course. Even we humans know about your escapades. I’m sure you’ve had plenty of ladies in the saddle.”
Now his laugh rang out through the forest. “Ah, the old ‘Prince of Tears’ thing. Not my favorite nickname.”
He laughed again, this time a bit more privately. “Be careful, or you’ll fall in love with me, too.”
Bristling at his ridiculous and highly unnecessary warning, I said, “I assure you, Your Highness… that will never happen.”
CHAPTER THREE
Pharis
This was hell.
All my sins had caught up with me, and I was being punished.
I wasn’t lying to Raewyn—we really did need to get off the road. My father’s troops would be on the hunt for her any time now. Perhaps they already were.
But I wasn’t any more eager to stretch out this journey than she was. Riding with her plump little bottom in the saddle just in front of me was torture of the cruelest kind.
My body had no idea that this woman—out of an entire continent, an entire world of women—was the one my brother had fallen in love with.
At least the slow travel gave me time to try to figure out how Stellon could have fallen so hard and so fast if the witch had been telling the truth about there being no love spell. And to understand how the matchmaker’s glamour could have said Raewyn was my perfect match.
None of it made sense, and I intended to get to the bottom of it.
“I’m sorry you’re stuck with me,” she said, shaking me from my troubled thoughts. I couldn’t help but smile.
“Apology accepted.”
“Though, really you should be mad at Stellon, not me.”
“Oh believe me, I am,” I assured her, though of course, I’d volunteered for this journey. Stellon had seemed truly shocked when I’d made the offer. Honestly, I’d shocked myself.
And now, here we were, meandering through a beautiful forest, inches apart on my horse, her fragrant hair brushing my nose.
Other parts of her brushing other parts of me, depending on her position. Yep—hell.
“I’m serious,” Raewyn said. “I can tell you’re annoyed at having to take care of me, but you’re doing it anyway. And I want you to know I admire what you’re doingfor your brother’s sake. I respect that.”
“Imagine my delight at hearing that,” I said, “as I live for your respect.”
She gave a little shrug. “Be sarcastic all you like. You’re not as bad as everyone says.”
“You don’t know me very well,” I told her. I was every bit as bad as people said, but not in the way she meant.
“And that’s the way you like it, isn’t it?” she said. “Keeping everyone at a distance. Why are you like that?”
This was not something I was going to get into with a human commoner I barely knew. Especially not one my brother and lifelong best friend had laid claim to. There would be no soul-baring conversation on this ride.
“Rotten to the core, I suppose. You know how those ‘wicked Randalins’ are.”
“Stellon isn’t wicked,” she argued. “And he doesn’t think you are either. He insists there’s a good heart beneath your glib facade and overactive libido.”
At this, a laugh escaped me. “My libido is the best part of me, my lady.”
“And yet, you haven’t found a permanent bond-mate to spend your life with.”
Her tone was so prim, reminding me of the strict governess our mother employed to educate my siblings and me. It had been one of the joys of my childhood to find new ways to rattle the woman’s composure.
I found myself wanting to rattle Raewyn as well, to say something shocking, muss her hair and loosen the buttons of her high collared dress--
Stop. Not helping the shared saddle situation. Unaware of the detour my unruly thoughts had taken, Raewyn went on with her lecture.
“No one should walk through the world alone, not even you,” she said. “If you’d be real and open up to it, you might even find someone who actually loves you.”
Making my tone as forbidding as possible, I said, “I feel sorry for any woman who thinks she’s in love with me. She wouldn’t fare any better than the wife of that man we encountered on his way back from the pleasure house.”
“You’re saying you couldn’t be faithful?” Raewyn asked. “That you’d fill your own retinue with brainwashed human attendants—or that you’ll continue to dally with ‘commoners’ who ‘wash up well’ even after you’re married?”
“I’m saying this conversation is over. You’re boring me. Go back to sleep. Even your hard little head knocking against my sternum is preferable to listening to you prattle on.”
Raewyn made a little noise that sounded like Hmmph and was about to give me some sort of no-doubt sassy retort, when I slapped my hand over her mouth to silence her.
Be quiet, I warned without speaking aloud. We’re not alone.
Realizing belatedly she wasn’t Elven and couldn’t hear the mind-to-mind message, I whispered close to her ear, “Someone is coming this way.”
I hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, but my ears had picked up traces of faint conversation.
Dryad conversation.
The aforementioned governess had taught me all the Fae dialects, and this one was unmistakable. Gutteral and quick, it would sound like no more than birdsong and animal chatter to untrained ears. Unfortunately it wasn’t just one or two voices, but several.
Shaded stars. I’d hoped we’d be able to pass through their territory without running into any Dryads. It was daytime after all, and they were mostly a nocturnal species. No such luck.
Based on the increased volume of their conversation, they were almost on top of us, and the dense trees would foil any effort to make a quick escape. It was also impossible to hide an enormous horse—and a human, no matter how small she was. Raewyn had no speed or agility or cloaking glamour, and my own newly acquired shadow glamour was useless in the daytime.
If the Dryads spotted a mysterious dark cloud among the trees, they’d simply shoot it full of poison-tipped arrows, and we’d be dead in minutes. I was going to have to talk my way out of this.
A moment later, they appeared, emerging from the underbrush. There were four of them. Males—hunters based on the weapons they carried.
With their rough, bark-like skin and green hair and eyes, Dryads were perfectly suited to forest life, their natural appearance giving them camouflage among the trees they resembled.
They stopped abruptly, eyes going wide at the unexpected sight of an Elf, a horse, and a human woman trespassing on their lands. Four bows emerged, and four voices started peppering me with loud questions.
“What are you doing here, Elven scum?”
“You know better than to tread on our lands,” another one said.
The tallest one, a particularly ugly fellow who reminded me of a walking stick insect, smiled. “A brave one, aren’t you? You’re not in Merisola now, lad.”
“Pretty far from the king’s road,” the fourth one said in a taunting tone. “No one’s going to hear you scream this deep in the woods.”
Either they knew I was King Pontus’ son, or their hatred of him had expanded to cover our entire race. My father had made many enemies among the other Fae species. Like everyone else, they were afraid to defy him or threaten Elves—in public.
We were not in public. Far from it.
I dismounted, keeping my sword sheathed, though my palms rested on the hilts of my daggers. Silently, I willed Raewyn to stay quiet and not attract any more attention to herself than necessary.
“Hello, friends,” I said in their language. Several of them blinked, and one of them, the one who’d called me “Elven scum,” took a step closer to me.
“Friends?” he said. “Speaking our tongue doesn’t make you a friend, Elf boy.”
The fact he’d referred to me as a “boy” led me to believe he was much older, which was bad. All varieties of Fae became more powerful as they aged. It was possible these four had a total of hundreds, if not thousands, of years between them. Very bad indeed.
“We mean no harm,” I said. “We’re just trying to stay off the road and get through the woods to the villages on the other side.”
Their attention moved to Raewyn astride Dargan’s back.
“What’s an Elf doing traveling to a human village?” the tall one asked. “It isn’t tax time again, is it?”
“No, I’m just returning this woman to her home. She got… lost in our lands.”
“A lost human,” he repeated with a chuckle that said such a thing was a tasty prospect. “Why not take the King’s road?” he asked.
I hesitated, trying to come up with an answer that didn’t further pique his curiosity about Raewyn. Already his beady green eyes were darting back to her face repeatedly.
Unfortunately, the apparent leader of the pack started putting the pieces together before I could come up with anything.
“This human has some value,” he said, directing the proclamation to his companions. They nodded and began shifting their vine-covered feet, clearly getting excited.
“The question is, to whom?” the leader asked. “The humans? The Elves? Or to this one in particular?”
As he aimed his own arrow at me, his lips split in a toothy brown smile that lifted the short hairs on the back of my neck. This guy was having fun, relishing a rare moment of power in the presence of an Elven man.
One of the Dryads in the back piped up, declaring, “He looks rich.”
“Yeah, and she looks pretty… for a human,” one of the others said. Now they were all four staring at Raewyn, carnal interest apparent in their vivid green eyes.
My nostrils flared, and sweat broke out across my brow. Adrenaline rushed through my veins, engorging my muscles in readiness for combat, but I held my position. As much as I wanted to bury my blade in some Dryad flesh, it would be hard to take on all four of them in these tight quarters, where the swing of my sword could wedge it into a tree trunk instead of a Dryad skull where it belonged.
And the arrows that were sure to fly as soon as I drew my weapon could easily strike Raewyn and Dargan, poisoning them. There was still a small possibility of diplomacy.
“I am quite wealthy,” I said. “I have some coin on me, in fact, which I’ll gladly share in exchange for safe passage.”
“We know you will.” The Dryad leader snickered in a way that told me the group had already decided to rob us. I only hoped that was the extent of their intentions.
“I wonder,” the tall Dryad said as his eyes fondled Raewyn, “what else you might be willing to share.”
Still speaking in the whistles and clicks that comprised their language, I said, “Not the girl. She’s mine.”
The Dryads laughed. “Elf-boy has a human pet,” the leader said. Licking his rough lips, he said to his crew, “Let’s find out what makes her so valuable.”
As his men trained their aim on me, he stepped forward and grabbed Raewyn’s ankle, attempting to pull her from Dargan’s back. Incandescent rage bloomed in my chest at the sound of her frightened squeal. Before I quite realized what was happening, my sword was out of its sheath and arcing through the air toward his extended arm.
The severed limb released its grip on Raewyn and dropped to the leafy forest floor while its former owner let out a howl. So much for diplomacy.
An arrow whipped by my head, missing my ear by fractions of a measure. Another bounced harmlessly off my armored jacket. Grabbing Dargan’s reins, I turned him to face toward the unseen open lands that bordered this tract of forest and slapped him on one sleek hindquarter.
“Run for the light, boy,” I commanded.
Apart from Stellon and Mareth, I loved that horse more than any living being on this earth. I desperately did not want anything to happen to him. A moving target would be harder to hit at least, and it wasn’t like staying here would be any safer for him—or Raewyn.
“Lean forward! Lie flat against his neck,” I yelled to her as the huge Friesian Stallion began to pick up speed, dodging and weaving through the trees.
She did as I instructed, just before an arrow flew her way. It whizzed through the air over her back.
Whirling back around, I drew both daggers from my waistband simultaneously and hurled them at the shooter who’d almost hit her and the Dryad next to him who was aiming at me. Both of them dropped.
The group leader was on the ground now as well, mourning his lost arm and busy bleeding out. That just left one, the tall, mouthy one who’d inquired about my willingness to “share” Raewyn.
Now I drew my sword. The tall Dryad eyed it and his fallen comrades nervously.
“Let’s talk about this, friend,” he entreated.
“I think you’ve talked enough… friend.” A dark cloud formed in front of the man, blocking his vision of me. He began to scream. He knew I was coming, just not from where.
Blade tip pointed toward him, I charged into the darkness. * * * Retrieving my daggers from the other fallen Dryads, I wiped them clean on a patch of moss then began walking in the direction I’d sent Dargan and Raewyn.
Unless our luck was unusually horrific, they’d made it out of the woods to open space without encountering any more Dryads. I was almost certain neither of them had been struck, but Raewyn had to be scared out of her wits, and they weren’t much safer in open space than here in the woods.
I picked up my pace, crashing through the underbrush toward the edge of the forest, sword still out and at the ready. The trees thinned, letting in more and more light, until I emerged from them entirely to find faithful Dargan grazing not far from the forest’s border.
Raewyn stood next to him, stroking his neck as he bent and grabbed another mouthful of grass then lifted his head and chewed.
Interesting.
My horse had a reputation for being something of a hellion. The stable hands had joked we were a matched pair, complaining of his hostility toward pretty much everyone but me. I’d never seen him willingly allow anyone else to touch him.
Not that I blamed him in this case. Standing in the field in the morning light with her long hair curling around her shoulders and down her back, Raewyn was a vision.
A vision you shouldn’t be appreciating, I reminded myself.
Inhaling a deep breath, I regained my grip on my thoughts and strode toward them. “Get your hood back up,” I barked at her. “The last thing I need is to be spotted with a fugitive.”
Raewyn jumped and turned toward me. Her frightened expression melted into something softer. She drew her hood over her head and clutched it as she ran toward me, the long grass impeding her progress in her ankle-length skirts.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “Who were those people? What did they want? Did they hurt you?”
A little off-put by the concern in her voice, I looked down and began wiping the blood from my sword on the tall grasses.
“Dryads,” I said. “Not a friendly bunch.”
When she reached me, her eyes fell to my blade. “Why is it green?”
“Dryad blood. They’re not like us.” Her face creased in obvious horror. “And so you slaughtered them?”
It took me a stunned second to realize what was going on. Unable to understand their language, Raewyn hadn’t been aware of the level of threat we’d faced back there—though the leader grabbing her and trying to yank her off the horse should have been a clue to their less-than-friendly intentions.
And I didn’t appreciate the judgmental tone.
“So you love being assaulted by wooden men, do you?” I said. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time. For now, we need to find a place to wait out the daylight. We can’t go back into the forest, and we can’t stay in the open like this.”
She looked around us, taking in the open fields and rolling hills, punctuated by the occasional rock formation. I hoped one of them would contain a large crevice or a cave tall enough for Dargan to enter. Raewyn’s gaze came back to me, looking confused.
“Wait out the… you can’t mean we’re going to spend all day hiding instead of traveling to my village?”
“That’s exactly what I mean. Traveling by night will be far safer. Come on, I’ll put you back on the horse.”
I picked her up and headed for Dargan, intending to speed our pace by lifting her over the grass that reached her ribcage.
Immediately she began kicking me and bucked against my grip. “Let me go! I can walk.”
Having little choice, I set her down. This woman was less tame than some of the wild creatures Mareth brought into the palace.
“It wasn’t intended as an insult, Little Wyn.” I chuckled. “It’s just that you are… little. I was trying to help.”
“I don’t need your help. And I’m not little. I’ll have you know I’m the tallest woman in my village.”
A laugh escaped me. “Quite an accomplishment… in a village of tiny humans.”
She ignored me and turned her back, struggling through the grass on her own once more toward Dargan. As she stomped and awkwardly lunged forward, she yelled at me over her shoulder.
“I don’t want to wait for nightfall. I want to keep going. I need to get home.”
“Yes well, we all want things, my lady,” I said in a droll tone. “For instance, I want to keep my promise to my brother and not be charged with treason in the process. Keep your voice down.”
We reached Dargan, and I lifted her up then swung myself up behind her. “And if you want to make it to your home, then you need to listen to me. We don’t want to be spotted. By this time, my father’s troops will be combing the lands.”
I looked around, seeing no one, but that could change at any moment. All it would take was one scout and we’d have an entire regiment bearing down on us.
“My shadows will do us no good in the daytime,” I explained. “A dark cloud trotting across a field in broad daylight isn’t exactly great camouflage. But the shadows will cloak us very well at night. We’ll travel then and at least have a chance of making it to your village.”
I urged Dargan forward, keeping us close to the tree line as I scanned the fields, looking for a likely spot to hide.
“You said your ‘shadows.’ So that’s your glamour then?” Raewyn asked a few minutes into the ride. “You can cast shadows and cloak yourself in darkness?”
I gave her a noncommittal hum. The shadow power was a recently acquired thing, bequeathed to me when its original owner died.
That had been the second most shocking thing about it—the first was that I’d been able to borrow his glamour in the first place without his permission. It had happened during an altercation with the guards posted outside of Stellon’s chambers. I hadn’t even intended to siphon the guard’s glamour.
We were in the heat of battle, my own glamour kicked in, and the next thing I knew, I was controlling his shadows. Then the guard had taken his own life, leaving me in possession of his shadow-wielding abilities.
I thought at first it might have somehow replaced the Gleaning glamour I was born with, but I’d used my inborn gift several times since then. It appeared I now held them both equally.
“You know about glamours, do you?” I asked Raewyn.
Clearly she knew next to nothing about me. I guess I couldn’t blame Stellon for not spending his private time with her these past two weeks discussing me.
Raewyn sounded contemplative when she spoke again. “I’m not sure why you’re so ashamed of it.”
“What?”
“I asked Stellon about your family’s glamours,” she said. “He wouldn’t tell me about yours. He said you were private about it because you found it shameful—the way he finds his shameful.”
“I think his is magnificent,” she added.
I was shocked to know that while Stellon hadn’t shared my glamour with her, he had shared something so deeply personal about himself. I’d never told anyone apart from him and Mareth how I felt about the Gleaning glamour I’d been born with. As far as I knew, Stellon had never discussed his own embarrassing Exalting glamour with anyone but us. Until now.
“Yes, well you really know nothing about it, do you,” I said, sounding more irritated than I’d intended.
And then I added a barb meant to irritate her. “... being a mere human and all.”
Raewyn’s spine straightened in offense, and her gasp was so loud I could hear it over the noise of Dargan’s trotting. I couldn’t help it, I laughed out loud.
“You’re awfully cheerful for someone who just took four lives,” she snapped. “I shouldn’t be surprised you are unaffected by the brutality of what occurred back there. Did you really have to kill them all?”
“Yes,” was all I said.
How could I explain to her the madness that had overtaken me as that lecherous Dryad had touched her—when I couldn’t explain it to myself?
In truth, I’d had no choice but to slay them all. If one had escaped and alerted other Dryads, we’d have soon found ourselves surrounded by an army of vengeful tree people.
But that wasn’t the whole reason. I’d wanted to do it.
The minute they’d started looking at her with lust and violence in their eyes, my blood had begun to simmer.
Their obscene comments about her had turned up the heat further.
The frightened sound she’d made as the leader grabbed her had tipped it over into a full boil.
At that point, I could barely think anymore. I’d had just enough presence of mind to send her and Dargan out of there toward safety, and then I’d let the frenzy overtake me.
As someone who was renowned for his self-control, the experience had left me shaken. I’d faced plenty of hand-to-hand combat in my lifetime--that, I was prepared for.
What I hadn’t been prepared for was the overwhelming primal urge to protect someone who wasn’t my family. It was more than just keeping a promise to my brother.
How much more wasn’t something I wanted to consider too deeply.
What do you think? Excited to read more? The full book releases May 23, 2025!
