Pearly morning light tinged with amber streamed into my room. I rubbed my eyes, still feeling like the events of last night had been a dream. Who the fuck had been in here with a dagger? I shuddered at the thought and pulled open a drawer in the dresser.
For women in Faerie, there were basically two options—beautiful gowns or leather leggings with blousy shirts and leather vests. I went with brown leather pants and a silky white shirt with billowing sleeves. When I’d dressed, I pulled my hair into a ponytail.
As I entered Shalini’s room, she was already dressed, drinking coffee in her bed. She sat with her phone in her lap. Steam curled from her cup, and her blankets formed a twisted nest around her brown leggings.
She stared at me over her coffee. “A vow of chastity? Who does that? It’s supposed to keep him focused on protecting the king. Honestly, it’s the worst thing I’ve learned about fae culture so far.”
I moved to the little table by her bed and poured myself a cup of coffee with cream. “There are plenty of other fae, you know.”
“I know. But I liked him. I talked to him through the door last night. He has a cat named Caitsith, and he bakes bread. And he’s read so much poetry, Ava. He reads poetry books under this sycamore tree by the river. He said he’ll show me the place.”
“And the vow?” I perched on the end of her bed, sipping my coffee.
She was sitting cross-legged, her long dark hair falling over a silky blue shirt. “Vows can be broken, and you know I like a challenge. He’s like…a hot priest.” She smiled at me, looking so stunning that I had no doubt she would succeed—until her smile fell, and she lifted up her phone. “I wasn’t sure if I should tell you this, but Andrew is sending me text messages in all caps.”
I stared at her. “Why?”
“Since your fans on Reddit doxed him, he’s been getting harassed in the street, and I think maybe some death threats?”
I gasped. “Fuck. I mean…I’m mad at him, but I didn’t want him to get death threats. I didn’t know they’d figure out who he was.”
“It’s not your fault, Ava. He’s a douchebag, and he’s reaping his douchebag consequences.”
A knock sounded on the door, and I opened it. The king stood in the doorway, fully dressed this time in a gray shirt, black pants, and high boots. A crown gleamed on his head, made of silver strands twined and spiked like thorny tree branches. Aeron stood by his side, looking exhausted. “Good morning, Ava,” said Torin. “I tried to dismiss Aeron to get some sleep, but he seems very committed.”
Aeron’s eyes were locked on Shalini. “I don’t care if you want me here or not. I will be keeping you safe today.”
Shalini shrugged. “Fine. How about a tour of a castle, then?” She rose from the bed with catlike grace, flashing Aeron the same dazzling smile she’d given me earlier.
Aeron shook his head. “I’m not sure if it’s safe to move around like that.”
“We came here for adventure,” said Shalini.
“I’ll join you,” said Torin. “No one would dare attack in my presence.”
I snatched up my white cloak and pulled it on over my shoulders.
Aeron opened the door. “What would you like to see?”
I stepped into the drafty hall. “Can we see the magic thrones up close?”
“Whatever you like, changeling.” Torin started to lead us down the hall, past towering lattice windows with a view of the snowy courtyard.
He turned into a narrow stairwell. “King Finvarra built this castle three thousand years ago after uniting the clans and claiming the land from monsters. I don’t know that I’ve even seen all of it. I suspect I’ll die before I finish discovering every passage in the place. And that is exactly why we haven’t found the assassin yet.”
“There are legends…” Aeron spoke up from behind me, his voice echoing off the stone. “That once a long spring blessed the land, and the castle grew from the earth itself, sung forth by the vernal goddess Ostara.”
Torin glanced at me as he led us into a hall at the lower level. “If you believe in the gods.”
I shrugged. “Why not? I’ve seen enough strange things here that we might as well add gods to the mix.”
“If you believe in the gods,” added Aeron, “then you must believe they ordained Torin to rule.”
“Will the Ostara ordain the reality TV queen to rule as well?” I asked.
Aeron snorted. “Personally, I think her annual spring festival was just an excuse for the fae to fuck in the forest—
“Aeron,” said Torin, cutting him off.
“Sorry,” Aeron said. “To fornicate in the forest.”
Torin slid him a sharp look. “We may have to rethink your vow of chastity. I have a feeling it’s doing the opposite of keeping you focused.”
Torin led us out into the white, sparkling courtyard. My gaze roamed over the dark stone castle walls, which were adorned with icicles and carved with images of stags and serpents. “It really doesn’t look three thousand years old.”
“Because it’s blessed by the gods.” When Torin turned to look at me, the late morning light washed over his skin, giving him an otherworldly glow.
In the icy air, I pulled my cloak more tightly around me.
Aeron looped his arm through Shalini’s, and he began giving her a tour of the courtyard, explaining the mystical meanings behind each of the sculptures on the walls. Just like I’d expected, camera crews had taken locations in some of the towers, and I caught the glint of their lenses in the winter sun.
“This isn’t normally how these shows work,” I said. “The cameras are so far away.”
“I’m king of Faerie. I’m not allowing them to intrude on my privacy any more than they already have. I refused to wear a microphone or allow them to follow me twenty-four hours a day. They can film me from a distance and get their entertainment. I’ll get the money I need. And it will all be over soon.”
I fluttered my eyelashes at him. “You’re so romantic. Sounds like every girl’s dream wedding.”
He gave me a sly smile. “You’re not exactly every girl, though, are you? You’ve sworn off love, just as I have. We both know that love won’t feed you through the winter when ice encases the crops, and it won’t fill your children’s bellies when they are starving to death.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Love is for idiots. But you know, if you needed more children, you could always start stealing humans again.”
He moved in closer to me. “Ah, changeling. But we’ve long since decided that anything from the human realm isn’t worth the effort. Too much chaos.”
I glanced at the cameras again. “It must be annoying to need them.”
He cupped my chin, then brushed his thumb over my lower lip. The sensation sent a forbidden shudder of pleasure through me. “Once this is done, we won’t need a thing from the humans anymore.” He leaned closer, whispering in my ear. “Three weeks on the throne, changeling, is all it will take. Our lands will be restored, and our worlds will part ways. The way they were always meant to be.”
Was that a hint of regret in his tone, or was I imagining it?
He pulled away from me, sliding his hand into one of his pockets. And as he stepped back, I felt the loss of his heat.
The biting winter air reminded me of Torin’s magic, and I turned to him. “I have a question for you, Your Majesty. After I made the Manhattan for you, your magic did something to me.” I lifted my wrist and tugged up my sleeve, then pointed to a mark on my wrist. About the size of a fingerprint, it was a pale rose color, circled in white—like frostbite. “What is that? And why isn’t it going away?”
Shadows slid through his eyes as he stared at it. And though it didn’t seem possible, I felt the air growing even colder.
“Sometimes, when I’m very tired, I lose control of my magic.” He met my gaze, his preternaturally blue eyes seeming to take me in completely. “It will never happen again, Ava.”
I felt as if thorns were growing in the silence between us. There was something he wasn’t telling me.
But before I could ask for more details, he turned to walk away from me. “You wanted to see the thrones. Let’s see the thrones.”
Clearly, I’d annoyed him, but fuck if I knew how.
He crossed to an enormous oak door studded with black metal and heaved it open. Aeron and Shalini followed in after him, and I hurried to catch up.
Torin led us along a series of corridors until we reached the hall, where two thrones jutted from the center of the stone floor. One larger than the other, they appeared to be carved from a single block of marble, white mottled with dark streaks.
I pointed to the larger of the two. “Is that the king’s?”
“That’s the queen’s.” Torin turned to me, arching an eyebrow. “The magic of a fae queen is more powerful than a king’s, and she is the one who will bring life to this land once more.”
I felt as if the throne was pushing me away—a strange sense of dread warning me not to move closer. And yet, I couldn’t take my eyes off the pair. “Fascinating,” I said, and walked around the thrones.
“How long have these been in the castle?” asked Shalini, her footfalls echoing off the flagstones.
“The thrones have been here since before the Kingdom of the Seelie was founded, and the castle was built around them. We believe they’re made from the bedrock beneath us. Some of the carvings around the castle suggest that our earliest ancestors considered the stones to be representatives of the gods. Like immovable angels. Over the millennia, they were chiseled and carved to refine them more.”
Shalini reached out to touch one, and Aeron reached out and gently took her hand. “You mustn’t touch them. The magic of the thrones is very powerful, and if a human touches them, there is no telling what the magic might do.”
I circled the stones, entranced by the energy they emitted. Even from here, I felt the thrum of their power. Their magic made the air shimmer and my skin go cold. When I’d first come into the castle, I’d felt the uneasy sense that the stone itself didn’t want me. And here, by the thrones, the alarm bells were ringing even louder in the back of my brain.
I stepped back from them and hugged myself, shivering.
From the other side of the throne, I caught Torin’s eye. I couldn’t help but wonder what I was and why the magic here warned me away. Had my birth parents loved me and died in tragic circumstances? Had they thrown me out because I wouldn’t stop screaming? Was I really something like a changeling—too unruly to keep?
This was my chance to finally find out the answer.
I took a deep breath. “Torin? How do I find out who my fae parents were?”
One of his black eyebrows arched. “We find the birth records. Ava Jones, we will learn who you are at last.”
