Birdie had to come in twice in the night to stoke the fire in my room and add another log. It was cold, though not enough to kill. It was like Lucien wanted the entire realm to know he was angry that they’d left him and separated, and that he still had control over them whether they liked it or not.
I barely slept, tossing and turning, waiting for Lucien to arrive and save me—to march in and tell me he still wanted me and he didn’t care if I was defiled and married to another man.
But he never came, and those thoughts weren’t realistic. So by morning I put on a heavy wool cloak and walked down to the dining hall. My door was no longer locked I was pleased to find, but the cuffs were still on, so I was definitely still a prisoner.
Marcelle was at the table already eating when I entered.
“Sorry it’s late. I barely slept.” I yawned for effect. As if not getting up early to eat with him truly bothered me.
He waved me off, looking annoyed. “Who can sleep with this chill? How that monster lives in the constant cold is beyond me.”
I swallowed hard. Clearly Marcelle wasn’t too happy with the weather either. “Can you warm things up? Bring out the sun?” I questioned.
Marcelle shot me a look. “Of course I can. But I don’t want to deplete my power just so everyone can go outside and play.”
Hmm interesting. I wasn’t aware power depletion was an issue for him. I’d never run out of power. There was always wind around; air was everywhere. But when the sun went down or was hidden with clouds, it must render Marcelle weak. Did Lucien know that? Was that why he’d brought on the cold spell? Did he make the clouds roll in to cover the sun and weaken Marcelle?
“Understood.” I sat down and began to butter a roll. “Any word on the Winter Soldiers at the border?”
Marcelle stared at me with slight suspicion and I rolled my eyes. “You can’t tell me that my homelands are being attacked and not give me news! Fall and Spring are holding off Winter! Those are my people.”
He relaxed a little. “The three courts fought Winter off all night and they retreated. They are no match for all three courts working together.”
Just like the four courts working against the Nightfall queen would be no match, I wanted to say. He didn’t want war and yet he’d still gotten one. How ironic.
“I’ve made an appointment for you to meet with the palace jeweler after breakfast. He’s made a crown for your coronation and you can take whatever other jewels catch your eye. My mother had exquisite taste.”
The mention of his late mother reminded me of his brother, Mateo. “Where is Mateo? I haven’t seen him,” I said, wondering if maybe they chose to live separately or he’d gotten married, though he would be quite young for that.
The corner of Marcelle’s mouth ticked. “He was too rebellious, so I had to send him away for re-education.”
Re-education. Too rebellious? It sounded like Marcelle had changed since I’d seen him at Midsummer Festival all those years ago, and though I cried to my father for marrying me off to Lucien when I thought he was a monster… it was clear that the real monster was sitting right in front of me.
I FELT numb throughout the entire coronation. Fake smiles, false thank yous on the good wishes given to our union. It made me sick. With each passing moment I hated Marcelle more and more. I kept asking myself, how did I get here? It had gone too far and I’d played along too well to turn back now. I was stuck and constantly worrying about my mother and sister’s wellbeing, so I didn’t fight back. I stayed the course.
Get Marcelle to trust me enough to take these cuffs off, was my mantra.
I vowed in that moment to take sword training after I was free of here. I never wanted to feel so helpless again. Without my power I was weak. I hated to admit it but it was the truth.
As the crown was placed on my head and I took an oath to lead a people who had come against the man I loved, I died inside just a little bit. I had officially just become Lucien’s enemy.
After taking as many blessings as I could handle, I then begged Marcelle to let me go for a walk.
“I’d like to see the townspeople and check out the shops. Make myself known to those who couldn’t come today.” Really, I just needed to get the Hades out of here. I wanted to be alone, to breathe the fresh air no matter how cold it was.
Everyone at the coronation was bundled up. Lucien’s cold still plagued our land but it wasn’t enough to hurt, just enough to not let you forget Lucien was mad about the separation.
Marcelle looked out at the thinning crowd as people made their way home, and then back at me.
I raised my cuffed hands. “I promise not to get into any trouble,” I said sweetly.
He was quiet, and I hated that he had all the power.
“Am I really asking permission to go for a walk, Marcelle?” I growled then. “Am I your new wife and queen or a prisoner?”
I all but spat the last word and one of the guards turned in our direction.
Marcelle gave a nervous laugh and called two guards over to us.
When they stood at attention before him, he pointed to me. “Your new queen wants to go into town to be among her people. Please keep her safe and don’t let her out of your sight.” He then glanced at me. “Be good. Your mother and sister would be devastated if anything happened to you.”
My face went slack at the veiled threat to my mother’s and Libby’s lives.
That bastard. That shit-eating, horse-faced, bootlicking bastard!
I pulled on my wind power and there was nothing and I wanted to scream, I wanted to punch Marcelle in his pretty face until blood dripped down his nose and into his mouth.
I realized then that there was raging murder inside of me. I had wondered, when the time came, if I were capable of killing a person, of killing him.
Now I knew.
I was.
I would.
This rotten excuse for a fae would suffer at my hand.
Greatly.
“Yes, darling,” I said with as little venom as I could, and then turned on my heel.
Marcelle Haze would regret the day he took me as his wife.
THE FRESH AIR did wonders for my mood. It was chilly and I needed a thicker layer under my woolen cloak but the cold was nice. It reminded me of Lucien, and Winter Court, and snow falling on my eyelashes as I kissed him.
It felt surreal to still be daydreaming about kissing Lucien while I was now married to another man. I feared my mind was cracking as I struggled to cope with everything that had happened to me so suddenly.
The two guards that Marcelle had ordered to shadow me did in fact become shadows. They walked three feet behind me at all times while Birdie strolled beside me quietly. I liked her because she seemed to have the same knack for reading my mood as Piper did, and knew when to be silent.
People congratulated me and smiled and waved as I passed. Meanwhile, I wondered what they thought of the whole scenario. Just a few days ago they were waving at Lucien and I—albeit not smiling. Was that it? They were able to easily accept Marcelle stealing another’s betrothed because they hated Lucien?
“I’m surprised they accepted this so quickly,” I told Birdie, speaking for the first time on our walk.
Birdie looked at the women who wished me well and nodded. “Marcelle has made it clear he was sweet on you since you were young. Everyone thinks it’s a love marriage and that you were being forced to marry Lucien.”
I stopped walking and looked at her, again pulling for my wind power and again feeling nothing. The anger that boiled inside of me in that moment felt too raw to contain. It was as if I were made of fire and would burn up if I didn’t release it.
Birdie must have noticed the shift in me because she looked alarmed. “Let’s check out the local women’s boutique,” she suggested, and pointed to a store behind me.
I took three deep breaths, refusing to even process what she’d just said. I shoved it all down as a light snow began to fall from the sky.
The people gathered in the street pulled their cloaks higher and glared up at the sky as if cursing Lucien.
They had no idea. They had no idea that Marcelle had taken me against my will and that I was essentially a prisoner.
“The boutique has beautiful candles, perfume, knitted gloves…” Birdie trailed off, pulling me from my thoughts.
I nodded curtly, deciding it was better that I go into this shop and rid my mind of these murderous thoughts. Otherwise I would storm the castle with a blunt rock and attempt to beat Marcelle to death.
As we stepped up to the storefront, the guards moved to follow, and Birdie put out a hand to stop them before pointing to a sign on the door.
Ladies only.
“It’s not proper. You must wait outside,” she informed them.
It was a small victory, but I felt a tiny bit of joy leak into my desolate sadness as the guards stepped back and waited outside while we entered the shop alone.
Birdie was right, it was a lovely boutique. Candles that smelled like sandalwood and lavender, dainty gloves with flower embroidery. There was even a dressmaker in the back measuring a woman who stood on a pedestal in only her undergarments. Hence the no men rule.
Birdie was across the shop smelling candles, and I was just admiring an ornate glass brooch when the bell over the door chimed. Turning back to see who it was, I made eye contact with a young woman with black hair and fair skin. The hood of her cloak was up, dusted in snow, and she smiled at me.
She looked far too fair-skinned to be a Summer fae, but it did happen that the courts intermarried, so I assumed she was Winter fae or mixed. Turning back around to examine the brooch, I startled when she spoke to me.
“That’s beautiful.” Her voice came from right behind me, and then I felt a tug on my cloak pocket. “Lovely weather we’re having,” she whispered in my ear, and then slipped past me and out of the shop as if she were a ghost.
My mind was trying to process what had just happened. I wondered if she’d just pickpocketed me. But I hadn’t brought anything of value and her remark about the weather threw me.
It was horrid weather for someone who lived in Summer Court.
Unless she wasn’t from here.
My heart beat wildly as I slowly slipped my hand into my pocket and felt a folded note inside.
Birdie looked over at me and held up a candle. “This smells like Summer Solstice!” she exclaimed happily.
I smiled, my mind racing with what the note might contain. Peering at the dressmaker and her client, I was pleased to see they hadn’t noticed anything.
I didn’t dare open it in here, there were too many eyes on me, the new queen. Walking briskly over to Birdie, I grabbed the Summer Solstice candle from her hand and put the brooch on top.
“I’ll get it for you. Then I’d like to go back and lie down. Long day,” I told her.
She grinned at the prospect of the free candle, and I paid for both items, charging them to Marcelle. I didn’t want to look suspicious to the guards outside that we’d taken so long without purchasing anything.
Once we stepped back outside, my gaze darted around the market stalls and street shops looking for the woman, but she was gone.
Walking briskly, but not too fast, we made it back to the castle and I shut myself away in my room alone.
After pulling the letter from my pocket, I climbed into bed and unfolded it. When I recognized Piper’s handwriting, a sob formed in my throat.
M,
I’m safe in Winter Court. We are trying to rescue you but all three courts fight against Winter! I am going to attempt to smuggle your sister and mother out of Fall because only I know about the secret underground tunnels. Stay strong. We won’t rest until you are free.
-P
IT SAID SO much and yet so little. Was it wrong that my heart wanted a letter from Lucien? For him to be the one writing me? Piper said we. We are trying to rescue you. She and Lucien? She and his guards? Was Lucien doing it as a kindness, or… something else? At least he was granting Piper safety, and it sounded like he’d approved my mother and Libby to stay in Winter Court if extracted as well. Fall Court had two underground exit tunnels in times of war. They led out deep in the woods near the Winter border, so if Piper could get my mother and Libby out through those, it would be perfect. That was all good news… but… I ached to know what Lucien thought of Marcelle’s and my forced union…
And yet I didn’t need a letter. The snow falling from the sky, the crisp chill in the air, it told me everything.
He was mad as Hades.
I threw the letter into the roaring fire and then rolled over into bed. I never usually napped, I always had a lot of energy, but ever since I’d come here I wanted nothing but to sleep the day away and cry. I was trying to stay strong, to stay the course, but it was all starting to feel a little hopeless. And yet this letter gave me what I had needed to keep pushing on. So after prying myself out of bed, I went to have dinner with my husband and play the compromising wife.
I would get him to remove these cuffs, and then I would make his entire army watch as I stole the breath from his lungs.
If the people of Hazeville wanted a strong leader, they would get one.
Me.
