Her hurried hands washed me with cold water, removing my beloved necklace—the necklace I’ve been wearing since I was a babe, its colorful large beads carved with unknown symbols. Then she slipped the then-too-big bracelet above my elbow. Long days in the bed followed, her humming a song beside me, forcing me to drink gallons of bitter tea that made me tired…
This explains it all. The hatred burning in the prince’s eyes, that raging magic burning inside me after the bracelet was destroyed. I squirm in the chains, trying to reach that bottomless fiery lake of power to cast a spell, but nothing happens.
“The chains are warded against magic,” Desmond says, shoving another piece of cookie into my mouth. And I am too confused to resist, my mind too busy rearranging the details from my past.
Has all my life been a lie? Are my parents really my parents?
“How—” I start.
“You seem half-blood. No wings.” He scurries down my back to check, then climbs back up. “That bracelet of yours was glamouring you. Your folks knew your true nature and were protecting you. My guess is a Seelie royal escaped the purging and got involved with humans. Halflings are rare—” he continues, assuming a lecturing tone, “human and Fae pregnancies have different durations, and babies rarely survive. Mothers rarely survive. A Fae female carries a baby for years, while humans need just nine months, so you see, things can get easily messy—”
“I know, Desmond,” I interrupt, impatiently struggling against the chains. “But there should be answers somewhere. If I can get home, search my parents’ house, there must be something.”
Desmond’s snout droops, and his usually lively tail hangs still.
“I am afraid that’s not possible, Talysse. You know how Seelie are treated here.”
The realization hits me like a blow. Surviving the Trials doesn’t guarantee anything. I might be tortured and killed like the rest of the Seelie.
“What does he intend to do with me?” I finally ask. Desmond shifts nervously.
“I have to go. Someone will answer your question soon. Eat your cookies. You’ll need your strength.”
His tiny form slips through the cell bars, leaving me alone with my thoughts. But I don’t need an answer. I know what happens to captured Seelie. Everyone knows the stories. Executed in the most horrific ways, forced to fight monsters or tossed to the Tainted Ones for sport.
I can’t let it end like this. Not after everything—Tayna, Myrtle, my parents.
It can’t all be for nothing.
I pull at the chains, twisting painfully, but it’s futile. The Unseelie knew what they were doing. When all seems hopeless, you rest. You gather strength. And you wait for the right moment to strike.
Curling up on the cold, damp floor, I let my thoughts race, searching for any scrap of information, any detail I might have missed, that could lead me to freedom.
The Prince
The Scaffold
Iclutch the pieces of the broken bracelet that Talysse had been wearing for most of her life. The spell weaved into it was exquisite—powerful but refined, designed to conceal the identity of the bearer, the lines of the magical symbols carved with perfection. Skillfully crafted for deceit. Something the Seelie excel at.
The pale light of the wax candles makes my parents and my brother next to them appear as if they’re in deep, serene sleep. Not butchered by traitors. The air in the crypt is heavy with the sweet scent of the piles of wilting flowers and the incense. My kin. Dead because I couldn’t protect them. The powerful, cruel, and despotic king and his loyal, silent queen. My brother, the heir, poisoned, his murderer still out there, unpunished. The darkness festers inside me, gripping my heart, flowing through my veins, tainting my very essence. It grows more powerful each day, but I still remain loyal to my purpose. To my plan to end the Hex.
The bracelet pieces slip back into my pocket as I climb the steps, leaving behind the crypt and the remnants of my old life.
The too-kind prince, the Wildling, remains there, laid to rest among the dead. The dead he was too weak to protect.
From the carved crypt door emerges a king with a calloused heart who’d do whatever it takes to achieve his goal.
To protect his people.
In that, I shall never fail again.
My steps echo among the empty corridors, mingling with the howling of the mourners in the palace above. It’s time for justice. And I’ll deal with it in the swift, brutal way typical for my kind.
*
I have taken my time to plan the execution in the slightest detail. It will happen at the Traitor’s Gate, where the light of the Halo is dimmed. Beyond the walls are the Wastelands and all the horrors dwelling in them.
I was receiving reports that the court was infiltrated by an unknown enemy, but even after days of torture, Aernysse Stargaze didn’t break. She claimed she was innocent. Well, I happen to have a different opinion.
