“I love you, Mom,” he choked out while tears streamed down his dirty face.
Rennick’s father leaned forward and kissed her forehead, murmuring, “Goodbye, love,” and when her chest rose for the last time, a sob ripped from his chest.
Rennick’s ears rang, and his legs gave out, sending him to his knees.
He didn’t know when Finn arrived, but his friend grabbed him by the arms and hauled him to his feet. Rennick’s father remained hunched over his wife, his body shaking with anguished sobs.
Rennick allowed Finn to lead him toward the hall in a daze, but he paused at the door and took one last look at her rapidly paling face. Grief filled his veins, pumping through him at a rapid pace.Thirteen years’ worth of memories,he thought bitterly. That’s all he had left of his mother. Their future memories bled dry at the hands of the rebels. Hatred joined the grief within him, and he reached for it, latching onto the dark emotion with everything he had.
Finn guided him down the halls toward the royal wing, but Rennick barely registered his surroundings. He thought back to the last conversation he’d had with his mother. That morning, at breakfast, she’d chattered excitedly about Amelia and how she’d always wanted a daughter. She wondered which kingdom she came from and what things she liked to do.
Pain lanced through him.
She wouldn’t be there to weep at his wedding like he knew she would have, and his mate would never know the joy of having his mother as her own.
2
SIX MONTHS LATER
“Can’t you send one of the guards?” Finn asked, looking more annoyed with each passing second.
Rennick shook his head. “I don’t trust anyone but you, and Dad said we can’t tell anyone about her.”
Amelia.
It took months, but his father found Amelia living in an orphanage in the Human Kingdom after receiving a tip from an unexpected source. He petitioned Charlotte, the human queen, to bring Amelia to the Mountain Kingdom palace immediately since she had no family to speak of. The queen refused to let his mate cross the barrier until Rennick took the throne.
When she explained why, his father agreed, but upon finding out the news, Rennick destroyed his father’s study in a fit of uncontrollable rage. He understood she was safest hidden amongst the humans, but he had a duty to her, and he couldn’t protect her from a kingdom away.
Royal fae needed to be at their full power to protect their kingdoms once they took over, and because of this, the gods bound them to their own kingdoms until they took the throne at twenty-five. Fae pulled magic from their lands, and leaving faelands before they were fully grown would weaken their magic. For normal fae, they came to full power at thirteen, and even if they left before then, it didn’t mean much. For royal fae, the stakes were higher, and because they were stronger, it took longer for their power to fully manifest.
Rennick placed his hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Something happened yesterday. I felt it.” He tapped his chest where Amelia’s agony had knocked the air out of him the day before. Her strong emotions resonated in him like his own. He didn’t like it.
He’d been trying to convince Finn to take Amelia a letter for the last hour. Only he, outside of a select few of his father’s inner circle, knew Amelia’s true identity. If anyone caught wind of who she was to him and he wasn’t there to protect her, she would be killed, and he wouldn’t allow that to happen.
His mother’s death hung over their heads like a guillotine. It did not matter that Amelia was only a thirteen-year-old girl, killing her would weaken, if not exterminate, the Mountain Kingdom’s royal bloodline.
“How am I supposed to sneak into an all-girl’s orphanage?” Finn demanded. “I’ll be arrested.”
“You know how to pick locks,” Rennick reminded him, “and you can glamour yourself to be invisible.” All fae possessed the ability to use glamour, a magic allowing them to make any non-fae person or animal see what they wanted them to.
“And if she shows someone your letter or someone snoops around her room and finds it?” Finn looked pointedly at the black envelope in Rennick’s hand. “They’ll think she’s lying, or worse, that she’s telling the truth.”
Rennickknewshe wouldn’t tell. He couldn’t explain how, but he had never been more sure of anything in his life. “I won’t tell her who I really am or what kingdom I’m from,” he said, slightly offended his friend thought him that dense. “I won’teven tell her what I look like. And when she finishes reading the letter, use glamour to take it back.”
Finn ran a hand over his short, dark, curly hair with a groan. “Fine, but you owe me big.”
Rennick’s relieved smile faltered. “I need to send her a gift.”
Finn looked ready to strangle him. “Why?”
He motioned for Finn to follow him back toward the palace.
“I missed her birthday.”
Amelia trudged home from the library through the slushy snow, wishing the walk wasn’t so far. In this region of the Human Kingdom, it was cold year-round, and during the snowy season, it became downright miserable.
The coat she currently owned was too snug and thin, doing nothing to block the chilly wind. The orphanage she lived at didn’t have the luxury of buying everyone new clothes and relied on donations. One of the house mothers taught the girls to sew the hems of their dresses shorter to keep them from dragging through the snow because there was nothing worse than a wet dress sticking to your legs.
