Finally, he utters the words I’m waiting to hear. “Theresa and Maryanne Holstrom.”
The Holstrom girls. From Sableton.Myvillage. I should feel terror for them, anguish for their families. We grew up together, after all. But all I feel is relief. Sweet, overwhelming, glorious relief. I can’t fight the smile that tugs at my lips, and I tip my head back and close my eyes. “Thank you,” I whisper, although I don’t know who I’m thanking. The fae? The stars? The Great Mother above?
I hear an amused laugh not too far away and remember the presence of the fae male. My eyes fly open and dart his way. But he’s gone.
I whirl around, expecting him to be waiting menacingly behind me, but it seems the forest is empty. Good riddance. I return the way I came, no longer jumping at the sounds of snapping twigs or rustling leaves. Nothing can shake my joy right now. Nothing.
For the first time in my eighteen years of life, I can consider myself safe.
Chapter Two
My bed trembles beneath me as if the very earth is shaking. And yet, I can’t be bothered by it. Not when there’s such delicious sleep to be had.
“Evie. Evie! Get up!”
The voice startles me fully awake, and I open my eyes to find Amelie’s face an inch from mine. I groan and roll away from her. The bed returns to shaking, in earnest this time. Amelie is on her feet, bouncing from one side of my mattress to the other.
“Evie, how can you sleep? You haven’t heard the news yet!”
The news.She must mean the announcement of the Chosen. How long did I sleep? Finally, I roll onto my back and look up at my sister. Her copper hair is backlit by the morning sun coming in through my window. Her green eyes are bright beneath her long, feathery, black lashes. She’s dressed in one of her finest daytime dresses, a cream, lowcut gown with a mauve floral pattern. Of course, she’s outfitted in a fancy dress. That’s how she celebrates.
Amelie plops down on the bed next to me and takes me by the shoulders. She’s grinning so wide, I can see all her neat, perfect teeth. “It’s the Holstrom girls! It isn’t us!”
I realize I should act surprised. There’s no reason to tell her about my encounter last night, which would be the only excuse I’d have for knowing the news she’s bursting at the seams to share. I sit, trying to look eager. “Oh? The Holstroms?”
Amelie’s smile turns into a frown as my blanket slides from my shoulders. I follow her gaze and realize I’m still wearing my cloak. She pulls back the rest of the blanket, revealing the dirty hem of my trousers and mud-splattered boots.
“Really, Evie? You didn’t even bother to remove your shoes before bed?”
I stretch and shift my legs to hang over the side of the mattress, then begin working at the laces of my boots. “I was tired. You know, from securing our great victory?”
Amelie floats to my dressing table and stares at her reflection in the mirror that hangs above it, prodding at her brows and cheeks. “That explains why I didn’t see you at the plaza. When Mother and I left to hear the announcement, your boots weren’t by the front door. We figured you’d already left.”
I kick off one of my boots and begin unlacing the next, still puzzling over how deeply I slept last night. I don’t think I’ve ever slept so well in my life. Relief will do that to a girl, I suppose. “Did I miss anything? Aside from the announcement itself, I mean?”
Amelie whirls toward me, grinning. “You should have seen the look on Mrs. Holstrom’s face when Theresa and Maryanne’s names were called. She almost fainted!”
A pinch of guilt tugs my chest. Would our mother have fainted if she’d heard our names? But the sinking feeling evaporates before it can take hold. I’m still too grateful it wasn’t us. “Fainted? That must have been a sight.”
“Almostfainted. She did cry. A lot. The girls have already been taken beyond the wall. You should have seen the coach that came for them! Gold and pearl with dark, lustrous wood.”
I stand and cross the cold floor to my window. “They’ve already been taken to Faerwyvae? What time is it?”
“It’s almost noon.” I meet Amelie’s gaze and she frowns at my hair. She pats the chair at my dressing table. “Come. You look like a dead bird.”
I should be offended, but I’m used to my sister finding fault in my appearance. She’s always been the pretty one, the silly one, and the one most beloved by all the folk in our village. There’s a reason she was out with a man last night while I was alone in the woods. She likes company and men and friends. I like practicality. And sleep.
I take a seat and Amelie stands behind me, immediately worrying at the knot in my hair that once was a braid. In the mirror, the contrast between us is stark. My sister is all copper hair, bright green eyes, pale peachy skin, and a smile that remains even when she’s frowning—which she’s doing now at my hair.
I, on the other hand, am a more subdued version of the girl behind me. My hair is a dark auburn that only looks remotely copper in direct sunlight, my eyes are a dull blue instead of green, my skin is far too bland to be considered peachy, and too dark to be considered fair. Then there’s my smile. Let’s just say the women in the village call it aperpetual poutwhen they’re trying to be honest about my looks without being insulting. I do appreciate how sultry my perpetual pout makes me sound, but I know the truth of it. I look like I’m angry. All the time.
Once Amelie has finished undoing my braid, she sets to brushing out my tangles, a task that earns me a deeper frown from my sister. I smile. No matter how futile, she never gives up trying to make me presentable. “How was your date last night?”
I catch her eye-roll in the mirror. “It can hardly be called a date. It was nothing more than batting my lashes at Bertrand from across the parlor while stuck in awful chatter with his boring sisters for three hours straight.” She pauses, then smiles. “We did kiss behind the stables before I left though. I thought we were going to be caught when his driver came looking for us. Thank the Great Mother Bertrand’s fingers are like sausages, or he’d surely have had me out of my corset by then.”
“Will you be seeing him again? Now that you know you’re a free woman?”
“Why would I? I’m seeing Magnus tonight.”
