I’d only ever been in wagons, and this was much nicer than those. The velvet bench seats were a dusty violet color, while the walls were covered with a swath of dark gray that was covered in silver scrollwork. There were windows lining the sides covered by small curtains in a similar dusty violet color as the seating, with ties ending in silver tassels hanging next to them to secure the curtains back.
“You’ll adjust to this life soon enough.” Cyrus promised me from where he watched with pleasure at my reaction.
I moved the curtain covering the window and tied it back so I could look out at the city as we passed. Cyrus began chattering away about the capital, but I was preoccupied with watching the faces of Evenfall’s citizens as we moved along the road, observing all the different kinds of people who made up this kingdom. Everyone moved aside for the royal carriage coming through. The Fae walking around the city bowed their heads with smiles on their faces. But it was the looks of fear on the faces of every human slave we rolled by that struck me.
There was true terror upon seeing the carriage. They dropped to their knees and bowed their heads to the ground. I looked to Cyrus, who saw nothing wrong with this. I shook my head and looked back out the window until the carriage finally came to a stop, worrying about what the humans here had beenexperiencing to cause such a visceral reaction at the mere sight of the royal carriage.
I stepped out first, as the royals were always last to disembark. I could feel all the eyes on me. The human dressed and paraded around like a Fae. Angry, or jealous, or both, eyes of humans and Fae alike devoured me as Cyrus stepped out and motioned us forward.
I met the eyes of a glaring woman with light brown hair. Green eyes barreled into me as she snarled. I blinked in surprise and turned to Cyrus when his laughter registered. He leaned down into my ear. “Don’t worry about her. She’s just angry she no longer graces my bed. She resents your place.”
“But I’m not gracing your bed.” I shook my head in confusion.
“Everyone thinks you are, though.” He shrugged carelessly. “Why would you refuse me, after all?” He winked as I glared and huffed before facing the street instead. I didn’t want people to think I was sleeping with Cyrus. Not because I was ashamed of my sex life, but because I didn’t want to sleep with any Fae, nor did I want people thinking I would ever accept Cyrus’s proposal for such. Cyrus would never understand my position as he could never comprehend the debasing of a person’s spirit, of what it meant to be owned and denied freedom.
Cyrus led me down the street, showing me buildings and sites he thought important. It was all very boring. He took me to the center of Evenfall where it seemed to be bustling with people going every which way. The art installation in front of me was…fine? Cyrus seemed very proud of it as he espoused on its details. It was all metal and rigid. No color. No softness. No wonder or magic. It was fairly disappointing when compared to my imaginings of what a Fae city was like.
I tried to pay attention anyway, until a scream caught my attention. I whipped around just as Cyrus rolled his eyes and turned, only for a blaring sound to ring out across the city.Cyrus’s eyes widened as he turned to me. People began running and screaming, heading for any building they could find to get inside. I saw a Fae pull back one screaming human, a whip cracking against their lower back as they fell down, only for the Fae to step right over them as they shouted demands.
“What is happening?!” I turned to Cyrus, my own eyes wide with dread and sick with what I’d just witnessed. He swallowed hard as he looked at me, worry actually lining his arrogant eyes for once.
“The siren means an attack. Calix must be here.” He looked down at me as his guards surrounded us, weapons out. “Come. We must get back. Now!” He grabbed my arm and I had to run to keep up with his pace, holding my dress up with the hand not occupied with being dragged along by the crown prince.
The guards around us seemed to stiffen and I felt the air change as a yell reached my ears. I froze as Cyrus came to a stop, pulling his sword out. I looked past the wall of guards to see a group of men descending on us.
“Run, Asteria!” Cyrus yelled. “Run to the carriage!”
I whipped my head around to gain my bearings, recognizing where we arrived. But I was still so far away from the carriage. One of the attackers finally reached the guards, swords and magic working together, they dropped the guard almost instantly, I screamed and ran as fast as I could toward the carriage. I could hear the clash of blades behind me, screams and cries ringing out around the city as the men of the Night Kingdom descended on us.
How did they make it to the city proper? Shouldn’t they have been stopped at the gates? Cyrus arranged all those defenses. Except—my heart sank. He’d mentioned making sure his brother would fail to hold them back. Was this the result? Did he really sacrifice his own people to show up his brother? The thought enraged me as I ran. Did he know it would be today? Isthat why he pulled me into the city—or was that coincidence? I shook my head clear and focused on running and dodging.
Fae from the Dusk Kingdom surged past me as soldiers of the Night Kingdom came around the corner. I flew to the side and down an alley, running down it and around, hoping to loop back to the road with the carriage. I panted as I ran down the next alley, forming a U shape that would lead me back to the main road and rushed forward as I sighted the carriage in the distance. Its looming gray shape looked distinctly unsafe as the world around me grew darker before I could leave the alley. Like night was descending in the middle of the day.Magic. It must be. A part of me rejoiced to be touching Night Kingdom’s magic for the first time, but I forced that part of me down deep.
When I looked back up, I gasped and came to a dead stop. Before me was the most indescribably gorgeous man I’d ever seen in my life. People had called me beautiful as long as I could remember, but I felt like nothing more than a hag compared to this man.
Long silvery white hair, with only a small braid on each side keeping it from falling into his face. And what a face it was. Unusual purple eyes, the likes of which I’d never seen before, with sharp cheekbones leading down to full lips. He was tall and lean, packed with muscles. Even through his armor, I could distinguish the shape of his body. His shoulders were so wide, even unencumbered with the metal plate that could make armor so bulky and heavy. Instead, his was made of pitch-black scales, patterned with purple accents. As I gazed upon his armor, my attention was taken by the sigil in the center of the moon and stars bracketed by wings. It was then I truly registered that I was standing before a soldier from the Night Kingdom.
I suddenly realized I had been frozen as I stared at him. But as I met his eyes, I noticed he was studying me just as intently as I had been eyeing him. And we were both frozen as we observedeach other. A strange feeling ran up my spine and burst through my body, like bright stars filled my blood as smooth darkness danced over my skin. I found myself wanting to step closer.
Sounds of battle rang in my ears, as I discovered I’d been lost in the haze of this man. I had the good sense to let fear seep back in as I noticed the huge sword in his hand. He was Fae, with clearly strong magic, and I was completely defenseless. I cursed myself for not carrying the iron dagger my father gave me, but I was ultimately too scared of it being discovered and kept it hidden deep in my room. I backed up a step, and a smirk slowly formed on this beautiful warrior’s face. My ire rose right along with it. I did not appreciate being mocked, especially as I was about to be killed.
Great, another rude asshole.
The gravity of the situation hit me as he took a step closer to me. I backed up another, but he followed right along, like a rope connected us and we couldn’t get any farther than six feet away from one another. These Night Kingdom soldiers killed humans like me, and here I was alone, defenseless, and attired in a ridiculously fancy dress that offered me no range of movement to try to escape.
The warrior’s strange purple eyes seemed to light up as he watched me. A breath caught in my chest at the sight of them, despite myself. And I was furious with myself for it. Feeling even the slightest attraction towards Cyrus was bad enough, but a Fae from the Night Kingdom?
I had some serious problems I needed to sort through if and when I got back to safety.
I moved my left foot backwards, ready to step away, only to see his right foot ready to mirror my movement. There was no hope of outrunning him—especially in this ridiculous dress. The curious light in his eyes, paired with that devious smirk, stopped my foot where it was. I held firm. I wasn’t going to give anotherinch to this bastard. I may be weak compared to a Fae, but I was no wilting flower. I wasn’t going to cower when I faced my death.
And what a dazzling death he was.
I raised my chin, narrowing my eyes at the man before me. His smirk only grew as he continued walking. I watched each step with dread as they brought him closer to me. And a small, teensy tiny bit of excitement to see this beautiful specimen so close rose in my chest. His interest in me thrilled some instinctual part of me. No matter what my brain told me that this was a predator in every sense of the word, and I was his prey. Even knowing that, a part of me didn’t care, it just wanted to be closer. Every step he took that closed the gap between us thrilled me.
I chastised myself. These sexy Fae men were nothing but trouble. And this one came from a brutal, bloodthirsty kingdom. One where humans weren’t even good enough to be cattle. I should be expecting death—and I was, but I was also too busy drooling to act on my fear. I cursed myself, only to need to steel myself a moment later as he stepped into my personal space. His sword was covered in blood, and his equally bloody fingers flexed around the hilt as he stepped right up to me. I couldn’t help but take it as a warning. This mysterious soldier let out a curious hum, causing shivers to erupt over my body.
“I saw you flee from where that coward this kingdom calls a prince was attempting to make himself useful.” His voice was a deep rumble, laced with darkness and death. Dreams and nightmares. He raised his empty hand and used a finger to tilt my chin up further, and those strange eyes bored into mine. “I’d heard rumors—”
