I’d never seen Fae royalty before, and I’d dreaded this day when I would have to look upon the Fae nobility, in all their finery and freedom intact. They sat before me, judging, and deciding my fate, and all I could do was hold back screams of injustice as I stood on display, being weighed, and measured for my usefulness.
I flinched at the sound of the whip crack. A mortal fell to the floor in the group next to us. Tears tracking down her eyes asshe looked to the floor. The Fae holding the whip walked over and bent down, grabbing her by the hair. The Fae were beautiful creatures, made in the image of their gods. And this Fae’s blonde hair and blue eyes accented a perfectly symmetrical face, paired with shining golden armor.
His hand gripped the pommel of the sword sheathed at his side, giving the impression of a glorious being, but all I could see was the vileness of this man as his face contorted into a sneer. He dragged the girl up by her hair, looking to see which humans were watching, trying to find another target.
I looked away, cursing internally. I couldn’t do anything to help. The only ones who could were in front of us. The female nobles draped themselves in their chairs, fanning themselves or leaning over one another to speak as they gossiped. Their dresses were made in the finest materials and brightest colors, covered in jewels and embroidery. One wore a bright red gown with crystals down the front. Another was a blue dress made of velvet that had extensive designs sewn in with silver embroidery, the details so fine, it was obvious it took months for the seamstress to create this one piece. A luxury we certainly never experienced.
Humans were given clothes that wore out quickly and rarely provided new ones. I looked down at my own simple dress, a light blue linen with no ornamentation. I spent months altering it in secret, making it fit me just so. What I had considered to be my best dress now seemed laughable in comparison.
I fiddled with the chain of my necklace. It felt like a small rebellion, and I was comforted by it. I owned something that was as beautiful and fancy as these noble’s own jewelry. I wished I could stick out my tongue and taunt them with it, but that was courting death too closely for my liking. And I didn’t want my necklace taken away when it was the only gift I’d ever received,the only physical reminder I’d have of my parents for the rest of my life. I would hide it until the day I died.
Looking back up at the Fae nobles, my breath caught in my throat. One of them stared directly at me, our eyes locking in a clash of blue on blue. I quickly looked down, showing deference as we were meant to, but my eyes peeked back up curiously and found that he was still staring. His lips rose in a lazy smirk that brought to mind the big cats roaming the jungles of Sunrise Kingdom. I couldn’t help my reflexive glare, which I tried to quickly wipe off my face, terrified of being whipped for my insolence.
His smirk shifted into a smile for some reason. I looked him over and realized that based on his seating next to the king of Dusk and the crown on his head, he must be the crown prince, Cyrus.
Fuck.
I really, really shouldn’t have glared at him, but he just continued to watch me, in a way that made me increasingly uncomfortable.
I gulped down my rising nerves as we stared at one another. This was definitely not what I should be doing here, and yet, he wasn’t pulling me off the stage to punish me. He was just…looking at me—and I looked back, despite knowing I shouldn’t.
Unlike the copper locks I was so used to on Soren, Prince Cyrus’s hair was dark and slightly wavy, falling down to his shoulders. His eyes were a shade of blue deeper than mine, and they were piercing. The prince held me captive with his stare, allowing me to study his face—mocking cruelty in those smirking lips, underlined by the arrogant tilt of his chin, the slightly hollowed cheekbones, and yet he was unfairly beautiful despite it.
Our staring contest finally broke when one of his brothers, Prince Vikal, the youngest of the six children of King Astraeus and Queen Stelara Tynan, began speaking to him.
Our teacher drilled us over and over on the royals, attempting to ensure that we didn’t make a fatal mistake misidentifying them. I’d have hated it then, but now, I sent her a silent thank you. I quickly looked down now that the prince’s stare was elsewhere. I had no idea why Prince Cyrus should be so interested in me, but it was trouble, and I’d do my best to stay far away from it. From him.
“Kingdoms of Celesterra! Welcome to another Placement Day!” The host began, almost too cheerfully. “Today, these newly adult humans will be placed into the new kingdoms they will spend the rest of their lives serving. They will find their true homes!”
The crowd cheered, which covered my snort of derision. Though the boys next to me looked askance at me, so perhaps it wasn’t totally hidden. But Placement Day wasn’t sending us to our true homes, as the host tried to claim; we were merely being handed over to our new masters, to be dealt with as they pleased.
“All kingdoms here today will have the opportunity to see the humans offered. Each will be called by name and shown for your perusal.” The host continued, and I barely held back my sneer.Shown for your perusal, indeed. Assholes.
“The numbered cards before you are there for you to pick your human slaves. On these cards, please put the humans down in order of which you want most to allow us to decide which kingdom will receive the human if more than one kingdom wants them. Preference will go to the kingdom who ranks the human highest on their list.
Any humans not chosen by a kingdom will be sorted into equal groups to present at the end of the program and be distributed amongst the kingdoms. Once the cards have been turned inand determinations made, we will once more call each human forward, and announce their new kingdom. They will then go to the banner of their new kingdom to await transport.”
The host indicated the banners with each kingdom’s sigil hanging on either side of the stage on the limestone spires. His directions made me want to vomit—or burn down those banners. Old Gods, I couldn’t deal with this farce. The Fae acted like this was all a merry celebration when it was them literally deciding people’s fates.
Except, we weren’t really people to them. We were merely objects that did their bidding. I couldn’t say I was too surprised, the Fae loved celebrations and events of all kinds, with their holidays being notoriously wild. Yet, the thought of the enslavement of myself and my people being treated as such—I swallowed down the bile that rose, even as I felt my cheeks flush from the rage that hummed through my body.
“The kings of each kingdom will have full authority to place the humans in the role of their choice once you return to your territories. We will now begin, going by group. Group A!” He called, and I shivered, knowing it was time.
The nobles in front began whispering amongst themselves in excitement, sitting up and looking intently at those of us on stage. This was a spectacle to them. I’d never understood before today why they couldn’t just assign us at random, but now I understood all too well. They wanted a show. An excuse to get dressed up and meet up with the other royals, to gossip and laugh.
I hated how everyone accepted that our enslavement was okay just because it was what had always been done. Humans were considered beneath the Fae just because we didn’t have magic. We were cut off from the natural order, and thus unnatural ourselves.
It was ridiculous. Not being blessed with magic didn’t mean we weren’t connected to nature in other ways, even if we weren’t tapped into it the same way the Fae were. Their magic came from gods, and the gods had imbued the land and the Fae with their magic, leaving them connected and able to feel nature in a way humans couldn’t.
This ideology allowed them to keep us in our place by making humans and the Fae alike believe something was inherentlylessabout us. Old Gods forbid the Fae make their own food and clean their own castles. They had magic, but it wasn’t able to be used for everything, from what I understood. Humans were where they filled in the gaps.
There had to be other humans who railed against this as much as me. I couldn’t be the only one. Soren was resigned to it, comfortable with leaving his life in fate’s hands. My parents acted like it was only natural that we should have our free will stolen from us. Their tears for me were a surprise, as was the knife. They had spent years telling me that this was the way of things, that humans were always slaves, that we’d never been free in the history of our existence.
But that didn’t mean that this was the way it should stay, or that this was all we were meant to be. I had to believe we could bemore.
“Abbicus Donnel Reanel.” The call of the first human silenced everyone. The Fae watched hungrily as the man stepped forward. The announcer took the man by the shoulders and forced him to spin in a circle for those watching, and then he walked back to us, his shoulders slumping like a weight was taken off them.
I watched and waited, nerves causing me to fidget. I had to force my feet to stay in place and not make a run for it. Biting my tongue so I didn’t scream, keeping my rage in check as I tried to bury it deep inside.
