My heart felt like it both stilled and beat out of my chest at once. My gaze was immediately drawn to the smirk on Prince Cyrus’ face.
By the Otherworld, I had a terribly bad feeling about this.
Maybe he’d forget all about this and not punish me? Perhaps Prince Cyrus wouldn’t pay me any attention at all. A fool’s hope as I walked to my doom. One foot off the stage after another until I finally reached the Dusk Kingdom banner. I took my place there and waited for the rest of those who turned twenty-one to be placed into their kingdoms.
I felt numb as the announcer finished declaring where everyone would be Placed. My emotions were too high and too raw and finally, they seemed to just—stop, finding that numb place inside once more.
Eyes were on me everywhere I looked. My parents, Prince Cyrus, the Day Kingdom royals—I felt all of their eyes on me.
Prince Cyrus leered at me, and I cringed internally. By mortal standards, I knew I was considered attractive. My dark hair was long, full, and shiny, with bright blue eyes that looked like the sky during a cloudless day. A light smatter of freckles crossed my nose and onto my cheeks, like little stars covering my porcelain skin, that often gained a bit of a golden glow after time in the sun. I was short, but slim, with curves I knew men appreciated, with full, heavy breasts, and a firm, rounded ass—according to Soren anyway.
He loved my body and worshiped it at every opportunity. We’d lay a blanket out by the lake near my house and stargaze, or jump in the water, and then spend the rest of the time savoring each other’s bodies. He called me perfect, and beautiful, the only woman he would ever want—claiming my beauty was as Otherworldly as the Fae’s, which was sweet, if decidedly untrue. His attention was a welcome reprieve from our terrible existence though, and I basked in it during the time we had, knowing that was all it could ever be.
The Fae were perfect in a way I would never be, but Prince Cyrus seemed to enjoy the look of me, nonetheless. His eyes trailed up and down my body, and I looked away, wishing he’d look anywhere else. I caught a glimpse of Queen Aurelia’s sympathetic gaze. The sadness in the queen’s eyes said a lot about how I’d be treated in Dusk.
Old Gods, how was I going to get through this alone? At least I’d always had my parents before now.
I paid just enough attention to realize Soren was placed in Day, and I watched as he walked off the stage, heading for the banner that hung beside the one for Dusk. Soren paused as he reached where I stood.
“Asteria.” He rumbled, emotion choking his voice. I hadn’t wanted an extended goodbye, knowing it was better to be done with it quickly. But the look in Soren’s eyes told me he clearly had more to say. “I just—I wanted you to know—I love you. I know you didn’t want feelings involved in this, so I’ve kept quiet. But I needed to tell you—just in case I never see you again.”
I blinked in shock. He loved me? How? When? His arms came around me and hugged me tight. And for all that, I felt something for him—even if it could never be love, I hugged him right back—hard. Love or not, he’d been my best friend and lover for years.
The pain I felt at his confession was why it was wise not to getclose to people. Soren was the only one I’d ever dared to let in slightly. It wasn’t worth the heartache to get close to others. Part of this pain I felt was certainly because I now knew for sure that Soren had made more of us than I had.
“You were my best friend, you know,” I mumbled as he kissed the top of my head, and I hugged him tight once more.
“I know.” Soren laughed huskily. He pulled back and cupped my cheeks. “Be safe, Asteria.” He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing.
“Goodbye, Soren.” I smiled sadly, noting a glaring Fae coming this way.
He nodded once, his face forlorn, and what I now knew to be lost hopes and dreams swimming in his eyes. “Goodbye, Asteria.”
Chapter 2
Iwasswept up with the other humans bound for the Dusk Kingdom and brought to a couple of large wooden wagons. These were much fancier wagons, with actual windows lining the sides, something the one I’d taken here had lacked. I was thankful for that, at least. It had been horrendous being stuffed into a creaky enclosed box for the ride to the Neutral Lands.
We were surrounded by guards from Dusk. Armor plate the color of nickel shone with the sigil of Dusk, proudly displayed in the center. They had swords on their hips which remained sheathed, thankfully. But the whips in their hands were curled at the ready.
I couldn’t help dreading whatever might come next.
I wasn’t the only one. I looked around at the other humans coming to Dusk with me. One girl’s expression was completely blank, with not a trace of emotion on it. Another boy just lookedresigned, eyes low and frown set. But many looked around warily, shaking, shifting foot to foot, clearly just as wracked with anxiety as I was on what to expect next.
Of course, none of the new adults here were originally from Dusk. Humans were never placed in the kingdom they originated from, and if they were, it was a human whose parents had died. The Fae wanted us split up from our families, ensuring we wouldn’t be loyal to anyone above our masters.
We were herded into the wagons one by one. At my turn, I jumped in, walking down the row and taking the last open seat, so the rest could fill in behind me. Once we were packed full, the door closed with an ominous creak. I swallowed the saliva gathering in my mouth, hating that I didn’t know what was going to happen, and not being able to do anything about it. I fiddled with my necklace just to calm myself, hoping that focusing on one small thing would help.
“I hope they place me as far away from the Night Kingdom as possible.” A curly haired blond girl murmured nervously to another.
“Me too.” The brunette girl wrapped her arms around herself and rocked slightly, “I don’t want to be one of those humans who go missing into the Night Kingdom and are never seen again.”
“What?” I heard my voice reverberate around the wagon—not realizing it was me until heads snapped toward me. I sunk into my seat, but the girl who’d spoken looked at me sympathetically.
“Are you from Sunrise or Sunset?” She asked quietly. Her body was stiff, but she didn’t sneer at me like the girls I was used to, so I didn’t think she was about to insult me at least.
I shook my head in confusion, unsure how she came to that conclusion. “How’d you know?”
She smiled sadly, her greenish brown eyes glistening. “Dawn and Dusk’s rulers have been doing their best to contain this and not let the information leak out. From what I understand,they’re trying to keep it quiet so they don’t appear weakened in any way to Sunrise or Sunset, being rival kingdoms, and all. It’s not working very well though, because my parents worked in the palace at Dawn, and they heard a lot of whispers regarding this. But I wouldn’t expect people from the northern kingdoms to be aware of it yet.”
