CHAPTER ONE
Deirdre
My mother toldme one day I would have the power to save the world… but any belief she had in me vanished the moment she abandoned me to a bunch of strangers.
She left me at the temple doorsteps at the age of five, handing me over to a group of aged priests and priestesses to train me to be the perfect bride for when the time came for me to marry the Deathless One.
I still remember how her hands trembled as she hugged me one last time, leaving me to a fate I couldn’t yet understand.
Sixteen years later, and no immortal fae king had ever come to claim me, and all those years spent away from my family were pointless.
Sinking just below the river’s surface, I glanced at the bright afternoon sun twinkling through the scattered trees, wondering if the peace of this place would ever settle the wave of sadness constantly battering my heart.
Today was worse than yesterday.
Because today was my birthday.
Dragonflies skimmed across the water’s surface, dancing between the cattails, oblivious to my dour mood.
Today was a day I should celebrate with my family and instead, no one but my grandfather and Crispin even knew where I was… or that I was alive.
Floating, I closed my eyes, letting the gentle waves of the lazy river massage the worry out of my thoughts. It wasn’t just the fear beating against my heart, but longing for a life I would never see again.
When my grandfather snuck me out of the temple that stormy night, I had a choice: stay and await my fate as the bride of an evil fae king or be free with the best friend I had fallen for.
This secluded valley had been my grandfather’s doing. A home hidden from the rest of the world with enough food and fresh water that Crispin and I would never have to leave.
Grandfather never believed in the prophecy surrounding my birth—hogwash is what he called it—and Crispin was inclined to think the same. But part of me wondered if I really was destined for more, and if running away had been selfish of me.
No one else seemed to think so, though. If they did, surely they’d have tried to track me down.
Yet, Crispin and I had been in this valley for almost a year, and no one had come looking. Not my parents or the siblings I barely saw while living at the temple. Not even the priests who swore I was humanity’s solution to restoring the balance of power between humans and fae.
Didn’t anyone wonder what happened to me?
Another reminder that being a “child of prophecy” means nothing when that prophecy turns out to be a curse instead.
She’s ugly; that’s why he hasn’t come.
It’s that horrible star birthmark on her face–she’s probably a witch.
She’s doomed us all!
The crops died this season; it’s her fault.
Childhood taunts shouldn’t bother me anymore, and yet anytime I believed I deserved this freedom, those vicious thoughts dragged me back under the never-ending cyclone of shame, told me I deserved evenlessthan the horrible fate that had been prophesied over me.
If I hadn’t been good enough for an evil fae king, how could I be good enough for someone as amazing as Crispin? One day, he’d give up on me. Just like everyone else.
I wanted to at least enjoy today for myself, but I had this strange fluttering deep within my soul, warning me to be anything but relaxed.
Crispin's promises from breakfast flickered through my thoughts. My dear husband had hidden my birthday presents in all our favorite places in the valley. A treasure hunt crafted just for me.
I moved closer to the riverbank until my feet touched the rocky bottom.
Boots, our donkey and my most trusted companion, moved from nibbling a fern to grabbing my dress.
“You put that down right now, mister,” I said, wading out of the water. “I’m not about to go walking naked through the woods.”
