It made me sick.
Dressed in fine attire while my husband’s body is some beast’s meal.
“Sit, my lady, and I can put your hair back.”
Since my wavy, thick hair was difficult to deal with, I tried to keep it braided or coiled. Sitting in the chair, I stared at the reflection in the oval mirror above the table. The tip of my nose was red and my big, round eyes had shadows around them.
Liora picked up a brush with thick bristles and brushed my long hair, taking pieces and braiding them until half of my hair had been braided up and arranged in a crown; the rest hung past my shoulders. She then took a perfume bottle and spritzed a little on me.
Long ago, I had imagined a moment like this. Primped and beautified for a king. To rule by his side as an equal, our power and love bringing balance back to the world. Yet, so far, our encounter had brought nothing but loss.
Even wearing a braided crown couldn’t disguise the puffiness around my eyes or the numbness behind them.
“You don't need a dash of makeup,” Liora said, dusting her hands off on a cloth. “The natural coloring of your lips is the perfect shade of pink and those thick black lashes of yours… Well, some of the fae nobles here will probably be very jealous.”
She stared and I knew what she was thinking. The same thing I had when first seeing Kane. We both had thick dark brows and a stubbornness to our expression. I hated we had anything in common.
“Are you ready to go downstairs?” Liora asked.
“No, but I will.”
She moved to the door, which was still unlocked, and wewalked down the spire steps. I had been unconscious for the walk here and had no concept of the layout of this place. The enormous stone walls and the echoing sound of our footsteps were so different from the cozy cottage that I had spent the past year in.
Instead of the melody of nature enveloping me, the cold silence of stone filled my ears.
I followed her down the winding spire until we landed on what I assumed was the main floor. Two guards stood on opposite sides of the large arched entryway. They were dressed in golden scale armor that covered them from head to toe. Gold and black masks covered the tops of their faces and connected to a helmet that curved around their pointy ears.
The twin guards said nothing as we passed.
“The stables are near the servants’ quarters and kitchens,” she said. “This way.”
I followed her, maneuvering down the different hallways, wondering why there were no lavish decorations in this area. I’d never been to a castle before, but surely there would be paintings of the royal bloodline, statues, rugs, yet every hall we turned into lacked the opulence one would expect in a castle this size.
It lacked the warmth of a home or the beauty of being lived in for centuries.
Had this always been where the royal fae lived? Or had Kane’s father moved them here? Dragons were rare and most of them lived across the seas. Maybe they preferred the quietness of a castle among the clouds instead of the busy woodlands surrounding the Life Tree.
Before we reached another corridor, three fae priests stepped in front of us.
They wore matching hooded green robes that dragged along the stone floor. The one on the right looked younger and smiled.
“The child of prophecy,” the one in the middle said, his hooked nose an ugly contrast to the chiseled fae beside him. “We have waited long for this moment.”
Instead of feeling honored, a sliver of dread wedged between my thoughts.
The fae speaking had gray eyes, the whites around the pupils dulled with age. I wondered if he had been alive when the prophecy was foretold.
“Hello,” I replied, unsure of what else I should say.
Had the fae priests really been waiting for me?
“Why is the child of prophecy collared like a prisoner?” the priest asked Liora.
My handmaiden kept her head bowed, gaze lowered from the males in front of us.
Without raising her head, she said, “The king requires her to wear the dampener when she is out of her room.”
“Heresy,” the priest hissed. “The child of prophecy comes to our home, and this is how she is treated? Their union is an honor to our court and should be treated as such.”
