My eyes widen, and my hand freezes. “You’re a prince?”
“Yes. Keep drawing.” He points at my sketchbook, and I dutifully begin again, no longer looking at the marks as I make them.
“The ability I used to bring you with me—and stop your attacks—is called willbending. It’s unique to the Evermoor bloodline, but has been weak for many generations. When I was five, my mother discovered it had manifested in me with a strength not seen since the early days of our history. She couldn’t accept her child being stronger than her, so she tried to kill me.”
My heart hiccups.And I thought my father was cold.
No, don’t sympathize with him. He’s the enemy. He kidnapped me.
Taran gestures at my sketchbook.
I swallow my pity, then continue my tally marks. I need to uncover where he’s going with this.
He takes a breath, his gaze dropping to the ground. He explains how his father, Gethin, foiled her attempt and exiled her, ruling in Taran’s stead after the realm passed to him—his first act as king was to end the Border Wars. It’s possible he’s telling the truth, since we never knew why the fae stopped attacking.
“And the queen went to Landore?” I ask. “To Haven?”
“Eventually. Where are you with your marks?”
I check my sketchbook. “I’ve almost filled a page.”
“Start a new one. Not long after leaving Aedys, my mother found herself with child again. She gave birth to a half mortal, half fae she named Caeo. My brother.”
I glance up from my tallying. I missed what he just said.
He continues before I can ask him to repeat himself. “When Caeo was four, she moved them to Haven. Around the same time, we noticed her growing weaker, likely from running out of water from Aedys.”
The twittering of a bird catches my ear—I’m not sure which kind. I blink a few times, realizing I stopped paying attention.
Focus.
“A few months ago, Emlyn reported her health was improving. We ordered him to get closer, to discover more. He couldn’t approach my mother because she would know him, so he went through Caeo’s friend, Reid, instead. He likely would have gone through Caeo himself, except he was already smitten with someone else.”
The fire in Taran’s green eyes burns into mine. “You.”
It ignites a heat within me, but I bury it down—fae charm. I can’t fall for it. “What are you talking about?”
“You don’t remember Caeo because of your curse. He went to the Equinox Ball with you. That’s why you can’t recall it. Emlyn spotted the curse and helped Reid notice it, which allowed the two of you to form some semblance of a real relationship.
“We suspected my mother cursed both of you because she planned to return to Aedys with Caeo and didn’t want his love for you to get in the way. That was practically confirmed when my father was assassinated.” Taran’s gaze drifts away, his lips pressing together. A moment later, his eyes flick back to me. “I fled, meeting Emlyn halfway to Haven, and he informed me that the queen and my brother had disappeared.”
“And you decided to abduct me?”
“Yes. My brother loves you, and I’m hoping that will help him see the truth our mother has hidden from him. Otherwise…” His face darkens as he trails off, then he swallows. “Otherwise, if he won’t listen, I may be forced to kill him. And my mother.”
After a moment of silence, he clears his throat. “What’s the last thing I told you?”
I blink, startled by the question.
“Uh… that your father ended the Border Wars, and the queen went to Haven.”
Taran squeezes his eyes shut. “How many pages had you filled with marks?”
“One.”
He opens his eyes and gestures at my sketchbook. My eyes widen attwo and a halfpages full of marks.
I flip back and forth through the pages. “What? How is that possible?”
