And then, there was a short deathly silence until a male voice cut through the heavy air.
“My my… What do we have here?”
Slowly, my eyes fluttered open, and as the darkness faded from my vision, I could see the tall, imposing figure of a dark-haired faery standing just metres away. He wasn’t wearing any armour, only a well-fitted black shirt and matching breeches. Across his chest, the black fabric of his tunic appeared to mimic scales, or perhaps leaves, each one held together by thin silver thread. These clothes were much finer than those worn by the faeries in the markets, and resting upon his head, cushioned by the thick black waves of his hair, was a smooth silver circlet.
His gaze felt hot against my skin as I remained rooted in place. I didn’t know how faery ageing worked, or if they even could age, but judging by his clear pale face, he appeared no older than twenty. His irises were a fiery amber, while his jawline could cut through steel like the edge of a thorn. And yet, despite the inhuman sharpness of his faery-like features, that perfect face could probably break more hearts than there are stars in the sky.
“Your Highness,” one of the guards surrounding us announced with a bow. My heart leapt. So this was the prince? “These girls were apprehended at the gate. One of them has a dagger.” He shuffled in place nervously. “Apparently, they’re assassins sent by the humans.” A murmur of fear rippled through the crowd of guards.
“That is not true!” I blurted out.
The prince smiled, a subtle darkness flickering across his lips. “Two human girls, and one with a dagger, just so happen to wander into Faelenna.” His voice lowered. “My dear, if you are not an assassin, then why are you here?”
“I…” I glanced around as the guards edged closer. “My name is Princess Naria. I am here to request an audience with theFaery King and Queen.” Another murmur rippled through the guards, this time one of disbelief.
“A princess? How intriguing,” he mused, his smile widening. “Tell me,Princess, what news do you bring that is important enough to disturb my parents?”
I tried to steady my beating heart as I answered, “I have come to propose the idea of some kind of alliance. My own mother and father were King and Queen of Corlixir.” The last few words seemed to send the guards into a gasping frenzy.
“Corlixir?” The prince’s eyebrows shot up, and he raised a hand to silence the guards. “Corlixir was destroyed, burnt down to ashes by the Great Blaze all those years ago.” He stalked closer, trailing long sweeping looks down my body as he began to pace around me in a small circle. “But how do we know that you speak the truth?” He leaned in, dropping his voice to a whisper. “How can you prove that you were not just sent here to drag your friend’s dagger through the heart of the King?”
Had Raena not been such a trembling mess beside me, I would’ve been resisting the urge to murder her.
“I assure you, Your Highness,” I began, gulping down the fear that had risen in my chest, “whatever happened with those two guards, was a complete misunderstanding. We come here in peace.”
“You certainly made quite a peaceful entrance,” the prince chuckled darkly as he returned to his original position. “But very well,Princess, I will take you to speak with my parents.”
“Oh, thank you tha—”
“Although—” the prince silenced my gratitude by raising his hand again – “I will need to verify your identity first, to make sure you are really who you claim to be.” For a brief second, something almost threatening flashed across his face, but I brushed any fear aside, along with all the other unwanted feelings this encounter was stirring up inside me.
“Of course,” I accepted.
The prince’s attention then snapped to a young green-skinned faery guard. “You,” he barked.
The guard straightened. “Y-yes, sire?”
“Search her.” The prince aimed a slender finger towards Raena, who quivered where she stood.
“This is quite improper!” I protested. But my complaints were completely ignored as the guard marched over and roughly patted Raena down. It didn’t take him long to extract the dagger from her cloak, slipping it into his belt.
“Want me to do that one too?” the green-skinned guard huffed, nodding in my direction.
The prince shook his head. “Take the one with the dagger to the palace dungeon. Put her in the block with the other important prisoners. You know where.”
The guard nodded and grabbed Raena, twisting her arms behind her back. She shrieked and kicked her legs wildly as he began to wrestle her away.
“Stop! Let her go!” I rushed to stop him, but before I could intervene, the prince was behind me, grabbing and twisting my own wrists just as the other guard had done to Raena.
“Don’t try anything foolish now,Princess.” He pulled me against his hard chest until I could feel the warmth of his body on my back, his breath teasing my ear. “You and your violent friend will be reunited once we’ve had our little chat…”
“Let her go, please,” I begged him.
My captor ignored my pleading, holding both my wrists with one moonlight-pale hand and using the other to run his slender fingers down my cheek. In that moment, I feared that perhaps I had left the cold, steel-eyed Prince of Drothmore for someone far more dangerous. Someone who saw no issue with manhandling a princess and her companion in the middle of the street.
“It is normally frowned upon for a royal to beg, but on you…it is quite becoming, assuming you are even a royal,” he taunted in a low voice, letting his fingers trail down my chin and neck. They paused just before my collarbone, then followed the curve of my left shoulder. “I’ve never seen a human before. Are they all as pretty as you?”
“Please, just let her go.” I tried my hardest to ignore the way my cheeks heated as I felt his lips brush my ear.
