“Leave us, Valen,” the prince commanded, and without needing to be told twice, the guard scurried off down the corridor. Arenn then shifted his attention back to me. With a sincere, apologetic look, he said, “I’m so very sorry for what happened with your friend today. If there was a ritual that could turn back time, I would gladly start this whole night over again.”
I shook my head. “It’s not your fault. Like you said before, our arrival wasn’t exactly peaceful.”
He nodded, then glanced at Raena, who was struggling to hold her dozing head up with her hand. “Still, there are ways we could’ve handled it better.”
Guilt gnawed at my insides. I should’ve never, ever brought her here. The Raena I knew wouldn’t squash a fly for fear of it staining her gown, yet just a few hours ago, she was prepared to stab a living, breathing faery to protect me. And only the Ancients know what went on in her cell while I was fast asleep. My chest tightened as dark thoughts crept into my mind. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her.
“We should be leaving now. I need to take her home to Drothmore,” I decided, taking Raena’s limp arm in mine.
The prince nodded, although his jaw seemed to tense at my words. “That is understandable. I’ll escort you both to the gates.”
We walked mostly in silence back through the palace and then through the streets of the underground faery kingdom. Even though it was night up above, there were so many different faeries wandering down the winding cobbled roads. I wanted to ask Prince Arenn if perhaps faery magic was more active at night, but instead, I spent most of the walk consoling Raena, who wobbled and groaned with every step. Still, the fact that we were walking rather than frantically sprinting to escape angry guards allowed me to finally appreciate more of the wonder of this place. The gigantic domed ceiling must’ve been at least 50 metres into the air, and to add to the illusion, the same violet orbs from the hallways were scattered across the muddy sky like stars. The terraced faery houses all seemed to be made of different unusual materials, too. Metals and crystals that I had never seen before were packed together with dirt to form bricks that glistened and sparkled under the light of the violet stars.
When we finally reached the same round gates that Raena and I had crashed through just hours before, Arenn stopped and bowed respectfully towards me.
“It’s been an enchanting night meeting you, Princess Naria. And not one I will forget any time soon.” He lifted his head to present me with a charming smile.
“Likewise, Prince Arenn.” I tilted my chin back at him, hoping that Raena – who was still latched onto my arm – couldn’t feel how much my traitorous heart had leapt. When he looked at me like that, it was very easy to forget that our initial introduction had been anything but enchanting.
“Promise me you will return soon? There is so much of our kingdom that I would love to share with you.” A flicker of something danced across his amber eyes. It made my knees feel weak.
“I can’t say how soon I will return.” I steadied my voice. “But I will certainly try to visit here again before your ball in two weeks.”
“Ah, I trust you will be busy with your foolish prince?”
“Prince Lukas does not own me,” I laughed. “But I have already been avoiding him long enough, and he will certainly start to grow suspicious if my room is empty every night.”
Arenn propped himself against the wooden door as his voice slipped into a darker tone. “Do you not fear what he will do if he finds out that you’re sneaking away to spend the night with a faery?”
A shudder slipped over me. In truth, I hadn’t let myself think about what might happen if Lukas learnt about my secret midnight visit to Faelenna. Then again, considering how he seemed to have no issues tormenting or humiliating me, perhaps I would be doing him a favour by finding a more suitable future husband. Clearly, he was under the impression that there was nothing Corlixir could ever do for Drothmore. And he certainly didn’t seem to have any romantic interest in me, unless he had a very funny way of showing it…
“I couldn’t care less how he might feel about my visit here tonight,” I huffed. “I have already made it clear to him that if he cannot help my kingdom then I will have to seek help elsewhere.”
“And how did he take that?” Arenn prompted with a grin, folding his arms across his chest.
“Not very well,” I admitted, as visions of roses, furious princes, and copper-haired beauties flooded my mind. “As I said though, he does not own me. I am an orphaned princess of afallen kingdom, so technically, nobody can tell me what to do.”
“Such determination,” the prince mused, his smile widening. “But you should still be careful… Even if you believe he cannot force you to do anything, you should never underestimate what jealousy can do to a man, especially a prince.” Another shadow flickered across his lips.
I opened my mouth to reply, but was interrupted when Raena groaned loudly into my shoulder. Wincing, I gave Arenn an apologetic look. “We should be going. I fear if we don’t leave now, then Lady Raena might not make it back through the forest.”
“She will be fine in the morning,” Arenn assured me before he knocked twice on the huge gates. Slowly, they creaked open to reveal the familiar dirt tunnel on the other side.
“Farewell, Prince Arenn.” I dipped my head before steering Raena back towards the narrow steps that led to the outside world.
“Until we meet again, little human,” the prince replied. Then, with a parting smile, he disappeared into the crowd of faeries I hadn’t even noticed had gathered around us.
CHAPTER 16
Outside, the air was much cooler than beneath the willow tree. I cursed under my breath as we stepped through the curtain of low-hanging leaves to see that dawn was fast approaching. I must’ve been unconscious for much longer than I had anticipated. By the time we reached the clearing, the night sky had faded to a muted blue and birds were beginning to sing amongst the trees.
“We must be quick, Raena,” I urged as we rushed through the tall grass.
Erik spotted us first, calling out to Theo, who was resting against a tree.
“Look who finally made it back,” he huffed. “We were beginning to suspect that the wolves had eaten you.”
“Thank you for waiting.” I shuffled closer, still holding onto Raena, who by this point was struggling to stand.
