If anyone realised I was missing, there would be panic. I was sure Rhael would hunt me down, question my guards and confine me to my rooms. But the risk was worth a fw stolen hours.
I leaned my head back against the cool stone, sunlight filtered through a cracked stained-glass window. Red and gold light scattered across my plain green dress. I watched dust mites swirl in the light like microscopic stars over my head. Thinking of how strange my life had become in the span of a week.
I had learned that the Fae King had a sister. I had only seen her once, during one of my sessions in the main library, whilst I tried to find somewhere to hide.
She entered the room like the hot sun hitting ice. A complete opposite to what those around her were used to. Conversations around the room had stilled, the pretend reading halted as everyone strained their necks to look at her.
She was beautiful in the effortless way all fae were. Tall and slender, draped in a gown of soft blue that shimmered like water beneath sunlight. Her hair fell in deliberate glossy curls. She was lighter than Rhael, shadows did not follow her like they did him, and people smiled rather than recoiled when they saw her coming.
Her name was Olesia, from what I had heard. Although few dared use her name. ‘Princess’, ‘Your Highness’, those were safer.
She had moved past me without a glance, selecting a book before departing–as gracefully as she arrived–not pausing to give anyone a second glance. I had not expected her to notice me, the small human in the corner was surely below someone so coveted.
“Elara,” a voice sounded, cleaving the silence in two. I knew that voice, it was infuriatingly recognisable. Rhael had found me. For a moment I closed my eyes, considering the possibility of pretending not to hear him.
It did not work, I could still feel those eyes staring holes into my skin. So, I sat up slowly, the book in my lap little more than a prop. When I finally lifted my head and opened my eyes he was standing, leaning against the wooden doorframe – taking up the entire entrance – filling the already small alcove.
His silver eyes pinned me in place as though I had been caught with a dagger in my hands, aimed at his ribs. Rhael Sorenthis, destroyer of my brief bout of peace, looked ready to tear me apart.
“This part of the library is off-limits,” he said, stepping forward. His voice remained calm, there was no need for him to raise it. The words carried the full weight of his displeasure, as if his face didn't already have that mastered.
“Then you should’ve put up a sign,” I replied, folding my arms. I kept my eyes on him, even as he towered over me in the small space that was much too cramped, for the both of us.
“The door was hidden. That should have sufficed.” he said flatly, as he looked around the alcove before returning his eyes to mine. “Although the fact you are the one I find here is concerning, not that I should be surprised”
“Why? You did not think humans could read?” I asked, sarcasm dripping from my tone, my fingers tapping on the book before me. My expression mirrored the one I had seen him wear several times in the last week, one eyebrow raised, my mouth twisted in a smirk.
The truth was, we both knew I had not been reading, the book was an excuse. Not that I would ever admit that to him. I would rather read every book in both libraries before I ever admitted anything to the King of the Fae.
“No, because you are somewhere you should not be,” he sighed, his tone almost as if he was speaking to a child. I noticed hedid not ask me why I was there. It didn’t matter to him, Rhael did not care about the why.
“I am always somewhere I shouldn't be,” I replied, almost mocking him. It wasn't entirely a lie; since I was a child, I had always found myself in situations most would have found concerning. My own mother had scolded me for my ability to find chaos since the age of five. Becoming a slave had not changed that part of me.
“That…” he muttered, pinching the edge of his nose, “is precisely the problem,” he explained as if I was giving him a headache.Good. I hoped it left him aching for days.
“Charming,” I almost laughed. The bitterness of the word on my tongue, only ignited the anger I felt towards him. It was clear Rhael saw me the same as everyone else in this gilded prison did, a problem to either be fixed or removed.
If the Fae King wanted problems, there was a lot worse I could do than hiding in a dusty old library.
“Save your sharp tongue for someone who has the time to care. Perhaps it could be used on the Wolf King should he irritate you.” Rhael said coolly, his annoyance replaced by the smirk that usually meant he knew something I did not.
Upon hearing the mention of another of Alasgad’s kings, my stomach dropped. Everything about the King of Lycanthyr was said to be primal and dangerous. Humans were not even welcomed in his land as slaves, they were pests.
“Excuse me?” I asked, my eyebrows raising genuinely.
“We leave for Lycanthyr tomorrow.” he told me, leaning against a wooden pillar casually, unbothered by the dust that clung to his dark jacket.
“We?” The word caught in my throat, that sick feeling in my stomach twisted deeper, turning into dread.
“Yes. Have you forgotten our arrangement so easily?” Rhael asked, a cruel smirk forming on his lips. He enjoyed watching me squirm, as much as I enjoyed getting under his skin, and the game had just tipped into his favour.
“I never agreed,” I argued. The point was feeble and I knew it, but reminding him that I had never formally agreed to the arrangement made me feel, at least a little bit… better. Even if only for a moment.
“The coin I paid for you would suggest otherwise,” Rhael remarked. We both knew the words were unnecessary. Yet he spoke them anyway, a reminder of my position as a slave. No fancy dress or boredom within a grand castle would change that.
“Why me?” I demanded, “Surely you have advisors more suited to diplomacy?”
“You are my companion,” Rhael replied, speaking the words as if they were a simple explanation. “It would be strange to arrive without you, and the wolves see humans as lesser than even we do. You will go unnoticed. You will listen to them without speculation.”
