“Many of you learned in your Enchanting classes about boundaries,” Hemlock lectured. “You can place protective enchantments on objects, places, even people. However, only the most advanced fae can break boundaries and protective enchantments once they’ve been placed. Today, we’ll be working on breaking such boundaries.”
Hemlock began distributing old books. She waved her hand, and a collection of them levitated from her desk at the front of the room. They were placed on our desks one by one. The book that landed on my desk had to be nearly seventy years old, tattered with the cover wearing off.
“I have enchanted each of these books with a protective boundary. The boundary is very strong,” Hemlock spoke. “You can break it by identifying the root cause of the boundary. Why was it put there? What was the intention? Once you have identified the intention, the point is to make your will stronger than the will of the person who put the intention upon the object. Use your magic to feel your way around an enchantment, then call upon your powers to find the reverse of that boundary, and snap it in half.”
I concentrated on the book in front of me. I tried to open it, but found that Hemlock’s enchantment had sealed it shut. I could not turn the pages of the book without breaking the enchantment, nor could I see what was inside. I used my magic to sense that Hemlock’s intention was simply to disguise what was within the book. I called upon my curiosity at what was inside to wage war with the protective enchantment hiding the contents.
I was able to get a few pages to budge, but besides that, the book would not open. Hemlock raised an eyebrow, appearing impressed that I’d managed to open the book to the first chapter, but she moved on when I failed to go further.
I tried for the rest of the class period to break the boundary around the book, and failed. My curiosity wasn’t stronger than Hemlock’s intention to keep the book concealed, and therefore, I couldn’t break the boundary. Hemlock sent the books home with us to practice with over the week.
I put the book in my bag and rummaged through my things. I had the rest of the day off, and I needed to go into town. Emma was in class all day, and I didn’t want her getting suspicious. She’d told me last semester she needed time— needed a fun relationship before we got too serious.
Yet things had changed between us in the past few months. Emma had noticed. So had I. My brush with death had made it clear to us that time was short, and nothing in this world lasted forever.
And there came the natural inclination to make us something more.
I didn’t just want Emma to be my mate. I wanted her to be mywife. Therefore, I needed to give her an actual proposal— something she hadn’t received when I’d asked her to be my partner in the King’s Contest. The effort had been rushed, last-minute.
I wanted to do it the right way this time. With a ring, and a magical moment she’d remember.
I was nervous. Emma might not be ready for forever. She could say no. I was prolonging my time, waiting for the perfect opportunity. But when an opportune moment came, I wanted to be ready for it.
So, I needed a ring.
I didn’t have much, but I figured I might as well start looking. I wandered the snowy streets of Dolinska toward the jewelry shop, but before I got there, an unusual sight caught my eye.
A man and a woman stood in front of a shop, stacking boxes that were piled on a cart. Their eyes were glossy, with a strange shimmer in their pupils and a fogginess in their gaze that set me on edge. They moved methodically, like robots, lifting and carrying the boxes in a way that was so unnatural, it made me shudder.
Those weren’t fae. They smelled different. My shifter nose immediately caught onto the differences, and I didn’t detect any indication of magic in their blood.
All supernaturals had a different scent, but this man and woman had no sort of magical power flowing through their blood. I felt my face drain of color as I realized they werehumans.
I waved a hand in front of the man’s face. He didn’t even blink. He was clearly bewitched.
“Hey,” a shifter barked at me, poking his head out of the store. “Leave them be. They’re my property.”
Property?I didn’t have the slightest idea of what he was talking about. I backed off, and looked around for someone I knew.
Finlay was drinking from a tankard at an outside bar not too far away. He was the last person I wanted clarification from, but someone around here had to give me some answers. I slid up beside him and said, “What’s going on?”
“What do you think?” Finlay let his tankard fall with athud.He hardly glanced behind him at the man and woman stacking boxes.
“Those aren’t… humans, are they?”
“Of course they are. Don’t be daft, Ethan.”
“What are they doing in Dolinska?” I asked the question, but feared I already knew.
“They got here by faerie circles,” Finlay explained. “Fae are placing them all over the world now, to transport humans here. Fae are putting enchantments on them, to keep them contained and brainwash them into doing what they’re told.”
I felt dazed by the admission. Faerie circles were portals, cleverly disguised by rings of mushrooms or flowers. Any human who was walking in the woods that accidentally stepped into one would be transported here, to Malovia. “We haven’t abducted humans in hundreds of years.”
“Well, it looks like the king and queen are bringing that practice back.”
“Are you telling me we’reenslaving humansnow?” I dropped my voice and hissed.
Finlay raised an eyebrow and undertook a mocking tone. “What’s the big deal, Ethan? We’re just following our historical past. Our ancestors kidnapped humans for centuries. It’s a conservative ideal.”
