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I tore through the servants’ halls, wishing I could slam my hands over my ears to drown out the screams from downstairs. I’d dropped the thread of time the moment I’d made it to the first set of stairs. I
wouldn’t be surprised if the nobility were screaming over the loss of their jewels and not the sudden appearance of the king’s assessor’s corpse.
By the time I got close to the queen’s chambers, the guards had already abandoned their post, likely rushing downstairs in an attempt to protect the queen.
Pushing open her door, I crossed the sitting room in three steps and dragged an armchair over to the queen’s mirror. Hopping up onto the chair, I studied the blue stone. The middle of the jewel was a blue so dark it looked almost black, while the outside was so light, it seemed to melt into the whorled silver of the mirror’s edge. I pushed it out of the silver casing, and it slipped free easily. The mirror’s edge had cleverly hidden the top of the stone and the long silver chain connected to it. The stone glinted in the light, strangely warm in my hand.
“I knew you would come here.”
I jolted, almost falling off the chair.
Auria stood between me and the door. The innocent smile was gone, and in its place was a wide grin that didn’t reach her eyes.
She’d…changed. Her face was almost unrecognizable without its guileless, good-humored expression.
My head spun. This was very, very bad. I needed to kill time. Needed to find a way out of this. “What do you mean?” I slowly climbed down from the chair.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice your hair growing in a lighter color at the roots? Or your eyes turning that strange shade before you changed your necklace?” She took a step closer. “I notice everything,” she hissed. “The king has already rewarded me for my loyalty. And I look forward to watching you burn.”
Panic clawed at me. I pulled on the threads of time. But nothing happened.
Auria smiled. “Attempting your corrupt tricks? They don’t work on me.
I’ve been truly blessed by the gods.”
A null. Auria was a null. That was why magic didn’t work on her. Because her own power was always bubbling under the surface, repelling other magic like a living shield.
“There’s a cell waiting for you, Setella. It’s the same one Wila sat in before she died. I thought you’d enjoy feeling close to her during your final hours.”
I caught a trace of movement in the hall behind her. My heart was so loud in my ears, I could barely hear her words. But I kept my gaze on her face.
Distract her.
“You’re one of the king’s spiders.”
She laughed. “Like in the old stories? King’s spiders don’t know they’re spiders, idiot. And they’re positioned in foreign courts until they’re needed. I knew what I was doing the whole time. Because the corrupt need to burn for their sins.”
She crumpled to the floor.
I pulled my knife, but it was Madinia who stood behind Auria’s unconscious form, a vase in her hand.
For a moment, the world went dark at the edges, and I leaned against the wall. Alive. Madinia was alive. And she’d just saved my life.
She was supposed to have gotten in one of the carriages with the others. But instead, she stood in front of me with a black eye, her face and neck covered in blood.
“What happened?”
Madinia stepped over Auria. “Davis knew I was planning something. The moment we got near the carriages, he changed.” She shuddered, and for a moment, I thought she might cry. But her eyes narrowed instead. “I killed him.” Her eyes fired, and pure challenge drenched her voice.
“I hope you made him suffer.” I slipped the amulet over my head and tucked it into my dress.
She hiccupped out a laugh. “I asked him to show me how the carriages worked, just like we planned. And once the map was keyed to his power, I was able send the carriages wherever I chose. He even let me practice on one of the carriages near the stables.”
“Then he was an idiot as well as a predator.” And he’d gotten what he’d had coming to him.
“We need to go,” she said, and it was clear that was the end of the discussion. “The hybrids are halfway to the city walls already.”
“I know. One moment.” I bolted to the queen’s bedroom and threw open her door. Most of her jewels were kept locked in a room with guards posted permanently outside. But the queen liked to have a few of her favorites within reach.
I hesitated.
But my memory kindly provided me with a reminder of the way the queen had slapped Wila across the face. The way she had allowed her to burn for what had appeared to be an accident.
I ripped a satchel from the queen’s closet and swept my hand over the dresser. Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, a ruby the size of a duck’s egg, diamond and sapphire hair combs, an emerald diadem, even a heavy jeweled crown went into the bag. I slung it crosswise over my shoulder and grinned at the portrait of the queen on the wall. “The rebellion thanks you for your donation to our cause.”
“Hurry, Prisca.” Madinia tugged on my arm. Downstairs, the screaming was continuing. But it had changed—enough that it was evident the guards were establishing some level of order.
That meant we needed to move. “Are you ready?” I asked.
Madinia nodded. “Horses are saddled.” She threw open the door, and we hurtled down the main hall, toward the servants’ quarters. We took the back stairs—the ones Daselis had ensured would be clear, the servants nowhere to be seen.
Now.
I reached for the last tiny thread of my power. It was slippery—as if covered in blood. But I clasped it tightly.
Just a little longer.
Madinia had made certain two horses were tied directly outside of the back entrance, and I launched myself toward the closest mare.
The black panels of my dress parted easily as I mounted. I wished I’d remembered boots, but there was nothing I could do except turn the horse toward the gate and hold on, the outside of my vision dotted with dark spots.
“If I fall from this horse, you get to the Gromalian prince,” I called to Madinia.
She sent me a horrified look, her horse breaking into a canter next to mine. I threw her the satchel holding the jewels, and she caught them, tucking them away beneath her own cloak. I trusted her enough now. Knew if I went down, she would make sure the other hybrids could start a new life.
That thread of my power slipped again. Thankfully, we’d made it out of the castle grounds. But my chances of making it to the city walls were not high. I felt as if I was looking at the world from thousands of foot-spans away. My ears rang incessantly, and my breaths were shallow, weak.
I would hide here in the city if I had to. As long as I could crawl into an alley somewhere to rest, I could get back to the—
“The slums are burning!” Screams sounded as we tore through the streets. My horse reared, pawing at the air as someone darted in front, a bucket of water in his hand. I slid, almost losing my seat. “You can’t go that way,” he shouted. “Someone lit a building on fire.”
“Which building?”
“The old orphanage.”
Nausea swept through me in a wave. Madinia’s eyes met mine. “The rebels,” she said. “That’s their building, isn’t it?”
Yes. And it was no coincidence that it was burning. “We need to get there.”
“It’s too late. If the king ordered it destroyed, it will be heavily guarded.”
“I can’t just leave them there!” “They might have gotten out.”
My mind provided me images of Margie, trapped in her kitchen—of the others, burning to death in their common room.
No. No, no, no. We had to go back.
Someone grabbed Madinia’s reins. We were both dressed in finery, riding the king’s best horses on the outskirts of the slums. That made us targets. I yanked the thread of time toward me, leaned over, and ripped the reins from his hand.
Time resumed before I could do much more.
The man choked out a scream, turning to flee. I wavered on the horse, all sound dimming. Then we were moving once more. “Stop,” I croaked out.
“You’re about to pass out,” Madinia snarled. “Just hold on.”
She’d taken my reins, spurring my horse on. I buried my hands in the horse’s mane and clutched tightly as Madinia took over our escape.
I had a bad feeling.
If the king had been in the castle, he would have been summoned by all the screaming.
That meant that he was at the city walls.
Madinia whirled as we cantered down a side street, only to find the next street we needed was blocked. For someone who spent most of her time in the castle, she’d managed to memorize plenty of routes to the city walls. Time and time again, we reached streets that were blocked, and she was able to take us in a new direction, until the city gates finally came into sight. My horse broke into a gallop with no encouragement from me, and the click-clack of hooves on stone was the only sound for the next few moments. I swayed once more, forcing myself to bend low, almost hugging the horse.
Sabium would be waiting at those walls. Where everyone I loved was gathered in one place.
I crouched in the saddle, my heart beating hard enough to crack my ribs. We hurtled through the gates and into chaos.
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The world narrowed, but I saw everything with my next breath.
The king, surrounded by guards, Farrow kneeling at his feet. Strange, tall women who looked like they were made of stone, standing behind the king. Lorian, fifty foot-spans away, positioned shoulder-to-shoulder with the other mercenaries. My brothers—both of them—flanking Asinia. Three hundred other prisoners positioned behind them, all of them standing next to their carriages with their hands in the air.
Among them were Vicer, Margie, and some of the other rebels. I turned my attention back to the king.
Farrow’s eyes met mine, and then his gaze slid to Madinia’s, wide and filled with sorrow.
“Please,” Madinia choked out, and the king smiled.
With the swing of his guard’s sword, Farrow’s head rolled to the ground.
Madinia screamed and screamed.
I was out of energy. Out of magic. Out of everything. But I snatched my reins from Madinia’s hands, turned my horse, and galloped across the wide expanse in front of the city. Toward Lorian.
“Aim!” the king shouted, and I felt hundreds of arrows turned on me. Any moment now, they would fire, and if I was lucky, I would die instantly. If I wasn’t, I would be pierced through, forced to choke on my last breaths.
Lorian roared my name. It was a sound that seemed to be ripped from his soul.
All I could see was his face. All I could feel was the amulet I ripped from my neck, the stone heating up in my hand. All I could hear was Sabium laughing, that rough chuckle I’d always loathed.
But the king’s laugh was drowned out by the memory of Lorian’s voice in my head. Of our vow. “None of your prisoners will live unless you give me that amulet.”
I lifted my hand. Lorian’s eyes blazed into mine.
The amulet seemed to suck in the light. Behind me, the king’s laughter turned to a wrathful scream.
I threw the amulet toward Lorian with everything I had, hunching my shoulders against the pain I knew would encompass my final moments.
Lorian caught the amulet in his hand. And he laughed—a wild, exultant laugh.
Dread exploded in my stomach.
Lorian was somehow growing bigger before my eyes. Distantly, I could hear Asinia screaming something. But I couldn’t make it out over the sound of thunder.
Lightning lit up the sky.
Lorian’s ears grew longer. Longer and pointed. His eyes were no longer that familiar forest green. No, they blazed emerald, his irises silver.
Fae.
He was fae.
I’d thought he was a hybrid. Like me. Thought we were fighting for the same cause.
Something deep inside my chest cracked open, and I gasped at the pain. Lorian’s eyes met mine once more. As if he’d somehow heard that intake of breath.
“Fae scum,” the king roared. “You will burn for your deception!”
Lorian smiled—that slow, feral killing smile. I slid off the horse and turned back toward King Sabium, my knees so weak I stumbled.
I should be dead by now. But—
Lightning flashed, hitting each arrow as they flew toward us. The kind of power rumored to be nothing more than myth.
My gaze found the other mercenaries. Except they weren’t mercenaries at all. All of them were taller, broader. All had pointed ears and eyes that glowed.
It suddenly made sense. Why they were so closed-mouthed about their powers.
Rythos couldn’t just make people like him. Marth didn’t only have the ability to see glimpses of the past. These men didn’t have just one magical
ability. They had many. But their power had been hugely diminished for some reason. And they wanted it back.
Because they were fae. That was why they were here. They’d each only ever told me about their main power. I’d believed them, because I’d never expected otherwise.
A crown of lightning wreathed Lorian’s head before it became a ball of sparks, shooting at the guards once more.
“It’s the Bloodthirsty Prince!”
I bent in two, hands on my knees. It was my heart that had cracked open. It had broken so violently, I could have sworn I was bleeding out.
Lorian wasn’t just fae. He was the fae prince who had leveled Crawyth.
The fae prince who had murdered my real parents.
The hole inside me, the one I hadn’t even realized had begun to fill…it was empty once more.
“You can’t kill him yet, Lorian!” Galon roared.
The guards were still firing arrows at us. Arrows that Lorian continued to destroy with his lightning. The guards began to scatter, backing away despite the king’s roaring orders.
The stone women…exploded. Small rocks flew into the guards, causing several of them to fall to their knees.
Lorian slowly turned his head in that strange…fae way of his. I’d noticed those differences and ignored them. Ignored them, because I didn’t want to see. Ignored them, because I’d been close to falling in love with him.
The air crackled. Thunder roared. Lorian lifted a hand. And the closest guards—the ones who’d listened to the king and stayed…Lorian’s bolts struck them with one blow. A gruesome, instant death.
The king turned and kicked his horse, fleeing. Most of his guards followed him.
Lorian’s gaze was almost wistful as he watched them go. His mind likely on murder once more. But he turned away, dismounted, and prowled toward me. I felt like a rabbit that could sense a hawk circling above her, ready to strike.
Prey.
Around us, everyone was silent. It had also become strangely silent in my head, as if my thoughts were far away.
“That was a good throw,” Lorian said. As if we were in training and he was giving me advice on my form.
I ignored the compliment. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
His expression tightened. “I wanted to. But I couldn’t. It was too important.”
He gestured at Rythos and the others, who were now radiating power.
Power I’d given them with that amulet.
“I have a gift for you, Prisca.” Even Lorian’s voice sounded different.
Colder than ever.
Something in me recoiled. “I don’t want anything from you.”
A faint smile appeared on his face, and for a second, he looked so much like my Lorian that my chest ached.
“Oh, I think you want this.”
He leaned over to the closest prisoner, a young man who went still in the way of a terrified animal. Lorian put one finger to the man’s temple and burned a blue mark into it.
One identical to the priestess’s mark.
I stared at Lorian. Turned out I wasn’t too proud to take that gift. “Everyone, line up,” I called to the prisoners, my gaze still on the fae
prince.
In the end, Rythos, Marth, Galon, and Cavis helped too. With the jewels we’d stolen, and the blue marks on their temples, the hybrids could start a new life.
Tibris appeared next to me, his face white. “Did you know?” “Of course not.”
His gaze searched my face, and he gave a sharp nod. “There’s something else you need to know. Something Demos hasn’t yet told you.”
Another man in my life lying to me. But I couldn’t take much more. I’d reached my limit. “Do I need to know this information right now?”
Tibris’s gaze flicked to Lorian, and he nodded. “Tell me.”
“You’re the heir to the hybrid kingdom.”
What was he talking about? Impatience clawed at me. We didn’t have time for this. “There is no hybrid kingdom. Not anymore.”
Lorian was still watching me with those wild green eyes. “But it still existed. Your parents were the rulers.”
The hybrid kingdom was located on what was now a barren continent.
Only…
“That continent was never barren. No, the hybrid kingdom was beautiful. When your kingdom was invaded, many fled north, to the mountains. Some fled across the Sleeping Sea on merchant ships and winged creatures, landing on this continent where they crossed the Asric Pass. Thousands died. Those who lived made it to cities and villages on this continent. And they’ve remained hidden ever since.”
I fixed my gaze on Tibris in an attempt to block out Lorian’s presence. “If…if my parents were truly the rulers of the hybrid kingdom, I
wouldn’t be the heir. Demos is older than me.”
Tibris swallowed, his expression almost apologetic. “Their rules of succession specify that only those with time magic can rule.”
I’d never asked Demos about his power. I’d just assumed it was the same as mine.
My lips went numb. I turned and stared at Demos. But he was already moving, shoving Tibris into me.
Tibris let loose a vicious curse as both of us fell to the ground. Demos made a choked sound.
I pushed Tibris off me. Demos lay on the cold stone. An arrow jutted from his chest.
A high, keening sound left my throat, and I crawled toward Demos.
Sobbing, begging.
“No, no, no.” I pressed my hands against his chest, attempting to keep his blood inside his body.
I couldn’t lose him. Refused to consider the possibility. He’d spent so much time shut away from the world, freezing and hungry and in pain.
Tibris was already dropping to his knees at my side. He held his hand to Demos’s chest, his face turning gray from the strain. “I’m out. Oh gods, I’m out.”
Tibris had been healing the prisoners. I should have prepared better.
Should have made sure he wasn’t drained.
“Healer!” I screamed. “Someone get a healer!”
Demos attempted a smile, but it was fractured with his pain. “It’s okay,” he mouthed.
“Don’t try to talk.”
Tibris was watching Demos, his face stark-white. “Why would you do that?”
“She loves you. She needs you. Protect her. For me.” “You know I will.”
“No deathbed confessions,” I hissed. “No deals. You’re going to be okay.”
Demos looked at me as if he was memorizing my face. “Already so fucking proud.”
I buried my head in his neck, my tears dripping onto his skin. “Please.”
He was supposed to see the clouds. To smell the grass. To watch the sunset. He was supposed to live.
“Please,” I begged again.
A hand came down on my shoulder, and I stared up at the Bloodthirsty Prince. Lorian casually lifted his hand, aiming his lightning at the guard who’d appeared out of nowhere, crouched in the shadows behind one of the carriages.
The guard screamed as he died.
Lorian’s expression was blank, but I’d seen that look before, and it had never boded well for me.
“I have a healer,” he said.
Hope exploded throughout my chest. “Where?”
He gestured, and a man stepped forward. I recognized him. The healer who’d saved me from the poison.
“Heal him,” I begged as more blood spilled from the wound in Demos’s chest. My brother’s eyes were fluttering now, as if it was too difficult to keep them open.
“Not quite yet,” the fae prince said. I knew that tone. He wanted to negotiate.
Demos let out a strange gurgling sound, and I choked on a sob. “What do you want?”
Anything. I would give him anything.
From the way Lorian’s eyes glittered, it was clear he knew exactly that. “I will heal your brother. In return, you will come with me to my
kingdom.”
Instant denial flashed through me. Oh, how I loathed this man.
“No.” Two voices said at once. My brothers. So different, but alike in so many ways. But Demos’s voice was a mere gurgle, and blood was slipping from his lips.
“Yes,” I said, ignoring them both. “Heal him.”
Lorian’s eyes widened slightly. Had he really expected me to negotiate with him while my brother choked on his own blood?
Lorian pulled me away so the healer could get to work. I wrenched my arm free of his hand. There could be no sound worse than Demos’s screams as the arrow was pulled from his chest. But then he went silent. And that was worse.
The wound was slowly closing. The blood was no longer pooling beneath him. My knees turned weak, and I stumbled. Lorian caught my arm once more.
“Remember what you said when we parted at the city walls?”
It took me a moment to understand what he was speaking of. “In another life.”
It was as if he’d reached into my chest, clamped down on my heart, and squeezed. “This isn’t another life! This is the same life.”
“Truly? Because you’re not the same woman I met that day at the river.” “You didn’t meet me. Galon did.”
“Are you going to throw that in my face for the rest of my life?”
It hurt, sniping with him like this. Because it felt like nothing had changed. In reality, everything had.
“Yes. Every day. So, you should let me go.” “We made a deal.”
I should have known he was fae just from the number of bargains we’d made together. I knew what this was about. Now that Lorian knew I was the hybrid heir, he wanted to use me against the king.
“Why didn’t you kill Sabium?”
That muscle ticked in his cheek. “It’s not his time to die yet.” “Why not? After everything he’s done…”
He smiled. “There’s my wicked little savage.”
I just waited him out. He angled his head. “The king won’t die until I have everything I need.”
“That’s not a real answer.”
He gave a languid shrug. Those strange silver-green eyes watched me. “How did you do it? How did you hide…yourself?”
He lifted his hand to touch my cheek, and I stiffened. He dropped his hand, his fingers curling into a fist. “You can’t even say the word. Is the fact that I’m fae really that horrifying?”
“If you didn’t expect this response, you would have told me earlier.”
“You’re right.” His expression shuttered. “I knew you would react like this.”
How dare he? As if I were a bigot. “You killed my parents.”
Confusion swept over his face, and I took a step back. As usual, he just followed me.
“Crawyth,” I hissed. “I lived in Crawyth when I was just three winters old.”
His expression turned carefully neutral, and I shook my head, disgust roaring through me. “How did you hide your true form?”
He studied my face. “The vial we picked up at the Gromalian border. It was the Gromalian prince’s blood. Powerful fae can wear glamour to tamp down our appearances.” A sharp smile stretched his lips. “There are more of us in this kingdom than Sabium can imagine. But to wear the glamour of someone else? It requires blood.”
“Is the real Gromalian prince still alive?” “Yes.”
“Why did you need me to get through the city walls?”
“Even my glamoured human form would be recognizable to those who know what they’re looking for. Those who have specific instructions from Sabium. We would have figured out a plan, but it would have been risky. You made it much, much easier.”
If I went with Lorian, it would prevent me from helping the hybrids. From building a life with my friends and family. From joining the rebellion.
It would also be torture, seeing him every day. “Please don’t make me go with you.”
His expression hardened. “We made a deal.”
“This is because people believe I’m the hybrid heir, isn’t it? You and your brother…the fae king…” I choked on the words. “You want to use me somehow.”
He just watched me. “Remember how you told me you used to see me in your dreams?”
If I thought about that, I would humiliate myself and burst into tears right here. “No.”
The hint of a smile curved his lips. “Liar.” He held out his hand. “Come, Prisca. Your brother lives. Now it’s time to fulfill your end of the bargain.”
I forced myself to ignore the commotion around me. Forced myself to block out Demos’s cursing, Tibris’s frantic denials, Asinia’s weeping.
Keeping my gaze on Lorian’s face, I made a silent vow to any gods who happened to be listening. I would make the Bloodthirsty Prince pay for his lies. For everything he’d done to my family and my people.
I took a deep, steadying breath. And put my hand in his.
The End
