by Ann Denton
“Harm anyone I know?”
Head shake.
“Is he also under a spell?”
That got a nod.
“So, he’s human?”
That got a head waver from side to side.
“Part human?”
A nod. And the bunny took a hop forward at that.
I sighed and looked at Connor, who pulled a glowing stone out of his pocket and surreptitiously flashed it so I could see the bright light.
Dammit all. I couldn’t just hand the bunny off to some child in the crowd.
Connor had the audacity to look a little amused.
I glared at him, “I suppose we need to get back to the palace. I think Cerena needs to spend some more time with our new animal friends.”
Isla looked like she wanted to ask about the rabbit in my lap and the bird on my shoulder as we rode in a royal carriage back to the palace. But she held her tongue.
Ember, my fairy friend, was not so tactful when we trudge back into the Great Hall in the palace.
“I heard you have a whole menagerie!” she laughed, arms outstretched. “I just love animals! That winged bear I got to ride over on was just the sweetest!”
When Blue and the bunny saw Ember getting close, they both backed behind me. I couldn’t blame them. Ember was loud and boisterous. And it seemed as if, even though they were spelled people, some animal instincts kicked in for Blue and his rabbit friend.
“Sorry, Ember. I think they’re shy.” I scooped up the rabbit and Blue and walked past her. I wasn’t trying to be rude, but I was eager for Cerena to figure out a spell to change these poor people back to their original forms. There was far too much dark magic going around right now.
I left the animals with my mage, promising to pick them up at sundown.
Cerena took one look at the rabbit and Connor’s glowing stone and said, “Really? What are the odds? Two people with the same spell?” She sighed and had me put the rabbit on her work table.
Declan and Connor had followed me in, Declan with his brow furrowed. He glanced up at Cerena, “What did you just say?”
“I said, what are the odds of two of the same? Got to be the same person casting this spell, same magic—”
Declan stared at her for a second, but then latched onto my arm and Connor’s. “Thank you, Cerena! We’ll be back to check on them in a bit.”
He literally dragged Connor and I through the halls until we came to a concealed royal passage. Then he basically shoved us inside. The guards followed until we came out in the hallway leading to my chambers.
Once we were in my rooms, Connor turned to Declan and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“What are the odds?” Declan asked. “What are the odds of having two girls?”
Connor laughed. “Are you thinking about kids already? We’ve barely been—”
“What are the odds that Queen Gela had two girls?”
I waved a hand. “Everyone knows she had magical assistance. She was older. That’s the only way she could have possibly conceived—”
Declan shook his head. “No. Something feels off. I don’t know what. But something feels off about all of this.”
“About all of what?” I asked.
“Why would someone kidnap the second daughter?” Declan’s blue eyes flicked from me to Connor and back to me. “She doesn’t have magic. She isn’t the heir. Even when you left, your mother never made her the heir. So, why do they want her?”
I sucked in a breath. “What are you saying?”
“I think we need to find out more about Avia and the circumstances surrounding her birth.”
Connor had a trail of servants trickle discreetly through my sitting room, so that Isla and the other court gossips wouldn’t catch on that we were fishing for information. I couldn’t imagine the uproar if people heard what Declan had said. Or the fallout for Avia when she returned home. But we needed to know. In order to find Avia, we had to pursue every avenue.
And so, the servants came in and Connor questioned them, while Declan and I pretended to go over ledgers.
In reality, we were checking old war documents stuffed into the ledgers for tactics on fighting dragons in between the interviews. It looked like many countries used to use wizards. But, as my search of the countryside had shown, most of the wizards had killed one another or disappeared. I hadn’t been able to find one to help me with my powers. We’d have to find another way.
I glanced over as Connor worked, smoothly asking workers about their jobs as if they were up for promotion. He slid in questions about Avia with ease. I admired his silver tongue. Declan or I would probably have just outright asked the question or two we needed and raised a shite-ton of suspicion and gossip. But all these workers would leave here thinking about was the chance at a better job.
At least eight servants confirmed they’d seen my mother pregnant. But their testimony didn’t seem to sway Declan. Whenever one would leave, he insisted, “Disguise spells work for the royal family. She could have used a spell that kept her face and gave her a different body.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
He blushed but waved me off. “I research everything, Bloss. Who was in the room when Avia was born? Who was actually there? That’s who we need, Connor.”
I nearly told Connor to call off this search, because it seemed like Declan was a little ridiculous. Maybe even a little obsessive. But something about what he’d said tugged at my gut.
I’d always thought Avia had been more suited to be queen than I was. I’d always thought Mother should give her the crown. We’d had massive arguments about it when I was fourteen. And Declan was right, it was insanely unusual for a monarch to have two daughters. No other queen had two. Even Sultan Raj, who’d sat on his throne for nearly a thousand years, hadn’t had more than one daughter in the past thirty years. She’d passed away young and he hadn’t had another girl. Only his five sons.
A stone sat in the pit of my stomach, weighing me down as more servants came and proclaimed they’d seen the princess the day she’d been born.
“She was a cute, squirmy thing. A mite big for a girl, I’d say. But she had a good set of lungs on her. Screamed like a banshee!” said one old parlor maid.
We were through most of the castle servants who’d been working in the palace at the time of Avia’s birth when Connor ushered in an older woman, a midwife who said she’d been in the room. She had white hair and her lower eyelids drooped, giving her a pink rim around darting green eyes.
“Yes, I helped deliver Avia,” she said, after Connor helped her into a chair by the fire and asked the same questions he’d asked countless others.
“She was … an easy baby,” the woman stated. “Quick.”
She opened her mouth to talk more, but Connor tilted his head and studied her. “What do you mean, quick?”
I watched Connor. He’d been quiet, reading emotions throughout the afternoon. But for some reason, this woman’s slow answer had perked him up.
“Queen Gela was hardly in labor at all that night,” the midwife shook her head, “I had ordered things brought up, hot water and the like, and then … there she was. Little Princess Avia.”
Connor stood. “Thank you. Would you mind waiting here a moment? There’s someone else I’d like to bring in to speak with you.”
“Of course, My Lord,” the woman nodded and rested her head on the chair.
Connor strode out of the room without another word. Declan and I exchanged a glance.
A few minutes later, Connor was back with Cerena and my animals. The bluebird rode on Connor’s shoulder and the rabbit followed at his heels. He grabbed the bird and thrust it at me. “Here. This sarding thing shite on me when I tried to leave without him. And your damn bunny bites.”
“Blue, you naughty boy,” I took Blue as I noticed a white streak down the back of Connor’s vest.
Blue puffed up in pride. I pulled the bird close to me and said, “Now, you’re only supposed to do that to Quinn.”<
br />
Did you say my name, Dove?
Nope.
Liar.
Just be safe and get home. And tell Ryan to do the same.
He’s already flying back.
Blue settled in on my shoulder and the bunny hopped over to snuggle into my skirts where they pooled on the floor. He scratched at the silk until he’d piled it to his liking and settled in.
I sighed. Dammit. Pretty soon I’d be naming him, too. I didn’t even love animals. I’d always liked the gargoyles more. The fact that these were spelled people cuddling up to me just made me twice as uncomfortable. Cerena needed an assistant to help her break this spell. Yesterday.
My eyes followed my mage as Connor led her over to the midwife. “Mrs. Borroughs, can you please repeat what you just said?”
Connor came and stood next to me while the midwife told Cerena about the day my sister was born. I leaned toward my knight and whispered, “Why did you get Cerena?”
Connor leaned closer. And Declan bent near so he could hear. “When she spoke, her emotions went blank. It was odd. She was excited about the baby and then just blank.”
I stared at Cerena as she asked the older woman another question.
“Blank, how?” Declan asked.
“Blank, like she was spelled,” Connor’s lips thinned. “I’ve seen it once or twice before. People’s minds have been modified by a spell.”
Cerena’s eyes met mine. She nodded grimly.
Shite. Connor was right.
Cerena pulled a bottle of salt out of her pocket. “Excuse me, ma’am. But we’re about to …” Cerena looked to Connor.
“Promote you, Mrs. Burroughs,” Connor supplied. “You’ve served us so well. But we need a … confidentiality spell performed.”
The old woman gave a toothy grin and settled back into her chair, letting Cerena do as she wished.
My mage sprinkled the salt in a circle around the servant. She grabbed a candle from off a nearby table and asked the woman to hold it. And then Cerena took out a knife. She sliced her own palm, letting the blood drip onto the salt. She grabbed the old woman’s hand and raised it, placing her own bloody palm against the servant’s. She took a vial out of another pocket and said, “I’d like you to drink this. It’s called Revelation. And then I’d like you to think about the day Princess Avia was born again.”
Cerena recited a spell that made the hair on my neck rise and Blue bury his face in the high collar of my dress. A blue glow filled the room. Silver sparkles rose from the midwife’s head and morphed into outlines. Then the outlines filled in, as if a painting were being created midair. A moving painting. My mother’s chamber appeared. Three of my fathers spoke in hushed tones. And I realized we couldn’t just see, we could hear.
The view turned from the men to a fireplace with a crackling fire inside and a hand stoked the flames. We were watching things from Mrs. Borroughs’ perspective. The servant’s memories were on display. When the view turned back toward the room, a silver blur passed over everyone.
Cerena muttered to us, “That’s the spell. We’ll see if we can peer around it.” She cut her other hand and added more blood.
Though the images remained mottled, as if we were watching them through a rain-splattered window, I could see a short man pull open the door and enter the room. He had wild brown hair and a pair of goggles sat on his head. Wyle set up candles near my mother and said, “Nearly time.”
The window to the room flew open and the curtains rustled in the breeze. I watched as my father Gorg, our former spy master, landed on the windowsill and climbed into the room. He had a heavy cloak on, one that whipped in the wind as he shut the window.
“I came as quickly as I could,” he said.
My other fathers left my mother in bed and went toward Gorg.
“Well?” Lewart, my biological father, asked.
Gorg nodded and pulled off his cloak. “We did it.”
Strapped to his chest was a thick bundle of cloth. He unwound the sling from his shoulders and held out a crying baby bundled in blankets.
Lewart took the bundled baby girl and brought her to my mother.
Mother’s eyes hardly glanced at the child, though she held the babe close to her chest. Her gaze stayed pinned to Gorg. “Were you followed? Does she know?”
Gorg shook his head.
Finally, my mother looked down and the tiny pink infant in her arms. “Good.” She rocked the child a few seconds and then nodded to Wyle.
“Enchant her. She needs to look enough like Bloss that no one will ever suspect.”
The mage nodded, stepped forward, and emptied a vial over Avia’s head. Red smoke poured out.
“That was?” Mother asked.
“More permanent than a disguise spell. It was a humanity spell. I got it from a wizard years ago. He told me not to use it until I was ordered to.”
“And?” Queen Gela prompted, staring down at the squirming infant.
“It will make her appear completely non-magical. Completely human.”
Chapter Ten
For the next two days, I walked through the castle in a daze. My sister wasn’t my sister. What was more … she wasn’t human.
It also appeared my mother was a thief. Gorg had been our spy master and he’d flown in through the window with that baby.
She’d asked if he’d been followed.
To me, all of that screamed conspiracy, secrecy, theft.
Declan had argued that maybe my parents had simply adopted Avia. “Maybe she was an unwanted bastard like me.”
I thought he gave my mother too much credit for taking him in.
“There’d be paperwork,” I’d argued.
“Well, all the damned confidential paperwork that is handed down from monarch to monarch is kept with the castle mage. And since ours got blown up—” Declan shook his head.
Connor said, “Maybe her family couldn’t keep her.”
Quinn thought, Maybe her family didn’t want her.
Ryan got home, a full day and a half later than he’d originally planned because he’d spotted something to the south. But whatever was flying through the sky had been so elusive that Ryan hadn’t been able to get close. Each time he’d tried, a storm had come up and he’d been forced to land.
Ryan had heard everything that had happened from Quinn. He knew how distraught and distracted I was. So, when he saw me, even though I was in the middle of a public audience in the throne room, he swept up to my seat, scooped me up, and carried me off, shouting, “Newlywed privilege!” to the delight of every male courtier.
I was tomato-red when he set me down in my chambers. But when he kissed me, it wasn’t with the passion and ardor I expected after his newlywed claim. It was with concern. “How are you, Little Dearling?” He sat down in a chair and pulled me onto his lap.
I sighed and leaned against him, moving my head until I could hear the strong, steady beat of his heart. Ryan’s presence just made me feel safe. His hand rubbed down my back, soothing me. We sat like that for a bit.
“I can’t even imagine how I’d feel about my family if I thought they were liars,” Ryan broke the silence.
“It feels like … a huge hole in my life,” I struggled to explain it. “Or like I’m off balance.”
“We base our whole lives on the idea that our families raise us right and teach us the truth,” Ryan said. “But if you look at your knights … look at Declan, cast off; Quinn and Connor were sent away like they were burdens; it’s not true. Families don’t always do right.”
“Your family’s all right,” I pulled at the lapels on Ryan’s vest.
“They’re simple.”
“Ryan!”
“It’s not an insult. They like routine. They like predictability.”
“But you?”
I traced a finger over his jaw, where stubble was starting to creep over his cheeks and down his neck. I nuzzled his stubble and said, “I liked the monotony of farm life when I tried it. But then, I didn’t gr
ow up with it.”
“No. You didn’t.”
“Is that why you wanted to become a soldier?” I leaned back so I could look in his eyes.
Ryan gave a brief nod. “Didn’t know I’d just be trading out activities. Plowing for sword practice, weeding for walking the ramparts.”
“I’m sorry you were so bored here.”
He gave a half shrug from his reclined position and leaned in to push my hair back. “There were some perks.”
I raised my eyebrows and asked, “Really?”
“There was this one amazingly hot princess … every time she came down to the yard, I could see her little nipples tighten under her dress.” His hand trailed down and flicked one of my nipples through my green silk dress.
I sucked in a breath. My core tightened.
“And what did you think about when you saw her?”
“I used to dream about walking into my room to find that naughty little girl on her knees, waiting for me.”
I slid backward off Ryan’s lap. I stood and took a step backward until I was in the middle of the rug in front of the fireplace. Then I dropped to my knees.
My heartbeat quickened. I felt stomach-dropping anticipation. Gods, with just a few words, this man had me wet. All other thoughts flew away as I knelt in front of him. The only thing I could think about was him and what I wanted him to do to me.
Ryan smiled and stood. He kept eye contact with me as he slowly unbuttoned his vest and slid it off. When he started on the ties on his shirt, he said, “I always wanted more of a challenge out of life. I’ve always wanted to be the best. That’s something I and the other knights have in common. We all want to be the best.”
He tugged his shirt upward slowly, revealing his stacked abs one by one. I licked my lips as his pecs came into view. His nipples were already hard and tight. I wanted to bite them so badly.
He threw his shirt aside and moved casually onto his belt, smiling when he saw how quick and heavy my breathing was.
“Little Dearling, one thing you have to know is that all parents lie to their kids. My parents told me sex was a hug until I was twelve.”
“You believed it?”
