The pavement led me around the corner and to a market area. I noticed most of the newspapers that were stacked on racks outside shops discussed a variation of topics, but the main one was Bluewater Times. That had to be the province I was in. We had provinces in Magaelor too, like Wellshadow and Mistbury, and the fae had some in Niferum as well, like Redwinter and Silverwolf. Then there was Inferis which was one of the small islands that had been divided between both.
Fae and solises were mixed within Berovia. They were not divided like Magaelor and Niferum. Morgana had always shed light onto what I had been taught at the academy. Banned papers and books gave me truth and enough information about Berovia to know I was among a different way of life here.
Each table in the small market displayed various items for sale. In between the tables lining both sides of the pavement was a bustling road. My eyes roamed the sand-coated cobbles ahead. One table caught my eye. A woman stood behind it. She had unruly black curls and wore a tight black dress. Beside her was a rail, and on it hung dresses fit for a princess. I wasn’t the only one beckoned by the beautiful fabrics. Four women were crowded at the table, looking through them.
“Hello, dear,” the woman said when I reached her stall. She cocked her head to the side, eyeing me carefully. Wrinkles stretched out from their corners and beside her nose. “Purple would look perfect on you.”
She looked unkempt compared to everyone else around us, but I automatically liked her. I wasn’t sure why. I couldn’t stop myself from leaning in closer.
“What about a nice necklace to go with the dress?”
I nodded my head and watched as she pulled down a purple dress with ruffles on the skirt, which stopped above the knees. It was in typical fae fashion, surprisingly, but I was sure it was a happy accident.
Silver tulle surrounded the bodice, and cotton black roses were sewn across the chest area. It was stunning, unlike anything I had ever owned. My mother would have a heart attack if she saw me in it.
“I’ll take it,” I said, mesmerized. I had loved dressing up since I was a child, but as I got older, the maids on my mother’s commands forbade to wear anything revealing. Everyone else did at court, but I was a princess and therefore the exception to the dress code.
The woman picked out a necklace from the jewelry stand and handed them to me.
“Fifteen gold coins.”
I furrowed my brows. That was awfully expensive. At least, in Magaelor it would be, but perhaps that was the going rate here.
I hesitated enough for her to change her offer.
“I can tell you’re not from around here.” She raised an eyebrow. “I tell you what, I’ll do them for thirteen coins, final offer. You’re practically robbing me.” She guffawed.
I reached down the front of my dress and tugged at the string on the pouch to pull it out. I dangled it in front of me before opening it. She eyed it greedily. I poured out the coins and counted them. I only had fifteen gold pieces. It wasn’t worth it, surely, to spend most of my money on a dress and jewelry, but I was pulled to give in to her.
“Hello, you.”
A hand landed on the small of my back, and the smell of honey and cloves clouded the air around us. Cedric cleared his throat.
“You didn’t make it far.” He arched an eyebrow.
Electricity pulsed through his touch, landing in my stomach.
“How… Did you follow me?” I questioned.
“She’ll give you five coins,” he told the woman, dismissing my query. “Which is already too much for hags like you who take advantage of young girls.”
She ground her teeth and landed herself in a stare-off with him, but she blinked first. She held out her hand, snubbing us both. Cedric reached into my pouch and counted five coins. He placed them into her palm and took the dress.
He threw it over his shoulder, then escorted me away from the table. In his other hand, he was holding a cardboard box large enough to fit a small animal. “You should be more careful.” He wrinkled his nose. “I can’t believe you were about to pay that much for a dress.”
I shuffled my feet. “I was about to haggle her down.” I huffed, looking away so he wouldn’t notice the redness on my face.
“Sure you were.” His eyebrows elevated. “So, where are we going?”
“We?”
“I have a place close to here if you’re looking for somewhere to dress. I told you before, you were placed in my care.”
I paused. I didn’t have anywhere to wash or dress. I supposed he could be useful, and if I were going to feign friendship with anyone, he at least seemed decent enough.
“Thank you. That’d be great.” I eyed the crown on his head. “What’s this about?”
He pointed up, then laughed. “Nothing important.”
They really did have no respect here with their fashion. In Magaelor, no one would dare wear a crown unless they were royalty. The pebbles massaged my aching feet through my soles. The sun was lowering in the sky, bringing with it a chill to the air. Thatched cottages lined the winding roads that led up to grassy hills.
“That woman…”
He grinned. “Yes. She was a witch.”
I furrowed my brows. I hadn’t heard the term “witch” used for a long time. Especially in that tone.
“Is that bad?”
He shot me a blank look. “Well, yes… You should know. Witches are bad sorcerers.”
My breath hitched as we walked up a steep rise. Witches were generally a name used for ancient sorcerers who worshipped nature. Not a slur.
I grimaced. “I see.”
We followed the steep rise before reaching a house larger than the others around it. The door was arched and painted in black gloss. The door knocker was made of brass and in the shape of a unicorn’s head. Large windows overlooked the roads and hills, and the white sheep-stone exterior made it look like it belonged on a beach somewhere. He pulled out a silver key and pushed it into the lock. The door creaked open, and he gestured me inside.
The living room was ordinary enough. A rug made from a wolf’s pelt lay center on the polished-oak floor. The walls looked the same as the outside, white and rough. He set the box he had been carrying onto a wooden table. Looking behind him, he glanced at the logs in the fireplace, which lit up in flames at his will. Fae magic had always bewitched me.
I masked my awe with a yawn and sat on one of the chairs. “What’s in there?”
He looked at me tight-lipped. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Depends,” I said, my eyes darkening. There was little point explaining that the last secret I was forced to keep was murder.
“Well, I hope you will.” He grinned from ear to ear.
There was movement happening inside the box. I waited anxiously as he untied the brown string. A pixie flew out from inside. I gasped loudly.
“How? They’re native to Magaelor!”
“I transported her,” he told me, unaware of my building rage. He watched the pixie with fascination as she flew around the room. “From Magaelor,” he said, absently. “Right under their noses.”
My lips pulled back. I inhaled slowly, pushing my rage deep into the pit of my stomach. The last time Berovians managed to get onto our shores, thousands of our people died. Cedric didn’t look like he could harm a fly, but then if he could get into Magaelor, any of them could.
“That’s illegal.” I placed my hand on my hip.
“Relax,” he said on an exhale, then reached for the pixie. Her small wings fluttered like a butterfly as she landed on Cedric’s shoulder. The pixie looked at me, then cocked her head to the side. She had almond-shaped eyes the color of tree bark, a small nose, and dusty pink cheeks. She was no bigger than a hummingbird, so a child still. They could grow to the size of an eagle by the end of their lives.
He gushed when she squeaked. “You hungry, little one?”
He reached into the bowl of apples in the middle of the table, then grabbed a rosy red one. I grabbed his wrist.
“They only eat honey and blackberries.”
He put the apple back. “And how would you know that?”
“If you’re going to import creatures illegally, you should at least know how to take care of them,” I replied, scolding him.
“Well, aren’t you full of surprises?”
I expected suspicion after my lapse in judgment to tell him about a pixie’s diet, but instead his expression intensified. I could sense the gears ticking in his brain, trying to work me out, but he was enjoying himself far too much to try to make sense of it. Fae loved chaos, games, and puzzles.
“Relax.” He let out a hearty laugh. “You’re so tense.”
I slumped my shoulders back, then twisted my knotted hair around my finger. “I’m not tense.”
“Right…” He set the pixie onto the table. “I’ll go into the market and get some berries and honey.” He looked at her. “You stay here with my other new friend.” He winked at me before leaving the house.
I sighed with relief once the door clicked shut, and I turned toward the pixie.
“You could have gotten me caught,” I told her but smiled. “But I wasn’t about to let you eat an apple.”
She looked at me appreciatively.
“Don’t worry… As soon as I get the chance and find a way back home, I’ll be taking you with me. Back to where you belong.” I placed my finger against my lips and shushed her. “But don’t you go escaping, okay? Pixies aren’t welcome over here.”
The pixie nodded, then flitted up and flew around the room before landing on the stone frame surrounding a mirror.
I leaned back in my chair. I was exhausted. My eyes burned as I tried to focus on a painting of a boat. The colors blurred into each other. My brain had gone into survival mode. My short-term memory was hazy at best, and all I could feel was adrenaline flooding me at every noise. My head throbbed as I closed my eyes and listened to the fluttering of the pixie’s wings.
I tried to push the lurking dangers from my mind. I wished I had Morgana’s capsules to help my anxiety. It was worse than ever.
I walked through an open doorway and across the stone floor until I found a bedroom. Nervousness buzzed in my fingers and arms. My breaths quickened and my heart raced. Cedric could find out who I was. The authorities could come here. I could be slaughtered in my sleep.
Fear gripped my tiredness, wiring me awake through clouded vision. I did my best to ignore the intrusive thoughts as I had learned to do over the years; it wasn’t the first time unwelcome and unlikely scenarios had plagued me.
Down feather pillows and a fluffy white blanket warmed underneath me in the king-size bed. The room was painted in a light yellow. Slices of light shone through the white voiles that hung over the shuttered windows. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of people outside, the bustles of everyday life as I slipped away. I’d shower tomorrow and plan how to get home. For now, my brain ached for the absence of thought.
EIGHT
I reached out to my brother, but his face was a blank façade. He was bleeding from his waist, but he didn’t let on that he was suffering. I waited for him to speak; I wanted to tell him I was sorry, that destiny had twisted my future with his death.
With their deaths.
I opened my mouth to talk, but Florence was already at his side, her hand knotted with his. “His blood is on your hands.” Her eyes never left mine.
“No.” I was growing more breathless by the second.
“Yes.”
I woke up covered in sweat. The white shirt I had borrowed from Cedric’s dresser clung to my back when I sat upright. I hadn’t dreamed of them in a long time. Morgana’s herbs had kept the dark thoughts away, but I didn’t have them anymore. The darkness in my mind was cracking open, and anxiety was slipping back through.
You killed him, my anxiety whispered.
I gasped to the room. “No.”
Morgana had never told me André would die, or Jasper. Just that there would be death. Had I known, I would have tried to save them.
Lies.
Fear reared its ugly head, pulling me into a downward spiral. I tried to reason, defend myself. She said they had to die for my future, but I had never asked for it. It was out of my hands. I had never wanted the crown until I had no choice.
A crown you’ve lost.
My breaths quickened, and my arms prickled as my hairs stood erect.
“Not yet. I can still go home.”
You’ll never make it home. They died for nothing.
The voice in my head was winning. I pressed my fingertips against my forehead, squeezing my eyelids shut.
Morgana had taught me to ground myself, to acknowledge the scenarios that often sent me spiraling down a hole of panic, but not accept them as truth. My brain loved to tell me I was in danger; it was its favorite pastime. Except, this time I really was.
“Facts,” I said aloud and let out a long, shaky breath. “Think about the facts.” I bit the inside of my cheek. My eyelids were still heavy. “I am in Berovia,” I whispered to myself. “I’m not dead…”
Yet, the voice inside my head replied.
I breathed deeply and clenched my trembling hands into fists. “A faery is helping you. A pixie lives here,” I whispered, trying to say anything to distract myself from my building stomachache. “You are still a princess.” I walked slowly, each step feeling lighter than the last. “Everything is going to be okay. They didn’t die for nothing. You’ve been here overnight and you’re not dead.”
My teeth chattered. I pressed against the sides of my head with my palms.
“Stop.” I swallowed repeatedly, unable to dislodge the mucus at the back of my throat.
I imagined taking one of Morgana’s pills. I recalled the rush of serenity they offered, the floating sensation that dulled over time.
I focused on the blackness behind closed eyes. I let nothingness fill my head, pulling away from flitting fears in my mind. It took several minutes, but my anxiety faded. I sat on the sofa cushions. They hugged my aching body with their fur. I shook my foot, tapping it against the rug splayed out on the wood floor.
I breathed slowly, picturing the mountains, then snowflakes drifting down onto the trees at their base. Beyond them was Niferum, a kingdom filled with glamour, enchantments, crystal lakes, and terrifying villages inhabited by feral fae.
Then there was the pointed black castle. Inside it lived Blaise, my future. Despite my personal feelings about him, he was the key. Together we could unite our two kingdoms. I had to make it home.
I exhaled a long, shaky breath and opened my eyes. My stare shifted up to the shelves. On the top shelf, next to the bay window, a photograph reflected yellow light. A woman with long golden hair and bright eyes smiled. Cedric’s arm was draped around her. The frame looked expensive; silver and purple swirls entwined around each other, forming the body of it. Based on its allure and prime location, I deduced it had to be someone important to him. Regardless, they were both gorgeous. The beauty of fae was astonishing. I wasn’t surprised that, apart from the odd exception, fae didn’t mate outside of their own.
I thought back to yesterday when I walked here with Cedric. The looks Cedric got were disapproving at best. They were fast flashes of annoyance on solises faces but transparent to anyone truly paying attention.
Maybe their kingdom wasn’t so different than Magaelor, contrary to what I had thought.
I missed home. It seemed people hid behind disguises here, and I didn’t know how to act if I couldn’t see people’s true feelings. How could I manipulate wooden puppets with no personality? Well, I guessed Cedric was an exception. I could see right through him; he was excitable, clearly reckless, and liked having a good time. That much was apparent.
The pixie, whom Cedric had named Buttercup, stretched out her little arms and yawned. She had fallen asleep on a rug in front of the fireplace.
The fire crackled and hissed as it withered to embers between charcoaled logs. Sun rays peeked t
hrough the net curtains on the windows, paling the shadows on the walls into morning.
I stood, then walked to the largest glass pane. Wool from the rug warmed my bare feet. The sun’s rays felt good on my skin. I cracked my neck and rolled my head around to alleviate the pain in my shoulders. My stomach grumbled loudly, pulling my attention to the emptiness in the pit of my belly. I dragged myself away from the heat and over to the table. I grabbed an apple, and my mouth salivated, begging for something to sedate the gnawing pain.
“I can make you something if you want.”
I jumped back a whole foot, then placed my hand against my chest when I saw Cedric’s smirk. He raised his light eyebrows.
I flashed him a hard look. “You scared me.”
He grinned. His eyes flicked up to Buttercup. “Did you sleep well, little one?”
She squeaked and flew toward him. He rubbed her head, which was covered with sprouts of white hair. I rolled my eyes and took a seat at the table. I ran my fingers along the grooves in the wood. All the furniture looked like it was shaped straight from large tree trunks. I could see the age lines and knots imprinted deep into the table, from where the branches had met the trunks.
“Berries and toast?” He chuckled. “Okay, something else. I know what I can make.”
“Hmm.” I looked up and blinked twice. I was slow this morning. “Sorry, that sounds great. I’ll eat anything right now.”
He beamed a soft-dimpled smile. His thin wings were hidden away. They could fold them against their backs, although most fae enjoyed showing them off as much as possible. Jasper had. He was like a peacock, always in competition with the other fae, on the rare occasion that more than two came to court.
“You look better rested.”
“Thank you for letting me sleep here.”
He chuckled. “Yes, well, you were exhausted. Although, I’m sure you miss home.”
The Fate of Crowns: The Complete Trilogy: A YA Epic Fantasy Boxset Page 6
