That hard thing in my gut turned to white hot anger. I stepped toward him. “The people you took while I watched were far from despicable. They were good—one was only a child. Yet your people hauled them, kicking and screaming, away from their families. So, I ask again, how does your father feel about you running around with that type of person?”
Prince Fergus swallowed, his eyes dropping to the ground. A cool breeze blew through the woods, bringing autumn leaves of red and orange down from the trees above. The farther we’d traveled into the woods, the more like autumn it appeared.
“The king doesn’t know?” My voice was a whisper as I considered what this meant.
There was a long silence. A muscle in his jaw worked, and he turned away, speaking into the woods. “No one knows. Except my sister, the rest of the Wild Hunt. And now you.”
My heart gave a little leap, and I worked to keep the smile from my face. I was saved, unless he wanted his dirty little secret shared with everyone I came across while he held me here in Faery. “Good.” I gave a brisk nod, moving to stand next to him. “Then you’ll be returning me home.”
His head shot up. “Pardon me?” He spoke slowly, his tone dangerous. I had no doubt he knew exactly what I was suggesting.
I met his eyes, no longer frightened of him. If his secret was as big as it seemed, he’d do whatever it took to keep me quiet. “Now that I can share your secret with the entire world, you’ll be wanting to return me to my old life to buy my silence.”
The step he took toward me was menacing. “You think…” He paused, swallowed loudly, and then continued to speak through gritted teeth. “You think I’ll allow you to return to your home? That I’ll risk leaving you there in the hope you won’t tell everyone what you’ve learned today? Or that knowing what you now know makes a scrap of difference?” He shook his head, leaning over me with flared nostrils. “I could end your life in a moment.” He clicked his fingers, the movement casual and cold at the same time.
I squared my jaw, trying to mask all emotion on my face. Put like that, I was now in a worse position than I’d been moments ago. If he was going to kill me—and it was looking likely—I would keep fighting until my last breath. “Send me home and I’ll never breathe a word to anyone.”
“I don’t trust you.” He glared down his nose.
The feeling was mutual. I drew myself up. “Nor I you. But if you keep me here in Faery and make me marry you just so you can become king, I will tell everyone we come across that you are Xion Starguard.” It wasn’t like I had anything to lose. Chances were, he would kill me either way.
He shook his head, his lips curling into a sneer that looked exactly like the sneer on Xion Starguard’s mask. “Who would believe you? You’re nothing but human scum. I am the Prince of Unseelie.”
My heart raced and my hands shook. He had to be bluffing. If he wanted to kill me, he’d have done so already. He needed to make a deal with me if he wanted this to remain a secret. And I was certain he very much wanted that. “They don’t have to believe. I only have to create the smallest hint of doubt in the smallest pocket of people. Once I do, you’ll be watched like a hawk until you finally make a mistake and show everyone that the human scum was correct.” He stared at me, nostrils flaring. I pointed my finger at his chest. “You know I’m right.”
The tightness around his lips softened. “I will not make you marry me. We’re not bonded. I lied about that.”
My mouth dropped open. It wasn’t that his confession wasn’t pleasing, more that I couldn’t imagine why he’d say such a thing. “Why would you do that?”
“For many reasons. None of which concern you.” He shook his head, his eyes moving across my face. “What exactly are you hiding from?”
I lifted my eyebrows. This was a change in the conversation's direction that I hadn’t expected, and a question with an obvious answer given he’d kidnapped me. “You, of course.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Me?”
“Why are you surprised? As Xion Starguard, you came to my home, killed my father, injured my mother and took my best friend’s baby brother. As Fergus Blackwood, you decided you wanted to marry me without ever speaking to me or asking consent…” I paused and turned away from him as a horrible notion wriggling into my brain. “Tell me it wasn’t you I danced with at the masquerade?” Surely it couldn’t have been. He was alone. And the man with the circlet on his head had looked more like a prince than the man I danced with at the ball.
He was silent.
I met his eyes, knowing the answer. The eyes I was staring at right now were the same color as the eyes of the dark-haired fae. Then there was the medicine for Mother. Only those with the strongest magic could help her, and as a royal, Fergus Blackwood would be one of the strongest fae in the Unseelie kingdom. “It was you.”
He licked his lips. Not an admission. Or a denial.
If he wouldn’t deny it, I would. “No. You had a circle of women around you, all elbowing their way forward to claim the next dance. You danced with them. Not me.”
He drew in a long breath, looking off into the growing darkness of the woods to my left. “That was my best friend, Jax. He has … magic … that can make him look like me. He enjoys the dancing and the women, whereas I hate it.”
I shook my head. None of what he was saying added up to equal anything I knew about him. “You leave a string of women in your wake everywhere you go. Everyone knows it. That masquerade was your perfect party.”
He turned away, taking a few steps and running his hands through his black hair.
“Why would you hide that way, Prince Fergus?” This made no sense. That masquerade was all about him. Why would he have someone else take his place?
He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He turned, his eyes going to the mask I’d knocked from his face, still lying on the red and orange leaves where it had fallen. “Knowing what you do about me, is there no reason you know that might take me away night after night? A reason I might want no one to know about.”
The pieces fell into place. “You pretend to be with a different woman each night so you can go with the Wild Hunt?” My eyebrows rose. How he must love the Wild Hunt. “Don’t the women get mad? Don’t they tell everyone?” We didn’t know each other well enough for this conversation, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking. It was all so outrageous, yet I could feel the truth of it.
“I think they wonder if there was something wrong with them that caused me to leave before anything happened between us. They know there have been many women before them and all of them claim to have had the best night of their lives. They don’t want to be the only one who failed.” He smirked. “And I never kiss and tell what happens—or doesn’t happen—between us.” He looked me over. “While we’re sharing secrets…” he paused like he didn’t want to speak, before forcing the words from his mouth. “I know you are one of us. Fae.”
I snorted. “Did you drink too much faery wine? Because…” I shook my head. “No. Just, no.” His suggestion was so far from possible that I couldn’t even list all the reasons it wasn’t true.
His gaze was solemn. “This isn’t just a feeling. Nor is it a game. I know you are. Without the shadow of a doubt.”
This time when I shook my head, it was with less force. I wasn’t fae. It was something I knew with complete certainty. But his confidence made my belief waver. “I’m really not.” My mind worked in a hundred directions, trying to find his reason for saying such a thing. “If this is about the pretend ears and us getting married—”
“It’s not about that,” he snapped, walking away and stopping to stare into the darkening woods. “You removed my mask.” His voice softened, so I almost couldn’t hear it above the rush of the wind in the trees.
This was dramatics. Removing his mask proved nothing. “It was only a mask.” And it wasn’t like I’d tried to do it. “It pretty much slipped off of its own accord. Anyone could have done it.”
“So why could I?” He was making things up to suit his own agenda.
He shook his head. “Believe me, that is something you don’t want to know.”
I shrugged. Fine. If it wasn’t a big enough deal to tell me all the details, then it wasn’t a big deal at all. “Perhaps you’re just not as good at spells as you believe you are.” I didn’t even know why I was debating this with him. I wasn’t fae.
He stalked toward me, his graceful movements marking him as the lethal hunter that terrorized our villages night after night. Even without the mask, it took all my resolve not to shrink away. “I am one of the strongest fae in all of Faery. My ability to weave spells is not the issue here.”
I drew myself up. “And I am not fae. So go find yourself some other explanation.” I snapped at him the way he was snapping at me. This wasn’t up for discussion. Whatever he was trying to trick me into wouldn’t work.
His arm shot out and he clamped his hand onto my chin and turned my head until he could see my left ear. All my life I’d been told the deformity was a birth defect, that there was nothing anyone could have done about it. But with Prince Fergus staring at the mess that was my left ear, another idea—one I didn’t want to consider—surfaced.
What if I wasn’t born this way? What if Fergus was right, and I was fae? Could Mother or Father have done this to me? Perhaps they’d found me wandering the woods alone as a child and had taken me in. Of course, they would have gotten rid of the ears. Had they not, everyone would have known they were bringing up a fae child. I shook my head, speaking as much for my benefit as his. “You’re wrong. I’m not fae, and my parents would never have done whatever you’re suggesting.” I pulled from his grasp.
He dragged his hands down his face, his voice softening. “I’m not lying to you.” He frowned, eyes running over me like it was the first time he’d seen me. “What’s your name?”
“Bria. Tremaine.”
He inclined his head. “I’m not lying to you, Bria Tremaine. There is no possible way for humans to remove the masks of the Wild Hunt. And there are only a handful of fae able to do it. It’s one of the best parts of the job for me. No chance of ever getting found out.” His lips quirked into the smallest of smiles, gone almost before it appeared.
“Until me.”
The ghost of a smile ran across his face again. “Yes. Until you.”
I shook my head, unsure if I was trying to convince myself or him. “I can’t be fae. I’ve been to Faery only one other time, and that was the night of the masquerade. And I have no magic.” I turned to him, trying—and failing—to hide the desperation from my voice. “I’d know if I had magic, right?”
“Usually. But if you’ve lived all your life away from Faery, perhaps your magic hasn’t had the chance to mature. Also, the longer you spend away from Faery, the weaker your magic grows. So, I guess there’s a chance that it’s too weak to notice.”
I shook my head again. I couldn’t be.
“You never suspected?” He tilted his head to the side as if he couldn’t see how that was possible.
“I had no reason to. Still don’t.” I didn’t believe. I wasn’t fae. But my ears…
He moved a step closer, sympathy filling his eyes. “Could either of your parents be fae?” The implication was obvious. If one parent was fae, I was, too.
I shrugged. “You tell me. You killed them both.”
“To be fair, I didn’t kill your mother. The magic I used when she was injured would have caused an infection that would keep her from healing properly.”
An image of Mother lying in her bed hit me in the heart. She might have taken her last breath already, while I was standing here with the uncaring fae who had done it to her. “You’re an ass, did anyone ever tell you that?”
“I don’t believe anyone ever dared.” His lips flickered. “I am a prince, you know.”
His voice seemed light, and though I thought he might have been joking, his reminder hit the mark. I might try to barter for my life, but the prince could end me with the click of his fingers. Probably literally. Tears welled in my eyes.
As I told myself to get a grip, he shuffled his feet, leaves crackling beneath them. “Sorry. That was insensitive. It’s a nasty habit of mine.” Fergus Blackwood was an insensitive dick; it wasn’t exactly breaking news.
“Please let me go back home. Allow me to be with Mother in her last days.” I hated the way my voice broke, but I couldn’t stop it. Because of him, I was desperate and running out of options.
He shook his head, an apologetic smile on his lips. “I can’t do that.”
I blew out a breath. “You mean, you won’t do that.”
“Can’t. Won’t. Same thing.” He lifted a shoulder. “The rest of the Wild Hunt is still searching for the girl who fits the shoe.”
“So, call them off. Tell them you found me. Tell them you don’t like me after all, that I annoyed you and you killed me.” Option after option spilled from my mouth in my desperation to see Mother again.
“And when someone realizes you are still living at your cottage in Holbeck, how do you think that will work out for either of us?”
Not well. For me, anyway. I felt like a trapped animal looking into the eyes of my future killer. And that made me lash out. “Or is it that the Wild Hunt won’t listen to you?”
His jaw stiffened almost imperceptibly. “They listen.” The edge returned to his voice. Not as pronounced as earlier and gone after another deep sigh. “I just … may have piqued the king’s interest by stealing you away into Faery and hiding from the Wild Hunt for the past few hours.” The final words were a mumble. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground.
“What, exactly, does piqued the king’s interest mean?” Because it didn’t sound good to me.
“It means that he’ll want to know where I’ve taken you and why. And he won’t stop until he finds out. Most likely starting with questioning your family and friends.” He stared at me a moment and his eyes rounded as if he’d just realized something. “Did you use the potion I gave you at the masquerade?”
I nodded, my voice growing snarky. “Of course. On Mother.”
He let out a loud curse. “It didn’t work.” He shook his head, his pacing becoming brisk.
It was a statement rather than a question, but I answered anyway. “Mother’s worse than ever in case you hadn’t figured that out. Thanks for asking.”
He swallowed. “I thought … you said…” He shook his head, stopping still. “If she were human, she’d be cured. You said she was human. You said it was for a man.” I couldn’t decipher the tone in his voice. Desperation? Regret?
“She is human.” How many ways did I have to say it?
“But her condition hasn’t improved.” He wasn’t asking a question, yet I had the sense he wanted me to disagree, to tell him I was joking and she was better.
There was nothing to disagree with. I shook my head.
Fergus began pacing again. Four steps past me along the wooded trail, four steps back. Even though night was almost here, he didn’t trip in the darkness. “That potion used on someone of fae birth only hastens their end.”
My eyebrows rose. “Hastens their end? You mean the potion is killing her? And I can’t be with her while she dies?”
He lifted a shoulder, a picture of fae arrogance. “She was going to die anyway without the potion. Humans have no way to heal fae magic.”
He didn’t need to spell that out. I knew without a doubt that I had to get back to her. I licked my lips. “Prince Fergus, please let me go to Mother. I just want to be with her when she passes. After that,” I shrugged. “I’ll come back and do whatever you ask of me here in Faery. Get married. Prove I’m fae—or not. Anything.” My voice died. “Just let me
go to Mother.”
He frowned. “You want to watch her die?”
“I want to be there to make her comfortable in her last hours. Is that so hard to understand? I’m sure you’d want the same, and that you’d use your immense power to ensure no one stopped you if you found yourself in my position.”
“Huh.” He looked out past me into the dark woods.
I waited for him to say more, but he seemed uninclined. I took it as encouragement. “You don’t have to take me. I’ll walk. Just point me in the right direction.” Said aloud, that didn’t sound quite the same as in my head. It sounded like I was trying to escape again. “Or you can come with me.” Just let me go back to Mother. Please.
He stared into the darkness of the woods as he spoke. “Why don’t you ask me for your mother’s life?”
I blinked. “I didn’t realize I was in a position to bargain.” It was a question worded as a statement. “But if that’s an option, I’ll do anything. If you can save her, name your price.”
Fergus turned to me. “Remember how I said we had piqued the king’s interest?”
“I believe you said it was you who had done that.”
“Quite.” He closed his eyes in agreement. “I think we may both be of interest to the king at this moment. He noticed you at the masquerade.” Fergus lifted an eyebrow. “Acting strangely. He might not know your name, but you can bet he’s trying to find out. Then, Xion Starguard goes searching for his son’s future bride—the same girl who created a fuss at the masquerade—and disappears. No one in the Wild Hunt has seen him in hours.” He watched me, waiting while I connected the dots.
“The king thinks I’m … dangerous?”
“Who knows what the king thinks?” There was a trace of bitterness in Fergus’ voice. “You can be sure he’s thinking about you though, trying to work out if you’re friend or foe. I also have this strange…” He shook his head. “I don’t know. Whenever I think about your cottage, I get this…” He put his hand to his stomach. “Tight feeling in my stomach. Like something is wrong.” He blew out a breath, some tension in his shoulders going with it.
Kingdom of Yesterday's Lies (Royals of Faery Book 1) Page 8
