Faery Realms: Ten Magical Titles: Multi-Author Bundle of Novels & Novellas

by Rachel Morgan

  Still, Alicia couldn’t shake the feeling that she was now being escorted into the Roman legions arena where a lion would soon attack her and chew her to pieces.

  Guards stood on either side of the gates to the castle, pointing their lances forward as if in salute.

  But as soon as Alicia and her escort stepped inside the courtyard, guards rushed forth to close the gates. Just as quickly, others bolted out of the guardhouse, carrying shackles.

  “Go, Deveron!” Alicia shouted, her heart tripping with fear.

  “I promised to protect you.” Before he could transport her, two guards yanked him away from her, breaking their physical contact.

  She assumed he was trying to take her from there, but couldn’t in time, and then, though he could have still managed to save himself, he stayed for her sake.

  She fought the tears that welled up in her eyes. Angered he wouldn’t leave, then try to come back for her, she slugged one of the guards who snapped the special manacles over Deveron’s wrists.

  The guards began to drag him toward one of the towers as two others grabbed her wrists, pulling her away from him. “No!” Alicia screamed. “He brought me here. Free him at once! Without his aid, I’d still be at the sphinx castle.”

  Her words fell on deaf ears. Some smiled at her comments, others frowned.

  Grotto motioned to another guard. “Go ahead and manacle her, too.”

  “No,” the countess said, blocking the guard’s path, who took a step in Alicia’s direction. “She’s underage. She can’t fae transport.”

  So Alicia was to be a prisoner.

  The countess spoke to Alicia next. “Come. I’ll take you to my chambers where you can wash, tidy up a bit, and then I’ll escort you to see King Tibero.”

  “With a guard escort,” Grotto said.

  The countess glared at him.

  Alicia watched the direction the guards took Deveron, the northernmost tower. Somehow she had to see her mother. Maybe she could help Alicia to free Deveron. He glanced back at her before the guards shoved him inside the tower. She lunged after him, dragging her own guards a step or two before they had her under control. Her heart sank to see him shackled and roughly treated especially when she had been the cause of it. And now she felt useless to help him…for the moment.

  “What about my mother?”

  The countess guided her across the courtyard and into the main entrance of the castle. She led her into a hall and up a broad flight of stairs next. “I’m certain you’ll get to see your mother at the nooning meal.”

  “But she’s wearing a retaining collar,” Grotto said, following behind them. “To think the king’s only child would have to be prevented from using her fae magic to escape her kingdom again. And to think the king still has a soft spot for her even after she disobeyed him and married the sphinx fae.”

  Alicia stumbled on the stairs as her heart nearly gave out. Her father was a sphinx fae?

  The guards tried to lift her, but Alicia’s legs had turned to rubber again, and she collapsed, unable to go any further.

  “What’s wrong?” the countess asked. “Your face is as white as the full moon. Oh was it the fae transport that unsettled you so?”

  Alicia didn’t want to discuss her father in front of Prince Grotto, not when he was obviously angry with her for turning up at Crislis Castle and ruining his chance at ruling the kingdom. Though she doubted the king had it in mind that she would rule in his place when the time came.

  Her head swirled with confusion. She knew her father was a fae. But she’d never guessed her mother was also. Now that meant she wasn’t even half human?

  “Princess?” the countess said, trying to help her up.

  Alicia’s stomach revolted. “I’m going to be sick.”

  “Carry her to my bedchambers,” the countess ordered one of the guards.

  The man lifted Alicia off the stairs and carried her the rest of the way up and then down the hall.

  Tapestries of dragons and dragon fae hung against the stone walls. A gold carpet ran the length of the hall. And from the ceiling, crystal chandeliers lighted their way.

  “You look awfully pale,” the countess said as she ran her hand over Alicia’s arm. She motioned to another guard. “Tell the king Princess Alicia is unwell. We may take a bit longer to see him.”

  “Yes, countess,” the man said, then stalked back down the hall to the stairs.

  “She is faking it,” Grotto said.

  “Her cheeks have lost their color and her skin shimmers with a faint perspiration. Even a fully-grown fae cannot fake those kinds of symptoms.”

  She preceded Alicia into her bedchambers. “Lay her on my bed.”

  Everything was decorated in peach and forest green. But the thing that caught Alicia’s eye was a statue of a peach-colored flamingo, sitting four feet high in a corner of the room.

  The countess smiled. “Something I picked up on a visit to the human’s world.”

  She waved her fingers at the five men who had escorted them. “You are dismissed.”

  Prince Grotto countermanded her order. “Sir Trenton, you will stay with Princess Alicia at all times.”

  “Outside of my bedchambers,” the countess insisted. “The lady will wear one of my favorite gowns. So if you would, Prince Grotto and Sir Trenton…”

  The prince glared at Alicia. “You won’t leave here, unless the king wishes it. Do you understand?”

  “Deveron must be released at once! He brought me here. He didn’t harm me. You have no right throwing him in a cell,” Alicia said, her voice hot with anger.

  Grotto’s lips turned up into a wicked smile. “And what if history repeats itself? What if you were to run off with this sphinx fae and abandon your kingdom?”

  “Then you would rule, wouldn’t you?”

  A flicker of interest seemed to flash across his green eyes. Then he snarled. “You will not leave. And the sphinx fae will never have you.”

  “Where do you come up with such an unfounded assumption? He brought me here. If he wanted to keep me, he would never have come into a pit full of poisonous vipers such as yourself.”

  Grotto grinned. “That’s what your family is to you? And you’re to rule us some day? King Tibero must change his ruling or all will be lost.” He stormed out of the room with the guard on his heel.

  As soon as the guard shut the door, the countess pulled a burgundy gown from her chest. “It would be wise not to rile him, Princess. He has been horrible to live with since your mother returned.”

  “Where is my mother?”

  “Locked in her bedchambers. But word will be sent to her at once that you are safely here now. She was extremely distraught to hear the sphinx fae had imprisoned you and that they had every intention of turning you over to the Denkar, no less.”

  “My father. You can’t be serious that he is a sphinx fae.”

  “Yes. The king was furious when she eloped with your father. They’d tried to get permission from King Tibero and from his parents as well. None of them would hear of it. I don’t think any of them realized how stubborn your parents could be. But so were their families. King Tibero wouldn’t have Princess Viviana returned here by force no matter what, though his advisors advised him to.

  “Then she came here looking for you, frantic that a fae kingdom—she thought her own kind—had taken you away. When she discovered we weren’t the ones who had stolen you, it was too late. Spies like me…” Viviana grinned. “Well, we set out on our own to try to find out which kingdom held you hostage. Only I wasn’t very good at the job and got myself thrown into the prison quickly enough. You can’t imagine my delight in seeing you in the cell next to mine.”

  Alicia sat up on the bed, her stomach settling.

  “Why can’t I see her, before I see my grandfather?”

  “The king has said he doesn’t want her unduly influencing you. She told him you knew nothing about your fae heritage.”

  “No, nothing.”

 
“He realized you are not at fault for your mother’s transgressions.”

  “She loved my father,” Alicia said, furious that her grandfather would be so cruel.

  The countess helped her off the bed and out of her gown. “Yes, but in the end, he couldn’t stay with her.”

  “Why?”

  “His own people forced him to choose. They threatened to kill you and your mother if he didn’t leave and do as they said.”

  “So he did leave us to protect us.”

  The countess slipped the burgundy gown over Alicia’s head. “Yes. But your mother feared telling you. She worried you’d search for him. She wasn’t sure how the sphinx fae would treat you.”

  “I thought he was the fae and my mother human.”

  The countess’s eyes grew big, then she laughed out loud. “Human? Now that’s truly funny.”

  Alicia didn’t think so. As far as she knew, that’s just what she’d been all these years. Being a fae seemed funny…not as in humorous, but odd.

  “Well, I do suppose it would seem that way. Most of your fae abilities don’t kick in until you turn eighteen.” The countess replaced the emerald hair clips in Alicia’s hair with diamond decorated ones. Then she lifted a dragon medallion off her dresser. Slipping it over Alicia’s head, the countess said with much feeling, “Now you are officially a royal dragon fae.”

  She patted Alicia’s shoulder. “Do you feel all right to see the king now?”

  No. Alicia wasn’t sure she’d ever feel all right about that. Not when her grandfather tried to stop her mother from marrying the man she loved. Fae rather.

  “What about my father? I didn’t see him at the sphinx castle.”

  The countess opened her bedchamber’s door. “That’s because his older brother is the king of the sphinx fae. Your father married the Venician queen.”

  Lorelei’s my stepsister?

  Alicia didn’t hear anything more as her temple swirled with bewilderment, and her world instantly faded to midnight.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The countess called to the guard as Alicia came to on the floor of her chambers. “Help me with the princess!”

  Alicia’s mind could barely focus. How could her father have married the Venician queen? And worse—that horrible Lorelei and Phillinois were her half-sister and brother? Or were they stepsister and brother? Maybe the queen had had the children by another fae. And Alicia wasn’t truly related to the devil fae.

  She frowned as the guard lifted her, then carried her across the floor. How could her father have abandoned her mother and her, then married another woman?

  As soon as she was resting on the mattress, the countess said, “Sir Kendall, inform the king, Princess Alicia is too unwell to see him at the moment. And get the physician for the lady.”

  “But Prince Grotto said—”

  “The lady is indisposed. Do you think she’ll fight me to get away?”

  “No, countess. But Prince Grotto ordered me to stay here to guard her and—”

  The countess drew herself up and lowered her voice to a harsh roar. “If the princess grows more ill, the king will have your head! Prince Grotto doesn’t know how poorly she’s feeling. Now go.”

  Still he hesitated, glancing from Alicia to the countess again.

  “Go!”

  He grumbled under his breath and left the room.

  The countess returned to the bed and patted Alicia’s hand. “Are you feeling nauseous?”

  Alicia swallowed hard. “I never knew what had happened to my father. How could he have left my mother like he did? To marry another woman?”

  “Under threat of his family having you and your mother killed, he really had no choice.”

  Alicia fought shedding a tear as her eyes misted.

  “Is that what’s making you ill?” the countess asked. “The news about your father?”

  “He never came back to see us. Never.”

  The countess smiled. “I imagine he found a way to see your mother and how you were doing over the years. The fae have magic you are probably unaware of.”

  “But he married—”

  “Sometimes we must do what we don’t like. As royals, it’s expected of us.”

  “Are you married?”

  “By heavens no. Though I am betrothed. But it’ll be another year before I have to marry the duke. Now that you are here with us, the king will decide on a husband for you.”

  Alicia’s stomach had been settling, but the nausea returned.

  “Oh, your cheeks have lost their color again. Forgive me. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” The countess grabbed a peach feathered fan and waved it in front of Alicia’s face.

  Then a knock on the door disturbed the peace.

  “Come in,” the countess hollered.

  A man, whose blond hair was streaked with white, entered the room. A red velvet cloak draped over his shoulders, fastened with a gold chain. And instead of a tunic like the other men wore, he wore a long shift-like gown of purple that reached gold sandaled feet.

  Behind him a white-haired man entered the chambers.

  “This is my granddaughter?” the first man said.

  This was the king?

  ***

  Deveron paced across the cell in the Crislis Castle’s tower, hoping the king was treating Alicia with respect. When Prince Grotto had told the guard to shackle her, Deveron had turned with every intention of protecting her. But luckily, the countess stepped in to aid Alicia.

  Would the countess also help Alicia to free him, or did her loyalty only extend to aiding the royal princess, granddaughter of the king?

  The chains linking his manacles clinked as he crossed the floor back and forth. At least they hadn’t manacled him to the wall.

  But how could he escape without Alicia’s help? His mother would have a fit. She wouldn’t hesitate to wage war against the dragon fae if she learned they had imprisoned him.

  A key ground in the lock to the cell door, then a guard shoved the door open.

  His stomach clenched.

  The guard walked into the room followed by Prince Grotto.

  Time for the interrogation?

  The prince walked around Deveron in a tight circle, examining him from head to foot. “What are you to the princess?”

  “A friend when she needed one.”

  “Did you take her from South Padre Island?”

  Deveron’s lips thinned. If he told Prince Grotto he had taken Alicia from the Island, he’d have to say why. If he told the prince he was attempting to keep her out of his mother’s grasp, the prince would want to know who his mother was. Then, the prince would know Deveron was not a sphinx fae, but a lion fae—the crown prince in fact, of the Denkar.

  “You took her from South Padre Island?” Grotto repeated. “Her mother said a fae witness told her enough that she assumed a fae had taken Alicia. Since you were with her last…”

  “You assume I was the fae.”

  “Do you deny it?” Grotto folded his arms and narrowed his sharp green eyes.

  Deveron could see a slight family resemblance between Grotto and Alicia when she had appeared angry.

  “I did.”

  “For what reason? And speak carefully. I will know if you’re lying.”

  Because the prince already had his mind made up as to the reason, Deveron assumed.

  “I’m not of the sphinx fae,” Deveron said.

  Grotto glanced at the royal sphinx medallion encircling Deveron’s neck.

  Deveron explained, “I’m lion fae.” Before the prince could close his gaping mouth, Deveron added, “The crown prince of the Denkar.”

  Grotto stared at him, not uttering a sound.

  “If my mother learns you have imprisoned me, she won’t hesitate to wage war with your people.”

  The dragon fae ignored the importance of Deveron’s words. “Why did you take Alicia from South Padre? Surely you realize your actions could have provoked the same response from our kingdom.”

/>   Now for the tricky part. Alicia’s people had to know that she was half human, so there would be no secret in that. He would explain the truth of the matter. “My mother assumed Alicia was half human.”

  Grotto’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to speak, then clamped it shut.

  “My mother had no idea that Alicia was half dragon fae. It is the human part that would have disturbed her, particularly when I became interested in Alicia. As for myself, I never gave her fae heritage any thought. She didn’t know which fae she came from.”

  Grotto looked at the floor for a moment, then looked back at Deveron. “If you have lied about who you are, it will not go well for you.” He started toward the door, then stopped and turned. “What did you mean that you’re interested in Alicia?”

  “She’s a remarkable fae.” Deveron couldn’t help smiling.

  Grotto scowled. “The king will not be pleased.” He stalked out of the cell.

  ***

  In the countess’s bedchambers, the king’s luminescent green eyes sparkled with interest while his lips quirked into a smile as he observed Alicia. Dimples punctuated his tanned cheeks. “She looks just like her mother did at that age.”

  “It is indeed Princess Alicia,” the countess said.

  “What ails you child?” he asked.

  Alicia assumed mentioning the upset over her father wouldn’t set well with the king. He probably wouldn’t want to hear anything about the man who stole her mother’s heart, then encouraged her to run away.

  “She’s only now learned about her father,” the countess said.

  The king’s cheeks darkened.

  The other man poured a powder into a goblet filled with wine, then handed it to Alicia. “Drink this and it’ll settle your stomach.”

  She noticed then the guard standing in the doorway. Would he make her drink the concoction if she refused?

  “Drink, dear Alicia. Afterward, I will have your mother brought to you.”

  Under guard? Like Alicia was being guarded?

  If the king felt any compassion toward her, could she get Deveron released? “A sphinx fae, Deveron, brought me here. He’s being held in your dungeon. Will you release him?”