by C. J. Abedi
Rowan stared at me with hatred.
“You chose to let her go,” he said in disgust. “You let her go and yet you still think that you’re entitled to her love, took her innocence.”
He told the truth. One that haunted me now.
But who was he to judge my actions?
Who was this Fae to tell me what I could or could not do?
I was a King. He was nothing.
I leaned over and easily picked him up off the ground, even though we were almost the same height.
I couldn’t think. I couldn’t see. All that was before me was dark. My hand moved back and I could feel a ball of black energy begin to swirl and form into a dark circle that grew by the second.
“You really are your father,” Rowan whispered in horror.
These were words I dreaded hearing my entire life.
And they did not even give me pause. Rowan was everything I despised. Everything that I could never be for Caroline.
“I banish you,” I whispered.
Rowan’s eyes widened in fear.
“For eternity in the yew.”
Chapter Twelve
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
—Abraham Lincoln
Kingdom of the Light Fae
Many Moons Ago
Tara
It was my wedding day.
I was dressed in an intricate royal purple muslin gown that my dearest friends had handmade for me. It was long and flowed around me, scooping low in the bodice and dotted with flowers in bloom. My headpiece was made of lavender flowers, and it sat on my head like a crown, my dark hair falling to my waist beneath it.
My best friend, Iris, stood behind me in the mirror. She was my closest confidante and had been one of the first I had told about my secret love affair with Alderon.
“You look beautiful,” she said. “It is no wonder they call you the fairest maiden in all the kingdom.”
“You flatter me, Iris,” I replied.
I turned away from the mirror and faced her. “I can’t tell you how happy I am.”
“I know.” I watched the uncertainty come over Iris’ face. She seemed hesitant. Her lips curved in an uncomfortable smile as her big blue eyes matched her trepidation.
“What is it?” I asked her.
Iris took both my hands in hers.
“I’m just so worried about you, Tara,” she said honestly.
I knew what was coming.
“Iris, there is no reason to be,” I told her. “I know what I’m doing.”
Iris shook her head. “Tara, do you forget who he is?”
“Alderon,” I whispered. “King of the Dark Fae.”
“You cannot do this, Tara. He is wrong for you. He is wrong for all of us.”
I smiled gently at Iris. I understood why she was worried.
“Iris, he is my mate and he will change. For me. I will help him change,” I told her with all the confidence in the world. “Please have faith in him. Have faith in me.”
“I trust you with my life, dear friend,” she said urgently. “But I cannot trust him. He is evil—”
“Shhh. He is to be my husband. Love him the way you love me.”
“Tara—” she pleaded.
“Do this for me,” I begged.
Iris blinked back tears.
“My lovely, Tara,” she told me. “I will support you and I will stand by you always. I have spoken what is in my heart, and I cannot tell you any more than I already have. And I know that more than anything, I cannot, nor will I ever tell you who you should love.”
I fought the tears back as I smiled at her.
“You are a true sister to me and I thank you,” I told her. “Now come with me. It is my wedding day and I go to marry my king.”
It was a year later when Iris’ words would come to plague me.
But my love for Alderon was inevitable.
Our destiny together had been drawn by the Fates in the fabric of time, a long time ago. And I knew in my heart, no matter what obstacles had been placed before me, I would have taken the same course. Alderon was the love of my life.
C
Tatiana knocked on my door as I was gathering my things, told me she was heading to school a bit earlier than Devilyn, and wanted to know if I would join her. It was a blessing, the space I so desperately needed from Devilyn.
While I got ready, I had relived every moment of our time together. There was not one second I regretted.
Not one.
And if I could, I would do it all over again.
The only part that had been beyond brutal for me was when Devilyn had mentioned our children, the children we would never have together. Having children had always seemed so far off in the future that it wasn’t an idea I had ever dwelled on. But now that he had said those words, something inside had died.
All I felt was an acute sense of sadness. It washed over me like a wave, almost taking me under.
A family, children, anything with Devilyn would have been incredible.
A life with him, a union, all of the milestones that occur when you’re in a committed relationship and choose to be with the person you love forever. All of that would have been perfect.
A dream come true.
But one that would never to come to pass.
“How are you feeling?” Tatiana asked me as I stared out the window of her car.
“I’m good,” I said.
Unfortunately, I happened to glance over at the speedometer at that moment and my heart almost popped out of my chest.
“You’re going one hundred miles an hour!”
“I know,” Tatiana turned her head so she could wink at me. “Slow is boring. And way overrated.”
“Keep your eyes on the road!” I squealed as I gripped the seatbelt tightly.
“Trust me.” She rolled her eyes. “Nothing will ever happen to us.”
“But what about an innocent bystander?”
“Well, I could always use my magik.”
“Slowing down might be easier for you,” I suggested. I couldn't believe I’d agreed to go with her. At least we were only about five more minutes away from school.
“I can’t believe you were so nonchalant last night. It didn’t bother you that Puck stopped by for dinner?” she asked.
“It is what it is,” I said to her. “Obviously I would prefer not to be in Puck’s company, but I do trust Odin.”
Tatiana was silent for a second and then to my mortification—
“I saw you walk into Devilyn’s room last night.”
I was sure I was bright red.
“And—” Tatiana went on.
“What?” I turned and looked at her.
Tatiana shrugged.
“We can tell. All the Fae. We can always tell,” she told me matter-of-factly. “There’s something that changes within the fabric of your soul. So even if I didn’t see you walk into Devilyn’s room, I would know.”
“Really?”
I hoped my mouth wasn’t hanging open.
“I don’t want to hear any details, because thinking of my brother in that way makes me want to vomit—unless you need to talk and then I’ll try and listen,” she rushed out. “Regardless, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
I smiled gratefully.
“I am.”
I would never share any details about Devilyn and me to anyone. It had been a sacred moment for me and no matter what, it would always stay safely guarded in my heart.
“Good,” Tatiana stated.
We pulled up into the parking lot and I couldn’t wait to get out of the car. I needed to remember to warn Teddy that Tatiana was not a good driver. He would have a heart attack if he sat in her passenger seat. Not that Teddy was any better, especially when there was fast food involved, but at least he didn’t speed.
We both walked up to the entrance of the school in silence, as Teddy greeted us anxiously.
&nb
sp; Tatiana gave him a kiss on the mouth.
“Hi honey,” she said flirtatiously. “How’s my favorite human?”
Teddy let out a frustrated sigh. “I keep waking up every morning expecting to have Spider-man’s power.”
Tatiana rolled her eyes. “I would crush Spider-man.”
Teddy’s eyes lit up.
“That’s hot.”
She leaned into him and put her arm around his waist. “Maybe I’ll show you some magik after school.”
It was hard to miss the double entrendre, and Teddy ate it all up. I found myself envying them. Even though their relationship was against all Fae laws, Tatiana didn’t seem to fear anything. She faced the unknown head on. I envied her for that inner strength.
The three of us made our way to drama. A small group of students from the class had gathered outside and were staring at the cast list that Mr. Copeland had posted.
“How did you get cast as the lead?” Jordana tapped me on my arm, clearly annoyed.
I faced the head varsity cheerleader. She was extremely pretty and actually a very talented actress.
And she was right to be surprised.
But I couldn’t tell her that this was all a ploy to bring to culmination a centuries-old feud.
“I did?” I replied, playing dumb.
“Yeah, you did,” she sneered. “I mean, I’ve never seen anyone look more uncomfortable onstage in my life.”
I should have been insulted but I wasn’t. I was uncomfortable in front of an audience. And I couldn’t act my way out of a paper bag.
“Back off bimbo,” Tatiana jumped right between us in anger.
Jordana’s head tilted to the side like she couldn’t believe someone would ever confront her.
“Excuse me? Did you just call me a bimbo?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I did,” Tatiana replied.
I looked over at Teddy for help but he was smiling in glee. He didn’t care for Jordana at all.
“Everyone knows you’ve practically slept with the entire football team, and that you’d give your right plastic breast to sleep with my brother.”
Tatiana’s comeback was unexpected and very funny and I had to fight my laughter.
We all watched Jordana sputter. Her face was mottled in fury and she looked like she was seriously about to spontaneously combust. Unfortunately for her, some of the other students, including Teddy, thought the comment was hilarious.
Jordana fumed, then turned her angry gaze to Teddy. “And what are you laughing at, nerd boy?”
“Don’t you dare insult my boyfriend,” Tatiana said getting right in her face.
I was suddenly afraid for Jordana. Who knew what Tatiana was capable of if you she got on her bad side.
“Guys,” I jumped in. “Let’s just let this go.”
“No way,” Jordana seethed, pushing forward. “Do you know who I am?”
“No,” she replied mockingly. “Who are you?”
“I’m the most popular girl in school,” Jordana ranted. “And I’m the homecoming queen.”
I closed my eyes in dread. I was actually mortified for her.
Tatiana burst out in laughter.
“Is that who you are?” she said dramatically. “Well then, all hail the queen.”
The two squared off.
Poor Jordana. This was in no way an equal match.
“You’re going to regret this,” she said to Tatiana.
“For some reason I think you’re wrong,” Teddy replied dryly.
Jordana huffed away and Tatiana’s eyes didn’t leave her back until she was out of sight.
“Tatiana, she’s ridiculous,” I said trying to soothe any anger she might feel.
“Isn’t she?” was the only answer I got.
I didn’t have time or the energy to deal with such petty behavior from Jordana—I just didn’t want Tatiana to get into any mischief.
“Caroline, you’re not playing Eleanor Dare,” Teddy said. He had moved past Jordana and was standing in front of the list reading through the names.
“I’m not?” I asked in confusion.
“No.” Teddy’s face was pale. “You’re not.”
Tatiana and I exchanged surprised looks.
“You’re playing Virginia Dare.”
Time stood still.
I slowly walked over to stand beside Teddy. I stared at the list.
The Tragedy of Virginia Dare & The Lost Colony
Cast:
VIRGINIA DARE - Caroline Ellis
ROYCE DE DANANN - Rowan de Barra
ALDERON - Devilyn Reilly
DANA - Tatiana Reilly
PUCK - Teddy Parks
The rest of the names barely mattered to me. I had truly believed that I would be playing my grandmother, Eleanor Dare. I never thought that the story would become even more twisted.
“I don’t know whether to be flattered or frightened by the character that Copeland’s assigned me,” Teddy whispered.
“You should be horrified,” Tatiana responded.
“And it wasn’t Mr. Copeland who created this list,” I whispered back.
Teddy gulped and said, “Since I know none of you read Copeland’s play, I’m here to tell you that this cast doesn’t match what I read last night.”
I looked over at my childhood friend and felt a huge sense of guilt. From the looks of it, Puck and Alderon had probably guessed that Teddy knew the truth about who I was, and now he was being pulled into this nightmare with the rest of us.
“I’m not surprised,” Tatiana finally said.
She turned to me and tried to give me a reassuring smile. I knew she was trying to make me feel better.
“Puck and Alderon would never be so obvious,” she explained. “They would lead us to believe one thing and do the opposite. It’s how they work. It’s actually exactly what I expected.”
She was right.
“Let’s just go inside before the bell rings and we’re tardy,” I said to her.
“Tardy?” Tatiana scoffed. “Caroline, that is the least of your problems.”
We took our usual seats at the top of the auditorium. I watched the door and anxiously waited for Devilyn and Rowan to come in.
But the bell rang and they were no-shows.
“All right, class,” Mr. Copeland called out. “I’m sure those of you who actually read the play last night are probably confused about the cast list. Last night I had what I like to call a divine intervention. I realized that I could get the best performance out of my cast if I gave them the script bit by bit. The night of the actual play will take place exactly two weeks from now, before we all go off on our Thanksgiving break.”
Teddy and I exchanged looks.
“Now, I’m sure you’re all thinking this is a crazy idea, but I can assure you it’s not,” he said. “The lines are easy and I really do want to see improvisation. It is a testament to true talent.”
Someone raised a hand.
“Yes, Sara?” Mr. Copeland said.
“But how can we practice?” she said.
“I’ll give you some reading and lines for each of your characters and you can look them over and become accustomed to what I’m going for. We’ll have monitors on each side of the stage and we’ll practice reading off them so you’re not just thrown out there,” he explained.
I raised my hand.
“Caroline Ellis,” he said with a smile. “My leading lady, what would you like to know?”
“I thought we were doing the story of The Lost Colony?” I asked.
“We were going to. But then I thought, it’s so predictable, even if I was going to add the mystical elements. But this story, what happens after they disappear—or, to be clear, what happens to Virginia Dare when the villagers perish, now that’s the story that no one has ever heard. And it’s one that I think people want to have told.”
“That makes perfect sense,” I said to him as calmly as I could.
Mr. Copeland went on talking and answering qu
estions but I totally zoned him out. All I could think about was how the scales had tipped even more against me.
“It’s going to be okay,” Tatiana leaned over to whisper to me.
“I know,” I said.
But it wasn’t.
Not at all.
Everyone I loved and cared for, everything that was dear to me in my life, was in jeopardy. We didn’t know what they were planning, and I wondered if this had been a wise decision on my part.
“Where’s Devilyn?” I asked Tatiana.
She looked over at the door and shook her head. “Who knows.”
Even though facing Devilyn was the last thing I wanted to do, I still craved his proximity. When he was near, no matter what he believed about us, I did feel safe.
Caroline.
I heard Devilyn’s voice.
It moved through my body like liquid fire. It couldn’t be, I thought.
Caroline, I need you, he called out to me.
Something felt wrong.
His call vibrated through my body in a different way.
Could I trust this was Devilyn?
I pulled my phone out of my bag and discreetly texted Rowan.
Where are you?
I waited a few minutes, but there was no response.
That wasn’t like Rowan.
I looked over at Tatiana as she doodled on a piece of paper. And then I remembered what she had said to me on the way to school.
We can always tell.
Which meant Rowan knew.
Chapter Thirteen
“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”
—Sarah Williams
Kingdom of the Dark Fae
Many Moons Ago
Tara
From the moment Alderon and I were married I had never known such bliss.
He was everything I had ever wanted.
All that I had ever imagined.
We were so consumed with one another, so young and in love that everything around us disappeared. For months we lived in a precious bubble of love. When I had first entered the Dark as his bride, there were many in the court that fought against our union. Where the Light had reluctantly accepted our marriage and had sent me away with hopes of uniting two kingdoms, the Dark looked upon me as a disease that had blinded their king.
