by Ivy Clyde
“The queen said she would gift me stuff and it’s already here,” I said, staring back at the glittering treasure.
“Wow,” she breathed, inching closer and picking up a silver necklace studded with teardrop rubies. “You’re rich.” Turning around, she added, “Also, in a lot of trouble.”
“What do you mean?”
Dropping the necklace in the jewelry box, she walked away to sit on the edge of my bed. “Queen Brenna is baiting Prince Rowan into doing something drastic. We all know he wouldn’t marry until he’s found his mother’s murderer or taken the throne. If he marries you, it will prove to the world he accepted the queen’s decree to take you as a mate. All rumors of her connection with Lady Cynthia’s death will go away. If the prince refuses you, the queen will keep challenging him until he makes a mistake. She can use that to destroy his reputation in front of the court as well as the people.”
I sat down next to her, feeling like someone tipped a bucket of cold water on my head. The queen was definitely planning on using me against Rowan. He’d already guessed of this and had made sure to stay away from me in public.
“Queen Brenna is also hoping you would make a stupid, naïve bride to Prince Rowan,” said Isla. “Anything embarrassing you do will directly affect him. When people laugh at you, it will be equal to laughing at him.” Isla’s grim gaze settled on me. “You’re just another tool in the queen’s hand.”
“I know,” I said, fisting my hands. “But is there anything I can do at the moment?”
“Nope,” she said at once. “You have to do exactly what she commands or risk getting punished or killed.” She shrugged a shoulder and got to her feet. “I’m starving,” she said. “Let’s go eat breakfast.”
“How can you think of eating when I am in such a mess?”
Isla rounded on me. “You need food for your brain to function. Come on!” She tugged on my hand and made me stand up too. “Besides, I was thinking of taking a trip to the village today. Now that you’ve got gold, you can come too.”
I perked up at once. “The village?”
“Yep. I have a few things to take care of first and then we’ll leave close to noon.”
Isla opened the room and was already out in the corridor, making me hurry after her.
“Why don’t we just go now?”I asked. “Can’t you come back and do your work?”
She chuckled as we headed down to the dining hall. “This can’t wait. Professor Penumbra is in Lost Sanctum taking care of a problem with the Order.” Anxiety flitted through her green eyes. “I need to teach a few classes for the juniors on her behalf today.”
“What kind of problem?” I asked, eager to know about the Order of the Third Son that was an agency operating from Lost Sanctum to keep track of all paranormal activities in the human world.
“A troll lost control and murdered a bunch of people. It was found by a group of teenagers who called their parents and the cops.” She rubbed her forehead in agitation. “The Order took care of the troll but we have to go in to help with erasing the memories of everyone involved in the incident.”
“Erasing memories? Like the Men in Black?”
Isla glanced at me and shook her head. “Not exactly. Our department goes in and scrambles their memories so it confuses them. They can’t tell if it was all real or a dream. We implant additional memories to make it seem more like an imagination.”
“Can you do that sort of magic?”
“Of course.”
We entered the dining hall together but while Isla was already heading toward an empty table, my gaze was already on Cade. He wasn’t smirking or sneering like usual. Instead, he glanced at me with a somber look before turning away to talk to a pretty girl on his side.
That was weird, I thought, walking away to join Isla. I let my mental shield down for a moment. To my surprise, no one attacked me with visions of crawling insects or poisonous snakes. Did my meeting with the queen change his attitude toward me?
A brownie maid was already serving breakfast by the time I sat down.
Isla looked up at me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It just feels strange Cade isn’t attacking me anymore.”
“People get bored when their prey stops reacting to them.” A small smile played on her lips. “I am really impressed by how quickly you’re learning to control and use magic without a teacher. You’re some kind of genius to be learning it all from textbooks.”
“I don’t like teachers,” I said, starting on my porridge.
After the meal, Isla left to teach her classes while I went back to my room. It was a good thing there was some time between now and when we’d leave in the noon. Shedding my clothes from yesterday, I headed into the bathroom for a shower.
The hot water cascading down my body helped ease the soreness in my muscles. My hand brushed over my pussy. Just imagining Leon’s touch there, made it throb hard. Remembering the way his hot tongue flicked over my clit, I rubbed a finger over the spot.
I moaned out as the pulsing in my core intensified.
“Leon,” I moaned out, rubbing myself harder and faster.
My back leaned against the wall as I worked myself. It was only a minute before a soft cry escaped me, leaving my body a shuddering mess in the shower. Pleasure and heat spread through the very tips of my fingers. My heart beat harder and my breathing turned shallow.
I brushed away water from my eyes as the haze of lust lifted off me. Even though I pleasured my body, it still hungered for Leon’s touch. I couldn’t wait to see him again.
Turning off the water, I stepped out of the bathroom. My gaze went to the boxes of clothes and jewelry. For some reason, I didn’t feel like touching any of them. They felt like a kind of bribe to get me on the queen’s side. My lips pressed together as Isla’s words came back to me.
I won’t let anyone use me to hurt Rowan or Leon, I vowed, turning away from the glittering sight of the queen’s gifts.
I got dressed in a fresh pair of my Belenus Court uniform and sat down to read a book. Part of me yearned to have my Kindle here. While it was nice to be learning about conjuring and controlling magic, I still wished to read my favorite romance novels from time to time. I was even missing the copies of my favorite shoujo manga.
A sigh escaped me as I put the book away. While I was happy to be in Aelia, I missed the familiar things from the human world. Walking to the window, I sat down on the wide ledge and looked out. The woods surrounding the castle had turned fully orange and pink. It wouldn’t be long until winter arrived here.
Would it be so bad to return to Lost Sanctum again? I wondered. I didn’t have to worry about people attacking me since I could protect myself against them now. Would it be so bad if I snuck on mom to see how she was doing?
Lost in the jumble of my thoughts, I passed the next few hours looking out at the hills.
Isla knocked on my door when it was close to noon. My lips curved up in a smile as she entered the room.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Yep.” I showed her the pouch of gold in my hand.
She grinned. “I guess it’s been worth babying you over the past few weeks.”
I chuckled. “Can we buy chocolate at the market?”
“Oh, yes. Chocolates, candies, sweets, cakes…whatever you like.”
“Great! Let’s go.” I wound my arm around hers and pulled her out of the room. My boldness surprised me. I’d rarely wanted to touch anyone before.
Isla didn’t notice my internal conflict as she chattered on about some kids in class who were full-blooded elves but couldn’t perform simple magic. In a way, she was comparing me with them. However, she had no idea about the power pulsing through my veins. Other than Rowan, no one knew the extent of my true strength.
Isla took me out of the castle’s vast gilded gates and then down the road leading away from it. We walked for at least fifteen minutes before coming onto a point from where the path forked out in two different directions.
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nbsp; “This will take us to the village and the market,” said Isla, pointing to the road on the right. “This one will take you to the posh district where the nobles live.” She pointed to the left one. “Follow it further ahead and you’ll reach the palace.”
“Why are we standing here?” I asked when Isla stayed put in the same place.
She frowned at me. “We’re waiting for a coach to take us to the village. I’m not walking two miles.” She folded her arms in front of her chest like she was ready for an argument.
I chuckled at the stubborn expression on her pretty face.
Within five minutes, we could hear the sound of horse hooves coming up from behind us. Turning around, I spotted the most bizarre carriage I’d ever seen. It was similar to a long bus on eight wheels but driven by a team of ten horses.
“Yeah, we don’t have buses or cars in Aelia,” said Isla, noticing my baffled expression. “Keeps the air really clean and fresh.”
“But the fae have definitely taken inspiration from the humans,” I said as the long carriage came to a stop next to us. We climbed up at once. The insides were exactly like a bus with two rows of seats on both sides.
“Don’t think too much about these things,” she said, taking a seat by the window. “Just enjoy yourself.”
The carriage started moving. Just like last time, the ride was amazingly smooth.
“Look over there,” she said, pointing out of the window with her finger. “Aren’t they beautiful?”
I peered over her shoulder. Vast fields of sunflowers spread out into the horizon but a closer look told me the flowers covering the valley were slightly different. The yellow petals shone like glittering gold under the afternoon sun. Golden dust seemed to hover over the blossoms as gentle breezes blew around them.
“Goldflowers,” said Isla. “Aren’t they lovely?”
“Yeah,” I said, staring out at them.
“They are farmed all over Aelia,” said Isla. “They make a nice brew out of the petals. It’s like an instant energy drink. Replenishes you even if you’re exhausted and close to dying. They are an elixir for the solar fae.”
I gave a nod, already having experienced the effects of goldflower essence.
A smile stayed on my lips as Isla showed me various things of interest along the way. The fae cottages lining the road were picturesque, reminding me of houses I’d seen in postcards of a quaint English village. Pixie nests, resembling spheres of hay, hung from tall tree branches. The creatures zoomed in and out of their homes, looking like large dragonflies because of their petite bodies and delicate, shimmering wings.
The carriage stopped in the middle of a busy market square. Isla and I descended from the coach along with a few of the passengers.
For a while, I just stared all around at the sights and scenes around me. The marketplace looked like a cross between a renaissance fair and a Persian bazaar. Some people were dressed in modern clothes like us while others preferred linens, leathers, and metal. Trolls, dwarves, elves with blue scales…there were all kinds of fae gathered here to shop.
“Are those angels?” I whispered, catching hold of Isla’s arm and staring at two beautiful men who’d gently landed on the ground some feet away from us. They both had long silver-blond hair but the most striking feature about them was their white-feathered wings, spanning at least five feet on either side of their bodies. In the blink of an eye, their wings melted away.
Isla laughed loudly from beside me. “They are sky elves from Sapphire Hills.”
“There are elves who can fly?”
“Yep! It’s a treat to see them,” she said, looking in the direction of the two men. “They rarely come here.”
“Where do they live?”
“Sapphire Hills,” she repeated. “It’s a group of floating islands over the Atlantic Ocean. They call it the sky kingdom. You need a special invitation to visit the place.”
“I would love to go,” I said at once.
“Try to aim to become a princess at least,” said Isla, starting to walk down the crowded street. “You can easily ask for an invitation, then.”
We walked for a while, simply looking at shops selling fabric, metal goods, books, jewelry. From time to time, we came across vendors selling food. The smell of warm spices enticed me but Isla kept walking.
“Where are we going?” I asked, hoping she had something on her mind.
“The Centaur’s Hoof Tavern,” she replied. “They sell the best meat pies and mead there. I’ll buy you lunch.”
“Yes!” I clutched her arm tighter.
She grinned. “You better remember these acts of friendship when you’re married to Prince Rowan.”
I chuckled.
We walked further down the street but stopped as shrill, piercing screams rang through the air. Even the people around us stopped to look toward the direction where the loud wails were coming from.
“Shut your trap, you filthy maid!” roared a male voice.
“What is going on?” I asked, feeling a kind of energy that scraped along my skin. My instincts warned me against the person at once.
Isla moved toward the crowd gathered on the side of the street. Through the gaps in the bodies, I glimpsed a brownie maid in dirty robes. Her hair was a tangle of matted brown locks. A tall, broad man grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her hard, proceeding to throw her on the ground like she was nothing more than a sack of cotton.
“Disgraced brownies need to stay shut!” he bellowed, spitting on her.
The child-like figure cringed and shrank back on the dusty ground.
“He looks like a slave trader,” whispered Isla in my ears. “It is rare for a brownie to be thrown out of her home but they take it very hard when that happens. She won’t go quietly to a new master. Most die of heartbreak.”
“Who threw her out?” I asked.
“Brownies serve families of wealthy high fae,” explained Isla. “They are highly skilled in household chores and loyal to their masters. It is in their nature to live in the homes of others and taking care of it. You’ve seen them at the castle. They are all dedicated to their work. However, if they get thrown out by their masters, they can’t bear it.”
“I feel sorry for her,” I said, looking at the small, pitiful figure.
“Anyone wants this one?” the tall man asked around the gathered crowd. “You can make her clean your sheds and stables or just fuck her blind.”
“He’s not serious, is he?” I whispered to Isla. “Brownies look like children.”
“Some men are into that.”
“Gross!”
“I know,” she agreed.
“What if I buy her?” I said. “Will she be able to work at the school?”
Isla glanced at me. “You need Lady Chantal’s permission for that.”
“It’s still better than leaving her with him.” I gestured to the front where the brownie maid was sobbing once again.
“Look at her face,” someone shouted from the crowd. “How horrifying!”
Loud whispers and exclamations rose up. I looked back at the maid. Through the glimpses in her matted locks, I noticed deep gashes slicing across her face. The skin around the cuts was blackened, like she’d been scored by a red-hot knife. They reminded me of the injury on Deirdre.
“She looks like she’s cursed.”
“Fuck her? I wouldn’t even let her touch me.”
“She should just kill herself.”
“She’s not even worth a pebble under my boot!”
“I will buy her,” I said, my voice piercing through the derogatory comments thrown by the people around me.
The crowd parted away from me at once. I felt their eyes on me but standing my ground, I let my gaze fall on the elf with the cruel-looking eyes.
“What are you doing?” hissed Isla.
I shirked her hand away and walked forward. Leaning down, I helped the brownie back on her feet. People whispered once more but I ignored them. The child-like woman was so
frail and weak, she had to lean on me.
“What happened to you?” I asked in a gentle voice.
Wide brown eyes stared back at me. After a while, she spoke in a hoarse voice. “Mistress Deirdre took offense when I was applying salve on her wound. She punished me and had me thrown out.” Tears leaked out of her eyes and ran down her dirt-covered cheeks.
My insides grew cold at the sound of that name. Deirdre’s viciousness wasn’t limited to me. She didn’t care about hurting people who were genuinely loyal to her.
“What’s your name?” I asked her.
“Gilly.”
“Will you come with me if I bought you, Gilly?”
Her child-like face looked stunned. Her hands gently brushed over the burn wounds on her face. “You will take me even with these iron marks on me?”
I gave a nod. “Sure. If you don’t mind.”
A loud scoff sounded next to me. Next moment, I was torn away from Gilly. The slave trader’s fingers tightened on my upper arm. “Has the Belenus Court been inviting duds these days into its castle?” he asked, staring into my face. As an elf, he was physically handsome but the cruelty contorting his face into a sneer made him seem ugly to me.
“What’s your problem?” I asked him coldly. “I said I’d buy her.”
“Her master ordered her to be sent to the worst home I could find her. With you…” His gaze skimmed over the swell of my breasts before looking back at me. “She won’t be treated badly enough.”
“Let go!” I hissed through clenched teeth, pushing the man off me. However, he was stronger than me and kept his hold on me.
“How dare you touch her?” said a soft, frigid voice.
Both our heads turned in the direction of the voice.
Prince Cade stood nearby. Even though he was dressed in the Belenus Court uniform, he looked every bit the royalty he was.
“Don’t you want the fingers on that hand?” Cade asked coldly. “Let her go immediately.”
“Your Highness,” said the man in a slick tone. His hold on me loosened as he bent down in a low bow. “I was merely doing my job.”
“Job?”
“The child wants to buy the brownie,” he said. “The disgraced creature must be sent away to receive harsher punishment. This one was starting to argue, so I wanted to teach her a lesson.”
