Kingdom of Future's Hope (Royals of Faery Book 4)

by Hayley Osborn

  “You shouldn’t laugh at another person’s discomfort.” Jasmine stopped beside me, following my gaze out the window. Her face was serious for about half a second, then she burst into a huge grin. “Oh, my. Do you think she’s ever ridden before?”

  I shook my head. “Not that she’d ever admit.” Buttercup ran at Fergus’ feet. I watched her until they all disappeared out of sight. I hadn’t seen Fergus’ hound since the night I left Unseelie. She hadn’t been on the castle grounds since I arrived, and I’d wondered if she might spend most of her time at Lanwick Island. “Dora has been sent to Iadrun. For attempting to poison the prince.” I murmured, not wanting to share the information with anyone else just yet.

  Jasmine’s mouth dropped open. “I guess she won’t do that again.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not sure why she did it in the first place.”

  She shrugged. “The contest is stressful. Look at the lengths Piper has gone to just to keep the prince’s attention. Dora said she had immense pressure from her family. Perhaps it was much more than we imagined.”

  I stared at her. “Are you suggesting someone in Dora’s family wanted her to poison Prince Fergus?” That was an option I hadn’t considered.

  “Well, it makes sense, doesn’t it? She said she’d come here to make her family proud.”

  Perhaps. I would suggest it to Jax, and he could look into it. “But isn’t that the reason all of us are here? Because of our families?” Everleigh said Piper was a cousin to the Lord of the Winter Court. It would look good for them if the next queen came from their family. The same as it would for any fae family.

  She sighed. “I guess you’re right. If I don’t win, I don’t even get to go home. I’m off to the Spring Court to marry the lord there.”

  I thought of Lord Sawyer and his demands at my court. “I’ve heard of the Lord of the Spring Court. He’s not cruel.” That was about all I knew of him. He kept mostly to himself, unless he wanted my assistance for something.

  “But he is old. And widowed. And he has a young child.” She shook her head. “And the Spring Court isn’t my home.”

  I wasn’t sure how to make her feel better. She’d make an excellent match for Fergus, but there were so many others here and he could choose any of them. I squeezed her hand. “Just as well you’ve got a chance to show the prince why you’re the best option for him this afternoon.” Fergus had also given Jasmine an invitation to spend time with him today, but she would see him once he returned from his date with Piper.

  She grinned. “I do, don’t I.” She turned on her heel. “Best I go make myself ready.”

  “Good luck,” I called, my mind already back on Piper. I didn’t trust her, but I had very little of substance to base that on. And since Fergus was only spending time with a few of the girls before the next challenge, he was clearly interested in her. Perhaps he needed a reason to change his mind.

  I walked out of the common room and up the staircase to the floor where our rooms were located. It was quiet up here, with most of the girls either in the common room or making the most of the beautiful weather outside.

  After the way Piper had behaved locking me out yesterday, she was at the top of my list of suspects. Her hair was even close to the shade I’d seen through the glass.

  Piper’s door was locked, but I didn’t think twice about using my magic to get in. I didn’t care about the competition rules. I was only here to help Fergus.

  Her room was smaller than mine, with just one window and the same eastern view that was on one side of my room. It was meticulously tidy, to the point that there was nothing left out on the dresser. No hairbrush, no pins, no creams or lotions. It was like no one lived in here.

  I walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. Like mine, it was filled with hanging dresses and petticoats, though I imagined hers were all dresses she’d brought with her, where mine were given to me by the king last time I used the room. Boxes of shoes—so many shoes—filled one side of the wardrobe from the floor to the very top.

  I pushed the dresses out of the way, searching the back of the cupboard for something—anything—that might point to her being the one to poison Fergus. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. If I was lucky, I’d find her diary where she admitted it all, though I doubted she’d leave such a thing lying around. Or perhaps a jar of the poison she’d used would be hidden away in here.

  But it didn’t matter where I searched, there were very few personal items in Piper’s room. Not even under the bed. There was certainly nothing to prove she was the one trying to hurt Fergus.

  Voices outside Piper’s door made me freeze. One of the voices belonged to Piper. What in the stars was she doing back so soon? I looked around for a place to hide. There was no room beneath the bed and the curtains were too thin to hide behind. Which only left the wardrobe. I rushed toward it, but was too slow. The door to Piper’s room flew open, and she stood on the threshold, dripping wet and covered in mud.

  She stared at me, her mouth hanging open. “What are you doing in here?”

  I shook my head, taking in her ripped dress and saturated hair, and rather than searching for a quiet way out of my current situation as I should have, antagonized her. “I guess you really don’t know how to ride.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, I can ride perfectly fine. On my own horse. But since she is not here, the prince loaned me one of his monster’s. Probably just so he could laugh at me when I fell.”

  It was my turn for my mouth to hang open. She didn’t know Fergus very well if she believed he’d do such a thing. “He would never…”

  “Shut up!” she screamed. Her voice was so loud and so sudden that I jumped. “You don’t know him. You weren’t there, you didn’t see him. He laughed when I fell, then continued to ride the trail rather than help me from the ground.”

  That didn’t sound like Fergus at all. Unless there was something else going on. “Could it be that perhaps he saw through your damsel in distress act? Maybe he thought you fell on purpose.” I don’t know why I spoke to her that way. I was probably still mad at her for locking me outside at the last challenge. The smarter thing would have been to apologize, but my mouth seemed unwilling to form any words of the sort.

  She advanced on me, bronze-colored magic flaring in her hands. She waved them at me. “See this?” She let out a cruel laugh. “No, I guess you don’t. Hardly anyone can see magic, especially a human. You’ll just have to believe my magic is there, sitting upon my hand.”

  I took a step back as her magic shimmered.

  “That’s right, human. You are no match for me, and you shouldn’t even try.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Once I’m done, there’ll be nothing left of you.” She smirked, then shot the ball at me.

  I saw it coming and jumped aside, but it grazed my calf and stung like fire. I hissed, which made Piper grin.

  “Not so clever now, are you, human?” Her magic grew in her hands again.

  Stars. What did I do? I glanced out to the hallway. It was mercifully empty and quiet.

  I would have to shield. If I didn’t, she was going to kill me. The chances of me jumping out of the way a second time were slim, and she was blocking the only exit, unless I wanted to jump four levels out the window to reach the ground.

  “Where did the prince go, Piper? Has he found someone else he’d rather spend time with?” This time, I was antagonizing her on purpose. I needed to find out where he was before I brought my magic to life. I could not use my shield if she expected him to follow her up here at any moment.

  Her eyes narrowed. “He’s in the stables. Tending to the horses.”

  Good. Now I just had to hope she couldn’t see any magic except her own. Another bronze ball came my way. I threw my shield up, pushing it out in the hope I could get her magic to bounce back at her, the way it sometimes did when Fergus and I combined our magic.

  It worked better than I expected. Her magic barely pressed against my ha
stily formed shield before it ricocheted back. She was much weaker than the people I was used to fighting, which made her magic easy to manipulate.

  But she was fast. She jumped out of the way and her magic hit her hand. She screamed in pain and I pulled my magic back into myself before anyone else might have the chance to see it.

  “What’s … going on?” The voice came from outside the door behind her. Fergus moved into view, looking between Piper and me.

  Stars, he’d moved fast to get up here from the stables—he must have used his magic. Lucky he hadn’t been a few seconds earlier or our magic would have joined and we’d again be bonded, the very thing I was trying to avoid. “A misunderstanding.” I limped across the room toward the door, my leg smarting.

  “You’re hurt.” Fergus’ voice was wary, and his gaze kept shifting between the two of us. I wasn’t sure who he was talking to. We were both injured.

  “I’m fine,” I muttered, without stopping.

  Fergus stepped aside to let me out, barely watching me. His gaze kept creeping back to Piper.

  Piper growled. “Don’t let her go! She injured me. With magic.”

  Fergus gave Piper a sympathetic smile. “She has no magic, she’s human. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head when you fell earlier?” But even as he dismissed her comments, he shot a quick glance at my hands, double checking Piper’s accusation.

  It was all I could do not to hide my hands behind my back. I knew he wouldn’t see any lingering magic there, but it also felt as if he were looking right through Father’s spell, to see Bria underneath.

  “She has. It’s the only way she could turn my magic back on me.” Her mouth twisted with disgust.

  A warning note crept into Fergus’ tone. “Careful what you’re saying, Piper.”

  “You don’t believe me?” Her voice was indignant.

  Fergus’ eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “I’m more concerned about you using your magic on a fellow contestant. A human contestant. You know this is against our rules.”

  Piper’s eyes widened and she shook her head, as if she’d just realized the situation she’d put herself in. “That’s not what I meant. You misunderstood me. I didn’t use my magic at all. It was her. She did it.” She pointed at me as if there could be any confusion over who she was meaning. I shook my head and turned my hands palm up. “I have no magic. I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

  Fergus nodded, his smile encouraging, like he imagined I would be terrified by what had just happened. I guessed I should have made more of an effort to appear that way, since an actual human probably would have been. “And did Piper use her magic on you?”

  I stared at her. At both of them. Fergus knew the answer to that. He’d seen the gash in my leg, and she’d as good as admitted it.

  “You know,” he added, “I will remove her from the competition if that is what happened. If you tell me it is so.”

  Piper jumped to her feet. “What? No!”

  I shook my head, wondering why he didn’t just disqualify her anyway, why he needed my approval to do so. I drew in a breath. Piper was better here in the contest where we could monitor her. “She didn’t. I cut myself on a knife.”

  Fergus scratched his jaw. He didn’t even try to hide his disbelief. “You’re sure?”

  I nodded.

  He stared a moment longer, then stepped aside and allowed me out into the corridor.

  Before I could release the breath I was holding, I was knocked to the ground. By a cinnamon-colored rocket with a wagging tail. “Buttercup,” I whispered. A giggle escaped my lips as she ran her sloppy tongue up my cheek.

  “Buttercup!” Fergus’ voice was sharp, and his hound stiffened before untangling herself from me and slinking over to him with an apologetic glance my way. “I’m sorry.” He glared down at the dog. “She is usually a lot less … friendly with people she’s never met. With almost everyone, really.” When he looked up, his eyes caught mine and held.

  I couldn’t look away. I might have been drowning. Or perhaps I’d forgotten to breathe. Those eyes were everything familiar, everything I ever wanted. And when a shy smile crept onto his face, my heart exploded.

  I guess Piper saw it, too, because she glided over and wedged herself between us. She held one outstretched hand toward Buttercup. And just like that, whatever spell Fergus had cast on me was broken.

  “It knows me,” Piper purred, moving toward the hound.

  A low growl rumbled from the back of Buttercup’s throat, and her lips curled back from her teeth. Piper was too blind or too stupid to understand the warning and kept advancing.

  “Stop!” Fergus’ command made me jump.

  The growling continued. So did Piper’s steps toward the dog.

  Fergus stepped between them. One glare at Buttercup and she quieted.

  Piper gave Fergus a wide grin. “I think it likes me.”

  “Are you crazy?” Fergus ground out. “Why would you advance on a growling dog like that?”

  “Because it was growling at her, not me.”

  Fergus swallowed down the argument he seemed to want to make. I doubted Piper would listen, anyway.

  Refusing to make eye contact with the hound or the prince, I got to my feet and mumbled into my chest. “I should get back to my room.”

  I held my breath with every step I took, hoping Fergus wouldn’t speak to me again. I made it to my room in record time and slammed the door before he had the chance.

  NINE

  I didn’t get the chance to spend any more time with Fergus before the next challenge. There had been no more attempts on Fergus’ life. And, though I’d spent much time wandering the gardens and watching the other contestants, or pretending to read in the common room while listening to them, I’d not seen or heard anything out of the ordinary. Not even from Piper. I was no closer to finding out who wanted him dead than I’d been when I sat watching it happen from my kingdom.

  Instead of the early wake up call I’d had for the last challenge, after breakfast someone left a pair of grey pants and a tunic in a folded pile outside my door. I changed into them, then traipsed down to the common room with the other girls. Jasmine was already there, but called me over to stand beside her as soon as I arrived. “What’s today’s challenge?” I asked.

  She shrugged and glanced down at our clothing. “I’d guess today is something to do with strength.”

  “You got that from what they have us wearing?” I really had no idea how.

  She lifted one shoulder. “These look like the army uniforms to me. Don’t they?”

  I took another look, and apart from the color, we could be with the Unseelie army. What sort of show of strength was Fergus looking for?

  “Are you going to use your immunity?”

  I shook my head. “I’d rather save it for the last challenge.”

  Jasmine gave me a sideways glance, amusement tipping her lips. “You have to make it to the final challenge to use it there.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine. What I meant to say was, I never intend to use it. I only got it because of luck, so it’s not fair that I count myself out of a challenge in that way.” Plus, if I didn’t take part in a challenge, I might miss my chance to discover something about the person who was trying to poison Fergus.

  The murmuring quieted as Jax and Phyllis walked into the room. Jax’s hair was gold today, and his deep blue uniform was crisply pressed. They stopped just inside the door and everyone moved forward to hear them speak.

  Phyllis cleared her throat, pushing a strand of purple hair from her eyes. “Today’s challenge is strength.”

  I looked at Jasmine with a grin. “You picked it.” She smiled back.

  “And half of you will leave today. By tonight, there will be just seven of you remaining,” said Phyllis.

  Some girls gasped. Jasmine caught my eye, amusement again crossing her face as she rolled her eyes. I knew what she meant. Th
is shouldn’t be a surprise. The whole point of this contest was to weed out the weakest contestants so Fergus would end up with a small group from which he could choose the most suitable queen. Some of these girls really liked the drama.

  Jax stepped forward. “The future Queen of Unseelie must have strength unlike any other. Today Prince Fergus wants you to prove your strength, whether that be physical, emotional or strength of character. In a fight.”

  That was a little more surprising. Somehow, I’d expected a show of strength through something less harmful, like maybe arm wrestling.

  “We will pair you randomly with someone else in this room. You must fight them until one of you yield, and whoever yields is instantly out of the competition. You will pack up your things and leave immediately.”

  I looked around as he spoke, wondering who the weakest person here might be. Piper’s short friend Essie, perhaps. Or maybe the tall girl who didn’t look able to control her arms and legs while walking, let alone during a fight.

  “You may use one weapon—any weapon—of your choosing,” added Phyllis. “Including magic.”

  My gaze flicked to Jax, dread filling my gut. Magic. No. I couldn’t compete against magic. Everyone thought I was human and had none, and if I ignored that and used it and Fergus was nearby and using his, our magic would join and we’d be bonded again. That could not happen. Which meant I couldn’t even shield.

  Jax stared back at me. A small shake of his head confirmed what I already knew. No magic for me today.

  Jasmine leaned over. “Still not planning on using that immunity? A few of these girls have some of the strongest magic in Faery.”

  I shook my head, but with less conviction.

  Phyllis held out one hand, and a pile of flat disks appeared in it. “You will each choose one of these disks. Your opponent will be the person with the same colored disk. Please come up here now and take your pick.”

  I followed the other thirteen girls up to the stage, taking the final disk from Phyllis’ hand and returning to my place beside Jasmine. I turned the flat circular piece of wood over in my hand, then glanced at hers. I had seen nothing like it before and assumed it needed magic to activate. Something I currently couldn’t use. “There’s no color.”