I turned toward my bedroom.
“Wait, I—“
“You should rest,” I said, my back to him. I didn’t know why, but for some reason, I needed a minute or two to myself. “We can talk in the morning.”
I entered my room, closed and locked the door, and just to be sure, I called my magic and put a ward around the door and windows. If he tried to come into my room to kill me, I would know.
Then, I retreated to my bed and wondered once more what the hell I was doing.
9
Varian
Mahaeru stood behind the closed doors of my mother’s room, General Behar in front of her.
“What is the latest news?” she asked, serious and somber as usual.
“It’s true,” Behar said. “A few leaders in the south have joined forces and they are building an army. Their excuse is that if the queen dies and the prince isn’t found, they will need the means to keep their towns and villages safe.” He shook his head. “But I’ve sent a spy in their midst. It seems what they are planning is to lay claim to the throne.”
Mahaeru tsked. “Things are heating up fast.”
Behar nodded. “They certainly are. I sent an order to have a squadron posted on the main roads leading to Sun City. Hopefully, that will discourage anyone from attacking.”
“I’m not sure that will be enough,” said the goddess.
Behar glanced at the closed door beside them. “How is she?”
“The pain is sharper today,” Mahaeru said. “She’s trying to disguise it, but it drains her energy. She has been in and out of sleep all day.” She turned to the window at the end of the corridor, the sky orange from the sunset. “I’ll bring her more medicine soon.” Her eyes turned to me and she looked directly at me. “I’ll do all I can until Prince Varian finds his way back.”
I sat up on the floor, the blanket knotted around my legs, and inhaled deeply.
The way Mahaeru looked at me in the dreams … they couldn’t be just dreams, could they? Deep down, I knew they weren’t dreams. I had already come to terms with that. The way she talked about me coming back bothered me, as if it was a done deal, as if all I had to do was snap my fingers and done! I would suddenly be back at the Summer Court.
I lay back down and stared at the ceiling in the near dark. Only a sliver of moonlight came in from the closed windows, and the occasional gust of wind rustled the leaves outside.
Other than that, the cottage was quiet.
I glanced at the closed door, which the witch had disappeared through hours ago. She had offered me a bath in a way I hadn’t had in weeks, delicious food—anything was better than the odd things I had been eating out in the wild—and a place to sleep. The couch had proven too small for me, and too weak. I was afraid that if I let my full weight on it, it would break. So, I spread one of the blankets she gave me over the beaten up leather rug in front of the couch and slept there.
Slept was a polite word for what I was doing. I felt too restless and anxious, and each time I closed my eyes, I had dreams of my mother or Mahaeru. Or both.
My muscles ached to move, but I didn’t give in. It was still the middle of the night. I had to be quiet and try to sleep. If I had strange dreams again, so be it.
And if those weren’t dreams, then they were telling me something I already knew: my kingdom and I were doomed.
I didn’t sleep as much as I hoped. Early morning, I was up and ready to do something. I found some bread in the kitchen and ate that for breakfast, and then went outside.
It didn’t take long for me to find something to do: in a corner of the garden was a stump of a tree and a crude ax. Beside them were logs ready to be cut. Hoping I wouldn’t wake up the witch, I started working.
I focused on the task, cutting the firewood fast and efficiently, and worked my arms and shoulders and back. It was a good break for my busy mind.
The two suns had already peeked from behind the trees when the witch emerged from the cottage, and I took a good look at her.
Yesterday, I had noticed she was too pretty, but in the sunlight, my breath caught.
Her blond curls adorned her shoulders, shining under the sun. Fair skin stretched over delicate features—small nose, thin brows, and rose lips. And her eyes … her eyes shone like two huge sapphires. Today, she wore a simple green dress exposing the soft swell of her breasts and emphasizing her tiny waist.
She didn’t look like a monster from this realm, or even a powerful witch.
She looked like an angel.
I lowered the ax. “Did I wake you?”
She shook her head, her curls bouncing side to side. “You don’t need to do that.”
“I know.”
Her brows curled down as she watched me for a moment. “Who are you? How did you end up here?”
I rested the ax beside the tree stump and took a few steps closer to her. She went rigid, but didn’t move away. “I’m Prince Varian of the Summer Court.” Her bright eyes widened. “I crossed a witch’s portal by mistake.” I bet she was wondering how someone crossed a witch’s portal by mistake. I wouldn’t tell her that. Not yet, at least. “How about you?”
She didn’t answer right away, and for a moment, I thought she wouldn’t. “My name is Layla.” I waited to see if she would tell me how she got here, but she didn’t, and I didn’t push it. “So what’s your plan?”
I stood tall in front of her, hoping my princely manners shone through the rags I was wearing and the situation I was in. “I want your help. There must be a way for me to go back to the fae realm.”
Layla shook her head. “No—“
“If you help me,” I interrupted her, “if you find a way to get me home, you can come with me. I’ll give you riches; I’ll pay you whatever you want.” I was getting desperate here, but at this point, I would do anything. “I’ll even give you a medallion so you can use it to go to any realm you want.”
Her eyes shone clearer as she stared at me in visible shock.
Now I had her.
10
Layla
Prince Varian’s offer was tempting. For a brief moment, I let myself dream about it. About leaving this place, about receiving a bag full of gold and a medallion, and going back to the witches’ realm.
But that was impossible.
“Look, Prince Varian,” I started. “Even if I agreed to help you, it’s no good. I have already searched this forsaken land for a way out and there’s none. We’re stuck here.”
His wide shoulders sagged down as he accepted defeat. “It can’t be.”
I let out a sigh. Long ago, I had been in denial too. It took me many years to understand, and accept, that I wasn’t leaving this place. If I had accepted it sooner, it would have saved me a lot of trouble and pain.
“Just … you should head north, toward the coast,” I told him. It was a plan of mine, but I had never gone that way. “I hear that even though the way there is riddled with monsters, the coast is better. Fewer monsters. You should be able to settle there.”
The big fae shook his head. “No, it can’t be.”
I wanted to shoo him away. The sooner he left, the better it would be for me. Less mess, less complication, less attachment. The last thing I needed was to get involved with a fae in this forsaken land and make things even worse for myself.
But at the same time, I didn’t have the heart to send him away when he looked like a lost puppy. I had been there, suffered and cried and raged. I had gone through all that alone.
My reputation as Bloodwrath was quite fierce and made me look like a heartless, bloody old crone, but despite all the losses and heartaches I had lived through, I wasn’t. Not really.
“Look,” I started again. “You—“ Little clicks came from behind the trees. “Oh, no,” I whispered.
“What—?” Varian asked, but the rest of his question was swallowed up when the little imps jumped out from the forest and invaded my garden.
The nasty bluish creatures with long and pointy e
ars, huge, oval dark eyes, and many, many rows of sharp teeth shrieked and jumped up and down, not one bit afraid of us. If they weren’t as tall as my mid-thigh, I would be the one afraid of them.
“Be gone, little pests.” I extended my arm and threw some black magic sparks at them. That only made them more upset and they started for my herb patch. “Oh no!” I brought up a thin black veil around the patch, but I knew that wouldn’t hold them back long enough. I had tried that before.
Suddenly, flames appeared between the imps and the patch, a wall of fire thick and wide. I dropped my hand and stared as Prince Varian commanded the fire to advance on the imps, closing in on them and pushing them back into the forest.
The creatures yelled and jumped, trying to get away from the fire, but they couldn’t without getting burned. The odd thing was, the ground where the fire had licked wasn’t scorched at all.
The fire invaded the forest, pushing the imps farther and farther away.
When we couldn’t see or hear the imps anymore, Prince Varian dropped his hands and turned to me. “They seem to be gone.” His brows knotted. “What were those?”
“I don’t know,” I said, my voice low. “I just call them little imps.” I pointed to the grass around us. The trees and bushes weren’t burned either. “How did you do that? How was the fire burning them, but it didn’t burn anything else?”
“I can control where and how my fire burns,” he said simply.
Incredible.
Perhaps he could be useful. By keeping the little imps away. I was sure they would try coming again, as they usually did, but if Varian used his fire to push them out a handful of times, they would eventually give up and leave me alone.
“You can stay,” I said, feeling awkward about this. “Until we figure out something for you. Like a place for you to go, or to stay, or … something.”
The fae looked at me with gentle eyes, seeming relieved by my decision.
I felt the weight of his gaze, of the small curl of his lips, of the size of his arms as he crossed them over his chest.
My cheeks started burning, and without knowing what to do, I turned around and stomped into the cottage.
11
Varian
I snatched a few pieces of firewood and followed Layla inside the cottage. She went to the wood stove, where she placed a kettle of water. I approached her carefully and rested the firewood on the pile beside the stove.
I took several steps back and asked, “How do you know fae?”
Layla glanced at me from over her shoulder. “I was given the sight and the speech long ago.”
I frowned, wanting to ask how and why, but the way her back straightened and her shoulders squared, I knew I shouldn’t prod much. At least, not yet. Instead, I asked, “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Not really. Besides managing the little imps, who I think won’t come back so soon, there’s nothing much to do.”
My frown deepened. If there was nothing to do, then I could think. I had to come up with a plan on how to get out of here. Even if Layla didn’t believe there was a way out, I wasn’t ready to give up. Especially now that I had found her. She didn’t look happy about me being here, but I was relieved I wasn’t alone anymore.
And according to what I had heard, she was a powerful witch. With my magic, hers, and maybe something else. Someone else? I just couldn’t sit here and wait for time to pass, as if a solution or a portal would show up in front of my face.
“When I was coming this way, I saw some stands along a narrow path in the middle of the forest,” I said. “Looked like a marketplace.”
Nodding, Layla reached for two mugs inside a wooden cupboard. “It is a marketplace. Several races meet there to trade for a handful of days every few weeks. It’s supposed to be a peaceful place, where even mortal enemies can’t attack.” She snorted. “But the tension there is always high and everyone expects a fight to break out.”
“What do they sell there?”
She placed some herbs inside the mugs. “Everything you can imagine. Clothing, jewelry, food, herbs and spices, magical potions.” She emphasized the word magical as if she knew they were a trick. “Sometimes there are stands for furniture, lands, and even livestock. And if you look close enough, you might be able to buy information, or even find a human or two.” She shuddered.
“Humans are sold like cattle?”
Layla picked up the kettle and poured hot water into the mugs. “Well, other than the peace in the marketplace, there are no rules in this land, none I’ve learned of anyway.” She offered one of the mugs to me. “If the ogres or the trolls want to take a goblin or pixie or a human and make him a slave, they just do it.”
That was interesting, and quite disturbing. I took the mug from her, the warmth seeping into my palms. “There are no leaders in this land? No kingdoms?”
She shook her head and held her mug. “Again, none that I know of. I’ve seen different ogre clans, troll villages, and things like that, but each one is independent and has their own leader. They claim a piece of the land and that’s it. There’s no order, no hierarchy, no border, nothing.”
“Hm.” I sipped from the tea and found it sweet and tasty. I drank a little more, even though it was burning my tongue. “I haven’t eaten and drunk anything like this for weeks. Thanks.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Three weeks, give or take a couple of days. I was really lost during my first few days,” I confessed.
She nodded. “I know the feeling.”
She brought her mug to her lips, her bright blue eyes fixed on mine, and I felt an urge to make her talk more, to ask her about her life. How had she come to this place? Why hadn’t she tried going back? Why was she refusing to help me? Even if she said she had tried everything, she had been alone. Now she had me. She could use me, use my help. Things would be different now.
But before I brought up any crazy ideas, I needed to have a solid plan.
And for that, I had to move.
After the tea and a few cookies that tasted like cinnamon, though Layla assured me they were made of something else entirely, she went to her garden to work. More specifically to her herb patch. As she exited the cottage, she briefly told me she sold the herbs at the marketplace.
I wanted to ask her what she did with her money, but again I locked my tongue inside my mouth. I didn’t want her to kick me out of here because I was too nosy.
I stayed quiet, and when she wasn’t looking, I grabbed one of the few cloaks she had hanging behind the door, sneaked out, and headed to the marketplace—wearing a glamour, of course.
12
Layla
Prince Varian of the Summer Court …
Until now I hadn’t allowed my thoughts to travel that way, but now that I was alone in the garden, with my gown’s skirt hiked up and my knees pressed to the damp soil, I couldn’t escape the prison of my mind.
I had heard of him before, of course. I had even seen him from afar many years ago, but back then nothing about him had struck me. That was because I had no interest in the Summer Court.
My life, my future, had been tied to the Spring Court.
I was glad I escaped that fate, but I wasn’t sure I was living a better one.
My friends certainly weren’t.
I shook my head and busied myself with my herbs. I checked on them, snatched the ones that looked like were dying, planted a few more, and after all was done, I pressed my fingers to the soil and sent my magic out.
Witches’ powers varied greatly. Some could only do one thing, like move objects or create potions or heal, and others could do two or more things. My mentor was a witch who could do everything. She was powerful beyond compare. Sometimes I wondered what had happened to her.
As for me, I fell somewhere in between. I could do a handful of things, like helping plants grown strong and bigger than they usually would. To be honest, I didn’t even know what I could do anymore. I hadn’t used my ful
l powers in years. I only used them now to work in my garden and to keep the little imps away. The showdown I performed that brought on my great evil and powerful reputation had been just that … a show. I had used my magic to make me seem bigger and badder than I was, and it had worked.
Trolls, ogres, and other creatures of this damn land stayed away from me now, if not from outright fear, then out of respect.
And that was enough for me.
I glanced at the cottage.
Would it be enough for the summer prince?
I let out a long, dreadful sigh. What the hell was I going to do with him? I couldn’t keep him here, but I also didn’t have it in me to send him away. He wouldn’t last a day out there by himself.
Well, he had been here for a few weeks now, and I had made it by myself, so maybe—
I shook my head again. No, my reputation might paint me as a bad guy, but I wasn’t one. I couldn’t in good conscience sent the prince away. I didn’t like it, but he would have to stay here until we figured out something better. Perhaps if we explored the area carefully, we would find another cottage we could renovate. He could create a reputation for himself and then the monsters would keep their distance from him too and—
A growl echoed through the garden. Instantly, I shot to my feet, spilling the bowl that had been resting by my side, and called my magic.
Ogres marched toward me from the backside of the cottage, their big feet squashing the plants in my garden.
I stared in shock. They had never come close to my place, much less walked right in.
“Where’s the fae?” one of them asked in their language, his big axe tight in his hand.
Summer Prince Page 4
