“And you’re okay with that?” I asked her. “You wouldn’t want your child to be a servant, but it’s acceptable for you?”
Caylee cocked her head to stare at me. “No one’s ever asked me what I wanted to be before. I think I should be able to attract one of the fae if I’m careful.”
I looked at her in disbelief. “But why do you want to stay in this world?” I asked softly. “Why not go back to the human world and go to college? You could be anything you want. You don’t have to be a servant or have a baby for someone who doesn’t love you.”
Caylee laughed. “The human world is inferior to this one. Only an idiot would want to go back.”
Caylee seemed so sure of what she was saying, but I had a feeling that the fae were brainwashing human children from a young age to stay here to take advantage of them. They were convincing kids like Caylee that her best option was to be a servant to them to keep them in line. That hardly seemed fair.
Caylee didn’t seem like she was willing to change a lifetime of preconceived notions right now, but maybe I could show her she had more options over time. I sighed. I don’t know why I was thinking of ways to get Caylee home to the human world when I wasn’t even sure I would be able to get back myself.
Eventually Caylee stepped back to view the final product and sighed. “I think this is the best I can do.”
I couldn’t help but laugh a little at her dismay at not being able to make me into someone the prince would find attractive. Hopefully, he would realize that I didn’t belong here with the fae and would send me right back to my pack. If only I could be that lucky.
I stood up to look in the mirror. Caylee had dressed me in an old-fashioned ball gown with a full skirt and corset. It was an icy blue color that reminded me of Cinderella’s dress when she went to the ball to meet the prince of her dreams. I felt the urge to laugh hysterically at the ridiculousness of my own situation – dressing to meet a prince was the opposite of a dream come true for me. I wanted no part of this type of life.
I leaned toward Caylee and took ahold of one of her hands. Froston had already warned me that the prince was dangerous. I was trying to put on a brave face and not let my inner fears get to me, but deep down I still felt small threads of panic and anxiety trying to get out.
“Should I be afraid?” I asked Caylee quietly.
She avoided my eyes and licked her lips nervously. “He’s not as…temperamental as his brothers,” she told me in a whisper. “But those that displease him tend to quietly disappear.”
Caylee looked around the room anxiously. “He’ll keep a smile on his face and look amused by those that oppose him, but…”
I let out a breath, I definitely needed to be cautious here. This wasn’t a game.
I released Caylee’s hand and gave her a warm smile. “What do you like to do for fun around here?”
She looked relieved at the change of conversation and started chatting about the various festivals that took place in the castle. I nodded along to what she was saying but tried to think about what my strategy for tonight should be.
I needed to be strong enough that I wouldn’t be taken advantage of, but polite enough that I wouldn’t be challenging the dangerous prince. With a sigh, I realized that the best strategy for tonight would probably be to speak as little as possible. I was way over my head here.
All too soon, Froston was at the door and ready to bring me to dinner with the prince. My stomach was a pit of dread.
He had changed into clothing that resembled Prince Mandrake’s from earlier today, but instead of black, he was dressed in white and silver. Going by the clothing choices, it seemed like the fae were trapped in the past. They also did not seem very fond of technology, and instead relied on magic. Caylee had showed me how to control the lighting in my room, which had to involve magic because the walls themselves glowed with light. When I asked Caylee how it worked, she had just tilted her head in confusion.
Froston dismissed Caylee and held out an arm for me to take. I hesitated. “Do we have to do this?” I pleaded with him. “If the prince is so dangerous, shouldn’t I stay far away from him?”
Froston sighed. “Unfortunately, he’s taken an interest in you. It might have been a flash of your power that caught his attention, but he seems to be fascinated by how…different you are.”
I frowned. It seemed like I didn’t fit in anywhere. I wasn’t human enough to fit in as a human, I wasn’t wolf enough to blend in with the wolves, and now I wasn’t fae enough either? Where did I fit into the world?
“I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe,” Froston promised.
I nodded in resignation, but it didn’t escape my notice that Froston had not promised to keep me safe, he just said he would try.
I couldn’t help but look around with wide eyes as Froston lead me out of my prison and through the castle. He smiled at me affectionately and gave me a guided tour as we walked. His castle reminded me of something from King Arthur’s times. The stone walls of the hall were broken only by narrow windows that looked like they could be used by archers firing at invaders down below. There were woven tapestries hung on the walls depicting fae hunting, doing battle, or in nature.
I’ve always been fascinated by history, and in any other circumstances I would have been delighted to walk through a castle that was steeped in thousands of years of history. But being a prisoner in a crazy, unknown world kind of put a damper on that. The tour did ease my apprehension a little; I felt less like a prisoner being walked to her sentencing.
The grouping of guards around a giant doorway gave me the hint that we had reached our destination. Apparently, Prince Mandrake normally traveled with an entourage of men dressed in black. I could pick up on the faint auras of magic that surrounded each of them, but their power was miniscule compared to what I had felt with Froston and the prince.
I took a deep breath before stepping through the doorway into what Froston called his ‘hall’. It was pretty much what I would have expected a king to have in his castle if we were in the Lord of the Rings movies. I had to give my head a little shake to remind myself that this was reality, it seemed so strange.
The prince stood as we entered and ran his eyes over me. “Anna,” he purred. “You look absolutely ravishing.”
I blushed and murmured something that ended in ‘Your Highness’ but allowed him to pull a chair out for me to sit.
He licked his lips when his eyes caught on my cleavage and I squirmed uncomfortably. This was super awkward, especially since my father was sitting right next to me.
“May I begin the meal, my prince?” my father asked smoothly. “My servants have prepared a spread that should please you.”
The prince flicked his eyes over to my father and gave him a nod, seeming amused at Froston’s attempt to draw his attention away from me. I was more than grateful for the interruption and kept my eyes down as the two of them chatted about mutual acquaintances.
I kept my ears perked for anything that could be useful for my situation, but could barely hide a yawn when most of it seemed like pointless gossip. Most of it was about other fae trying to get into favor with the prince and my father.
“Are we boring you, Anna?” Prince Mandrake asked with a smirk before taking a sip of his wine.
“Of course not, Your Highness.” I said with a blush.
He set down his glass of wine. “I think it’s time we talked about something that will probably be of interest to you – your future here.”
I swallowed nervously, and my eyes flicked over to Froston. I hated that my initial instinct was to look to him for reassurance, so I straightened up in my chair and met the prince’s eyes. “That would be something of interest to me.” I was proud of myself for keeping any hints of sarcasm or worry out of my voice.
The prince looked entertained by my reaction, so I doubt that I fooled him.
“You will be spending your afternoons with me for the foreseeable future,” he told me with a smirk. “I ha
ve all kinds of things that I want to teach you.”
“About magic?” I asked curiously.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Your Highness.” I added.
“The prince has the unique ability to absorb magic into himself.” Froston informed me. “Any errant magic that you might release will be easily taken care of and you don’t have to worry about harming anyone accidently.” I detected a hint of warning in his voice. He was probably telling me not to attack the prince, even if he managed to provoke me.
I was already wary of the prince. If Caylee’s and Froston’s warnings had not already been enough to worry me, then the dark swirl of energy around the prince would have done the job. Now that I was sitting close to him, I could feel the pull of his dark magic even more than I had before. I tried my best to not to get distracted by it.
“What kind of magic will I be learning, Your Highness?” I asked cautiously. I was more than a little worried about what the fae might require me to do on their behalf. But I was also curious. Would working with the fae give me some control over the magic that had burst out of me and burnt my attackers to a crisp? The fae might intend to try and use me as a weapon, but I wanted to make sure that I would never unintentionally harm someone.
“The first thing you need to know about magic is that everyone has their own special blend,” the prince told me, swirling his wine glass in his hand. “Your father is an elemental with an affinity for cold and ice, but your mother was a wolf with a special connection to the earth. I’m interested to see what powers you might develop.”
Froston nodded in confirmation before turning to the prince. “Anna works as a healer among the humans,” Froston told him. “Humans don’t use magic to heal, but I think she might find her affinity there.”
The prince scoffed. “I have a feeling it’s going to be more than just healing.” He leaned in towards me, his darkness reaching out to me.
I swallowed nervously. The prince’s eyes were focused on my own and I could feel his power drawing me in closer to him. His power was seductive, but also terrifying at the same time. The darkness called for me to relax and give in to it, but it had a sense of finality. I think if I had closed my eyes and let it envelop me, I would have been taken by death.
There had been times in my life where I would have found comfort in the sweet release he was tempting me with. But right now, I had too much to live for. I struggled against the pull with everything that I had inside me. I felt like I was stuck inside of a riptide, swimming with every last bit of energy inside of me.
The prince laughed when I managed to break his hold on me with pure willpower. Sweat dripped down my back and my hands shook with the effort. Froston smiled at me proudly. Were they both completely insane?
“My father is what the humans might call an incubus,” the prince told me with a smirk. “His powers lie in beauty and seduction. But my mother was the Morrigan.”
I inhaled a sharp breath. I knew enough about mythology to recognize the name. The Morrigan was considered to be a goddess of death. But how much of mythology was fact, and how much of it was fantasy? I’m sure that I would be finding out as I spent more time with the prince. Before, I had been wary of him. Now I was terrified. Was that why he had done it?
I hoped the prince was finished with his games after that display. I felt like I had just run several miles at a full sprint, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to fight off another one of those attacks.
Froston and the prince switched to another language to talk between themselves, leaving me to either wonder what they were talking about or get lost in my own thoughts. I was grateful that they were ignoring me and tried to use the time to pull myself together. Dinner went by in agonizing slowness and servants brought in round after round of more food. I sampled each dish that was brought in but I was too nervous to really enjoy any of it. Exhaustion had hit me so hard that just lifting my fork to my mouth wasn’t worth the energy expenditure.
The language they were speaking was beautiful and almost musical. I guess I should have wondered earlier why a group of people in another world spoke English. But it was obvious now that they had only been doing so for my benefit, I was going to ask Caylee about that the next time I saw her. Towards the end of the meal, I wondered why they had even required me to be here. Was it just so that the prince could frighten me? What would have happened if I had not broken free of the prince’s compulsion?
Finally, dinner was finished. The prince dismissed both Froston and myself, giving me a wink. I fought hard to suppress my shiver, I did not want any more of the prince’s attention.
Froston escorted me back to my room in silence, and this time I was too tired to do more than just place one foot in front of the other. Once we had passed through the barrier that Froston had placed on my room, he spoke.
“I hope you realize now that I have been telling you the truth. It’s dangerous for you in this world.”
I nodded in agreement. “I wish I had never been brought here.”
Froston flinched as if he were hurt, but what did he expect? He had dragged me here, away from my pack, and let the prince attack me.
“Get your rest tonight, Anna,” Froston told me softly. “I’ll do my best to keep the prince occupied and distracted, but you are still going to have to go to the lessons with him.”
I sighed and looked up at him in resignation. “I just want to go home.”
“I know.” Froston told me gently. “I’ll do my best to get you back to your pack, but I can’t make you any promises, and it’s not going to happen anytime soon.”
I turned away from him to hide the tears in my eyes. He sighed but walked to the doorway.
“I’m changing the barrier. You will be able to come and go as you please, but only myself and a few others will have permission to enter. The sound barrier will remain, so you will have some privacy.”
“Thank you,” I murmured.
Froston turned back to me after he finished. “I hope you understand that things won’t go well for you if you try to escape. If the prince takes you into his custody…”
I paled. I definitely did not want that to happen.
Froston and I said goodnight, and then I was alone. I struggled with the dress for a few minutes, but quickly gave up. There was no way I could get this corset untied by myself, I needed Caylee to undo it for me.
Exhausted, I walked to the bed and threw myself on it. Despite how uncomfortable I was lying there in the dress, I was asleep in moments.
My night was anything but restful. I tossed and turned, only to be plagued by nightmares when I finally managed to drift off to sleep. It had been a long time since I’ve had nightmares this bad, they seemed so real. I finally woke towards the end of the night and just laid in my bed, staring at the ceiling. Sleeping felt like it was draining the energy out of me, not replacing it. If I had been back home, I would have put on a movie to distract myself. But the fae’s strange mix of magic and technology didn’t include movies.
Instead, I thought about my pack back home. I tried to picture what they would all be doing right now. Were they worried? Did the twins feel abandoned? Did James have control over his temper? Was Austin making plans to get me back? Was Caleb taking care of the pups? Was Cody keeping everyone together?
Chapter 5
Anna
When Caylee brought breakfast late in the morning, I was still lying there, just staring at the ceiling. She did her best to try and cheer me up, but honestly it was a lost cause. I was physically and emotionally drained, it was all I could do to get dressed for my first lesson with the prince. Because I had gotten such a late start on the day, it was already afternoon by the time I had eaten breakfast and Caylee had dressed me to her satisfaction.
Caylee led me through the castle, and with each of my tired steps my apprehension grew deeper. I wasn’t sure what to expect from my daily lessons with the prince, but after dinner last night I knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant.
We stopped in front of a set of doors that had a group of guards in the front, indicating that the prince was inside. Caylee’s constant stream of chatter had included some information about the prince and his guards. He had a large contingent of guards that traveled with him wherever he stayed. They were made up of mostly men with mixed blood: human and fae, but also included some of the lower ranking fae. You could always tell where the prince was in the castle, because there would be a group of at least five men dressed in all black outside of the room.
Caylee had laughed when I asked her why Prince Mandrake wouldn’t want more powerful fae as his guards. Surely the prince would want the best? “Why would a powerful fae agree to be a servant when they should be a lord?” Caylee had laughed. It looked like the social structure of the fae was based on power as well as pedigree.
“Just you, my lady,” one of the guards told me gruffly as we approached the door. “Your maid will have to wait outside.”
I sighed but thanked Caylee for bringing me here. She gave me a small smile as I took a deep breath and braced myself for an afternoon with the prince. I tried to focus on the importance of learning how to use my magic. I needed to learn how to control it, but also pick up on anything that would help me fight for my pack if the need arose.
One of the guards opened the door for me, and I was surprised to step into a room that didn’t look like it belonged in a castle at all. I walked into a large gym that could have been in any fitness center back home. There were mats on the floor for stretching or fighting, weight benches, and a plethora of free weights. Any equipment that would have required electricity to work was missing, though. Apparently the fae had not invented exercise equipment that could run on magic.
“You look surprised.”
I jumped when the prince’s voice came suddenly from behind me.
“I wasn’t expecting anything so modern, Your Highness,” I replied as I turned to face him. Today he had his shoulder length dark hair pulled back, making his sculpted cheekbones even more prominent. He was dressed all in black again, making him look sleek and stylish.
Finding the Power Within Page 5
