by Skye Horn
“I think my cousin has a bit of a crush on you,” Declan said, not missing a beat as he tossed a teasing wink at his young cousin. Thea watched Eric’s face burn scarlet before Declan continued his torment. “Maybe you’re marrying the wrong person.”
It was the first mention of marriage between them, and no matter how lightheartedly he spoke about it, the tension erupted between Thea’s shoulder blades. Her wings twitched, knocking her fork from the table to the ground, and the loud clamor of silver against tile made Thea wince as it rang piercingly through the dining hall.
“Declan,” Ismara warned, a disapproving line forming on her brow as she looked at her nephew, and a servant quickly brought Thea a new fork, ending her internal debate over whether or not she should pick it up from the ground.
Declan appeared unfazed by his aunt’s tone as Thea shoved her trembling hands beneath the table, folding them into her lap securely.
Unfortunately, the movement escaped no one’s notice.
“Dinner was excellent,” Thea said as another set of servants presented dessert. She actually hadn’t been able to eat a lot, but what she had tasted had been delicious.
“Thank you,” Ismara replied, but her expectant gaze rested on Declan.
“I believe my aunt wishes for me to invite you on a garden stroll,” he said with a dramatic drawl, but Thea didn’t miss the pink tint of his cheeks. It was obvious someone had coached Declan on what he was supposed to say to her, and it left them both looking and feeling more than a little awkward. For a moment, she actually missed their easy interaction in the courtyard, despite the terrible circumstances.
“What he means to say is the gardens are beautiful at this time of night,” Ismara corrected.
“May I go as well?” Eric asked his mother, looking over at Thea with crushing silver eyes.
“You have studies to attend,” the queen replied, but with kindness. She wasn’t cruel, just set in her ways, Thea thought. “Come now.”
Ismara rose from the table, motioning for her son to follow her as she bid Thea and Declan goodnight so abruptly that Thea was unsure how to react. Thankfully, Declan spoke first.
“Well, that was fun,” he murmured, watching the door close behind his aunt and cousin. Servants cleared away the dessert plates as the two of them sat in terrible silence at the table. Just as Thea hadn’t known how to speak to him earlier, she felt even more unsure of what to say now. She’d never been in a situation like this, nor had she ever dreamt of a day she’d find herself in such circumstances.
“Thanks for not telling her what happened,” Thea said, staring at the folded hands in her lap. She didn’t really want to talk about her fight with Kieran, but she owed Declan for not ratting her out to the queen.
He lifted his glass of wine to his lips, emptying it, and poured himself another. It was the third glass, Thea noted. She’d had two herself, which had cut through her tension with a warm buzz.
“It wasn’t any of her business. Plus, I don’t like to gossip,” he replied, blinking slowly as he watched her. “And you don’t have to go on a walk with me, but the gardens are beautiful and my aunt likely has someone watching us.”
Knowing she would be watched made Thea’s skin crawl. She glanced around for watching eyes, but Declan only shrugged—apparently this was a normal occurrence.
“A walk wouldn’t hurt,” she said, looking up to meet his gaze.
Thea didn’t have a lot of experience drinking wine, but now that she’d had two glasses, her limbs felt heavy and uncoordinated. The only exposure to alcohol she’d had was when she and Marcus had drunk cheap tequila shots all night one summer in high school—typical teenage stupidity—and after an entire day of vomiting, Thea had decided it wasn’t worth the discomfort. She’d hardly touched the venomous liquid since. Wine felt different, though. It had a sophistication to it, and she hadn’t wanted to seem like a child by refusing it when the queen had offered it to her.
So here she sat, buzzed and suppressing unnecessary giggling, because nothing about the situation they were in was funny. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be drunk soon, which she was sure was yet another red flag for meeting potential husbands and keeping the Goddess of Death out of one’s head.
What was she getting herself into by finishing the red liquid in her glass? She wasn’t sure, but she swallowed the last sips anyway, letting it dull the pain from earlier.
Declan watched her with a careful curiosity that didn’t bother Thea. He sat swirling the glass of wine in one hand and tapping his fingers on the edge of the table with the other. His amber eyes flickered with the flames of the candles that lined the walls, but Thea saw nothing in them beyond her reflection and the surrounding room. In her current state of mind, Thea wondered what Declan’s reasons were for his guarded demeanor. She knew very little about him aside from the fact that he was a ladies’ man, but there seemed to be more hiding beneath the brooding exterior he put on for his aunt.
“Well, let’s go then,” he said, swallowing the last sip of his own wine and rising from his chair. He extended a hand to Thea as she set her own empty glass down with a light clink, and after a moment of hesitation, she accepted the offer, fearing losing her balance more than his hand-holding intentions.
She followed him out of the dining hall, noticing that unlike Kieran’s rough, callused fingers, Declan had soft, warm skin that pressed against hers. His entire hand wrapped around her petite one, and to her surprise, he didn’t let go as they exited the castle’s interior. Betrayal trickled into Thea’s thoughts like poison at the thought of Kieran’s hands. She recalled the roughness of his skin on hers the last night they’d spent together and the passion which had seemed so unbreakable between them. Even his name in her thoughts made her chest tighten, but she didn’t let the pain show on her face.
How could she be so in love with the man who’d treated her so terribly today? Who had flat-out refused to be with her anymore?
Weakness, she told herself, feeling bitter as the silence continued.
The silence wasn’t uncomfortable. It allowed Thea to gather her thoughts about both Declan and Kieran. Her mind spun webs of outcomes that may or may not happen while Declan walked beside her, completely oblivious to her inner turmoil.
She could marry him, she thought, even though he didn’t want to marry her. Marriage would likely protect both of their kingdoms.
But she could also go after Kieran again and demand he be honest with her—under the protestation that he hadn’t been honest before.
Or, she could give up on love forever, but Thea realized that a life without love hardly sounded like a life worth living, even to the brokenhearted.
Chapter 15
Sunset had long passed when they reached the gardens, but starlight illuminated the flowerbeds. The trees cast shadows beneath the moon as the clouds wandered across the darkened sky.
“So,” she said, wondering if her words sounded as buzzed as she felt. “Tell me about yourself.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard all about me,” Declan responded, looking uninterested in the small talk that Thea had offered, but he still hadn’t let go of her hand.
“As I’m sure you’ve heard all about me, but I think facts get distorted when you learn about others that way.”
“You start then,” he countered. “Tell me something I haven’t been told.”
For a moment, Thea debated arguing with him, but it seemed they’d be in an endless conversation of questions if she did that. So, instead, she said, “I rarely drink wine but despite being a princess and a guest, I caved to peer pressure tonight.”
This won Thea a slight chuckle from Declan, who eyed her.
“Well, that explains your rosy cheeks,” he teased, seeming to relax just a little at her confession. Thea’s face felt like it was on fire.
“Your turn then. Tell me something I haven’t been told.”
He considered her for a moment longer and then shook his head, laughing. “I don’t le
t girls boss me around.”
“Tell that to your aunt. C’mon, this is only fun if you play along.” Thea bumped her hip against Declan’s.
“Fine, fine. Just stop hitting me. You’re going to knock us both over in this wine-induced state of yours,” he said, laughing. "I don’t know how to fight.”
“You don’t know how to fight? Or you’ve never had to fight? There’s a difference.” Thea stopped walking to lift an eyebrow at him and caught him by the arm as he stumbled over his own feet. Apparently she wasn’t the only one feeling a little buzzed.
“Both, I guess?” He regained his balance and chuckled. “My aunt hired many tutors to teach me to use a sword, but I never took it seriously because the borders were closed. I guess now that she’s let the world back in, I should probably learn.”
Thea was both surprised and curious. She’d never met a man in Faerie who didn’t know at least the basics on how to wield a sword, and not that she wanted to rub it in, but well—she was competitive.
“So if I threatened you with a dagger right now… you’re saying you couldn’t fight me off?” Thea asked, smirking.
It was Declan’s turn to raise an eyebrow now as he eyed her up and down.
“First, I could take you in that dress,” he said as his eyes lingered just a little too long for comfort on her bare skin. “And second, you don’t have a dagger, so it won’t be an issue.”
At this, Thea grinned, letting go of his hand to grab the hidden dagger, and in one sweeping motion she pressed the tip of the blade to the soft spot between his ribs. She heard his quick intake of breath as he stared at her wide-eyed, not daring to look at the dagger she held against him, but Thea’s smile only turned more innocent.
“You were saying?” she said, batting her eyelashes up at him.
“Another thing I didn’t know about the Princess of Ivandor,” he smiled with an incline of his head.
“What? That I know how to wield a dagger?” she asked, but he was already shaking his head.
“No, more like don’t make assumptions, and always check the corset,” he chuckled.
“Ah, well, lesson one in getting to know me seems to have been a success then,” Thea said, tucking the dagger back into its hiding spot. “But stay away from my corset. I’m a lady.”
They both laughed then and Declan seized her hand again, drawing it back to him as he led her farther away from the castle.
The garden was like a maze. It was full of tall hedges and flowers she’d never seen before that appeared to bloom in the moonlight. Gimmerwich’s beauty impressed her, but she would never admit that to Ismara. Perhaps she could let Declan know though. There was a sense of curiosity that lingered over him as he cast side-long glances in her direction, and Thea wondered what questions he was debating asking. She didn’t know half of the legends that had been told across the villages about her, but she wondered what those legends might have been like in Gimmerwich since it was a land untouched by war.
“Is it true your wings grew when you were fighting Morrigan?” He led her toward a stone bench beside a fountain decorated with statues of Fae Thea didn’t recognize. Their bodies were frozen forever in a dance around the water, but Thea noticed the way the moonlight glistened off each of their faces, decorating the space around them in glorious rays of light.
“I was fighting my father, but yes,” Thea responded, mesmerized by the way the light touched the flowing water. “Who are those Fae?”
The sculptor had chiseled each of the stony faces to lifelike perfection. If it weren’t for how close they were and the unnatural stillness of their bodies, Thea could have mistaken them for actual people. She walked toward the fountain and swore she heard whispers beneath the water. The four stone figures watched her with knowing gazes, stoic and beautiful.
“The original kings and queens of Faerie,” Declan explained as he stood beside her, watching her wondering expression. “History tells us they were hand-selected by Ainé to rule the four kingdoms of Faerie.”
Thea knew about the original kings and queens, but she couldn’t help but stand in awe of the figures that rose above her now. There were two winged Fae, and to Thea’s surprise, one of them was female. She was dressed in a soldier’s uniform with the seal of Ivandor etched onto her sleeve. Her eyes were fierce, and the sword in her hand was prepared for battle.
“Guess we know where you got your style choices from,” Declan murmured, eyeing the stone figure of the original Queen of Ivandor. “And your spirit.”
Thea smiled, unable to stop herself, and asked, “What about him?”
She was eyeing the other winged Fae. His face was as fierce as the queen’s, cut with sharp lines of seriousness.
“Blackmire’s king,” Declan explained. “They were said to have been the fiercest warriors in all the lands, and to have led the rebellion against Morrigan.”
“Blackmire was against the Goddess of Death?” Thea asked in surprise. “I thought the kingdoms of the East worshipped her.”
“They do. In fact, some ancient texts even hint they are direct descendants of hers, but Blackmire’s original king was in love with the Queen of Ivandor—he wanted nothing to do with Morrigan if she meant to kill his soulmate. Morrigan cursed him because of his betrayal. She deemed that black magic would run through his veins and the veins of every first-born son in his line until a soul bond was broken.”
“What?” Thea’s eyes lifted to meet Declan’s, looking away from the fierce warriors of the past. She had heard the story of Ainé creating the Fae species with her human lover, but no one had ever told her that Morrigan could have played a part in that as well. What human had fallen prey to Morrigan to conceive a child with her? “We can break the bond?”
“No. That’s the tragedy of it all. No one has ever broken a soul bond in the history of our people, so the curse still exists. It’s just a myth though. There would be no way to track the lineage of the king of Blackmire. Morrigan is the only one who would know who those first-born sons are.”
“Where did you learn all of this?” Thea asked in amazement. Besides her great-godfather, Thea hadn’t ever met anyone who knew so much about history as Declan did.
“From her.” Declan motioned toward one of the other two statues, a woman dressed in extravagant clothing. She carried a book in her palm, tucked against her side. “The original Queen of Gimmerwich was a scholar. The castle has an extensive library of books that date back centuries, but the most interesting of them all are the journals kept by the queen herself. Of course, there is no way of fact-checking anything, but I spent a lot of my childhood trying to decipher the journals.”
“Decipher them?” Thea asked in confusion.
“Well, as you can imagine, they are ancient. Some parts faded beyond ever reading, and they wrote each text in the language of the Fae.”
“They spoke another language?” Thea gasped. She remembered how Malachi had chanted the spell to open the prison world in a language she didn’t recognize, but she had thought that was just spell work. She’d never imagined it would be an ancient language. “You speak another language?”
“I had a lot of spare time as a child.” Declan shrugged, but he was smiling. Apparently, this was what he was good at: knowledge and history. Both things were powerful weapons in their own right, even if he couldn’t wield a sword.
“So, the remaining king must be from Grimwalde?” Thea asked, eyeing the last statue. He was dressed elegantly, decorated the most beautifully out of all the leaders. “What was he known for?”
“Prophecy,” Declan said, following her gaze. “He was the first of the seers, and could speak directly with the Goddess.”
“Like me,” Thea breathed out before she could stop herself.
“I’d heard about that, but I wasn’t sure if it was true.” Declan was looking at her like she was a book he could study. She didn’t like it. Thea wanted to shrink back into their earlier ease, but she was also happy to have discovered this new part of he
r history—their history.
“It’s true,” Thea said quietly, not meeting his eyes. She still found her connection to Ainé strange, but that connection could lead into more questions about the goddesses. Questions Thea didn’t trust herself to answer in her influenced state. They stared at the statues a moment longer, Thea thinking of the library Declan had mentioned and wondering how many of those books she would be able to understand if ever given the chance. However, Declan’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
“So, do you want to talk about what happened earlier? Or should we keep discussing our dead ancestors?”
Thea had expected the conversation to come to this eventually, but she still felt unprepared. The fountain had only been a momentary distraction for them, but tragic love stories must have reminded Declan of the unanswered questions between them.
“You don’t have to tell me,” he said, studying her expression.
“I think you deserve to know, considering we’re supposed to get married and all.”
This time, it was her turn to bring up the unspoken topic and her turn to consider his reaction. The problem was he didn’t have much of one. He looked unconcerned with the prospect of marrying her, and she wondered if he’d figured some way out of it. It wasn’t as if the council could force them into a marriage, right?
When Declan didn’t appear to have anything to say to her marriage comment, she sighed and added, “I thought Kieran was my soulmate.”
“Thought?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. They both sat on the edge of the fountain and Thea let her eyes drift up to the starlit sky. She didn’t know if she could tell him the truth and look him in the eye without breaking down.
“Well, you’ve just told me no one has ever broken a soul bond… and yet, he left me.” Her lips tugged down into a frown. Ainé had claimed Thea and Kieran were soulmates, and Thea had been sure it was the truth, but if that were the case, how had he walked away? It didn’t seem like the sheer fact that the law said they couldn’t be together could be enough for him to make that decision. And yet, it had been enough for now.
