“What is the meaning of this?” one of the women from Garrin’s harem said. She was taller than the others, with a regal bearing and light brown skin, her blonde, wavy hair striking in contrast.
“Good day, Cora,” Amund said. “This is Lex, the prince’s intended.”
Gasps erupted, and several women lunged forward, lips curling in disdain, only to be held back by others.
Lex inched closer to Amund and Zirel. These women wanted to attack her? She’d seen Fae women in full battle gear in the mural. Lex was no match. She smiled stiffly and said, “Get me out of here,” from the corner of her mouth.
“Silence!” Amund said, and the angry voices petered out.
Cora’s brown eyes narrowed. “You’ve been gone a long while, Amund. And now you are one of the prince’s closest confidants and bring…this person?”
“The prince expects the utmost care for Lex,” he said without explanation. “Should he hear of anything less, there will be repercussions.”
Lex glanced at Amund. What was up with the threats? First Garrin with glamour lady, and now Amund with Cora. Lex wasn’t entirely against this threat, as she’d like to continue breathing, but the conditions inside the castle were harsh for those with less power.
“I’m not safe here,” she murmured. “They’re going to tear me apart.” A flash of pink caught her eye. “That blonde in the pink dress looks ready to pounce. Don’t you dare leave me.”
Amund pursed his lips. “They are disgruntled.”
She swiveled her head and stared. “You think? It’s a shitshow.”
Lex hadn’t been competition to human women, and she wasn’t competition to these women either. But for some reason, they didn’t see it that way.
Cora snarled. “This is whom His Highness chose for his intended?”
“Yes,” Amund said, and Lex winced.
Of course Cora didn’t believe Garrin had chosen Lex above them. No one in their right mind would. Lex was going to kill Garrin for this.
“It seems rather…abrupt,” Cora said.
Amund hesitated. “Lex is special.”
Lex snorted. “Special” as in, “can’t wield magic like other Fae.” He told the truth, but he left a whole hell of a lot out.
Cora’s gaze moved over Lex’s face and focused on her eyes. “Clearly.”
What was everyone seeing in her eyes? This woman couldn’t see Lex’s power level, could she? Lex wasn’t exactly sure what a power level was, but the woman who’d waved her hands over Lex had assured her that she looked normal.
Cora smiled stiffly. “Greetings, Lex. From whence do you hail?”
“The Land of Sun,” Amund said, telling a lie without lying. According to her mother, Fae would assume he was talking about some place called Sunland in Tirnan.
Cora narrowed her eyes, taking in Lex’s clothes. She wore the same items Garrin had given her when they arrived in the Land of Ice, but now her clothing felt too short and tight, like it no longer fit. “Welcome to His Highness’s court.”
Lex swallowed. “Thank you.”
Cora snapped her fingers, and four women peeled off from the others. “Provide Lex with”—her lip curled—“new attire. What she wears is not suitable for the palace.” She tapped her jaw with a long, graceful finger. “You come from the kingdom they call Sunland?”
The Land of Sun? Sunland? Lex was going with it. She tried to say, “Yes, I’m from Sunland,” but the words wouldn’t leave her mouth—were stuck as though trapped in her throat.
And then realization dawned. Lex couldn’t lie anymore—because she was Fae.
Crap!
Along with losing whatever magical spell that kept her real appearance “hidden,” as Garrin put it, she’d also lost her ability to lie like a human.
Lex smiled awkwardly, hoping it was a good enough answer.
“Very well,” Cora said. “We will find something more appropriate for you to wear in His Highness’s royal court.”
These women weren’t naked, per se, but what they wore wasn’t the look Lex typically went for. Garrin’s court, harem, whatever, wore nearly sheer gowns that clung to their curves and showed off the beautiful skin of their arms. The dresses came in all colors, and some sparkled with jewels, but most were simply super sheer and sexy. Like the women themselves.
Lex wasn’t sexy. And they wanted her to dress like them? “Are you sure I’ll be warm enough?”
Cora blinked. “Warm?”
“She isn’t used to our climate,” Amund said hastily.
“Ah.” Cora smiled. “Sunland is assuredly warmer than Dark Kingdom. The castle is plenty warm. You needn’t wear your”—she waved at Lex—“over-things.”
Meaning Lex’s long-sleeved shirt and pants designed to stave off the cold inside a stone castle surrounded by ice and snow. No, they wouldn’t want her wearing that. They’d rather put her in gauze. Lex sighed.
“If that is settled, Zirel and I will leave,” Amund said.
“What?” Lex eyeballed both men. “I mean, are you sure? Wouldn’t you rather stay here with me and the ladies?” She shot them a death glare.
The corner of Zirel’s mouth quirked up, the jerk, and Amund said, “I am needed by His Highness elsewhere.” He turned to the room at large. “A pleasant day,” he said, and the women repeated it back like a trilling chorus of fairies.
And, Lex supposed, that was exactly what they were. Except not the small kind. These Fae were six foot at minimum, with incredible bodies and blinding beauty.
Amund and Zirel strode to the other side of the gallery that could host a two-hundred-person wedding and left.
They were leaving her. Alone. With all these strangers.
Lex’s palms began to sweat. How was she supposed to survive inside the den of she-wolves?
Garrin entered his parents’ rooms, followed by guards who’d found him seconds after Zirel absconded with Lex.
His father stood before a ten-foot window that looked onto the courtyard several hundred feet below. He spun around at the sound of Garrin entering. “Son.” He grinned broadly, small lines framing his gray-blue eyes.
His father had always been a handsome man, but the years were beginning to catch up, his hair now white, with deeper lines shadowing his eyes and brow.
Casone Branimir’s face pulled into a slight frown. “I hear you were unsuccessful in finding the one the prophecy spoke of, yet you’ve returned with a different female?”
Garrin bowed, first to his father and then to his mother, who stood off to the side wearing a ruby gown, her light brown hair swept over one shoulder in soft waves. He could force a lie through his lips—but the amount of effort usually gave away the lie, and most Fae couldn’t manage it at all. “I have indeed returned with a female,” he said instead. “I plan to marry her.”
Had Garrin informed his father he had a “girlfriend,” the king would have laughed. But a future wife was something else entirely.
His father chuckled without humor. “Marry her? I haven’t even met this woman. What is it about her that made you decide to attach yourself to her?”
Garrin glanced at his mother, unable to recall a moment when Ailith Branimir had appeared genuinely happy. His mother’s light brown eyes and smooth, even features were still as stone, revealing no cheer in response to his future nuptials.
Ailith Branimir was a queen and expected to do things differently. Not to mention, Garrin had been one of only two or three children who’d grown up in or around the castle. He had little maternal influence to compare her to. And he’d never paid attention to his mother’s warmth or lack thereof. Until now. Isle had created doubt in his mind where none had existed before.
The king often tried for children with his court females, spending as much time with them, or more, than he did his wife. Though it was the Dark Fae way, Garrin wondered if his father’s mission to produce heirs hurt his mother.
Lex wanted to return to the Earth realm, and Garrin was heir to a kingdom. She would never become his bride, and yet he didn’t like the idea of her with another man. His mouth twitched. She would certainly give him an earful if she didn’t want him with another woman. “Lex is special. She is also clever and willful,” Garrin said in response to his father’s surprise at him marrying.
“Willful?” His father laughed. “Have I taught you nothing?”
Garrin’s mother glanced at her husband sharply, then turned her back, looking out the window he had abandoned.
“Willful women are powerful protectors,” Garrin said, remembering Lex and her reaction to him fighting Jasper.
His mother’s head turned slightly, as though she were listening.
All Fae were protective of children, given the challenges they faced in conceiving. It took centuries to sire even one child. But when Lex cared, she seemed to care with her whole being, and it intrigued Garrin. Though he’d rather she directed her efforts at him and not that Jasper creature. Or at future children he and Lex had, not that they would. But if Garrin did, in fact, make Lex his bride, he could only imagine how caring she would be to their children. Unlike Ailith Branimir.
His father walked over and squeezed Garrin’s arm. “Just make sure you have your woman in hand.”
Garrin’s shoulder stiffened. If not for Lex and her magic, Garrin wouldn’t be here.
“When will I meet her?” his father asked. “Has she settled into your court?”
“She has,” Garrin said. “Though I hadn’t considered a formal meeting. We’ve only just arrived, and it wasn’t an easy journey.” An understatement. Garrin flinched at the memory of Lex free-falling in the ravine.
His father nodded. “It never is. And yet every time you return to me, I am that much more grateful.” He looked down. “I’ve thought about your travels. The risk isn’t worth it anymore. Perhaps it is our fate to live as we have.”
This was new. Casone had only ever been interested in escaping the Land of Ice. “Do you fear I will not succeed?” Garrin asked. “I assure you, it is my life’s mission to find a way out for our people.”
The king paced several steps away, his back to Garrin. “No, nothing like that.” He turned and smiled. “I simply don’t want to lose my only child.”
The king glanced at his wife for the first time. “We’ve not managed to have another, and I worry… Perhaps you should hold off on your travels until your mother and I sire more children.”
Garrin looked at his mother, who stood rigid, the hand that bore her husband’s crest flexing. “You mean, until you have someone to carry on the legacy should I perish?” Garrin’s tone held an edge. If they didn’t find a safe way out of Dark Kingdom, eventually their people would no longer thrive. To give up now was suicide.
It had been hundreds of years and they barely survived as it was, living in structures that predated the ice, and patching them together when they must. And the food… To say food was scarce in perpetual winter was making light of the situation.
Few animals had survived the original freeze, and it took great planning to ensure the population wasn’t depleted. The only greenery left were allon trees, the species as old and magical as Tirnan itself. And even those trees had to be defrosted with care to provide much-needed nutrients. It was a challenging life, and Dark Fae numbers had dwindled due to the harsh conditions.
And battles. Trapped together with no way out had led to many battles among his people.
Casone’s eyes turned unyielding. “Even you must admit, what is a kingdom without an heir?”
“What is a kingdom without freedom? Without proper food?” Garrin said.
His father’s chest rose and his face turned red. Then he waved off Garrin’s comment. “Let us not speak of such things when you’ve only just returned. We have a wedding to plan, do we not? There is plenty of time to talk of future travels once you are settled with your bride.” He winked. “Perhaps you will not wish to be gone so long with a new woman in your bed.”
Garrin could very well imagine Lex in his bed, and it terrified him. For so long, he’d made women a distant second to saving his people. And now he couldn’t take his mind off Lex.
He didn’t enjoy withholding information from his father and mother, but until he could ensure Lex’s safety, he must. “Perhaps,” he said, in regard to remaining in Dark Kingdom.
His father nodded. “Don’t wait too long to introduce us to the girl. Your mother is most anxious to meet her.”
Ailith stared out the window, showing no signs of excitement or eagerness.
Servants had cared for Garrin when he was a child, but in public, his mother had clung to him and claimed him as her proudest achievement. The older he got, the more he realized how disingenuous her affection had been.
But her coldness this day was harsher than normal. Did his mother fear her position in the palace with a new princess of childbearing years in residence?
Garrin wished Isle hadn’t sewn such doubt about his mother, because now that they were there, he couldn’t rid himself of dark thoughts.
