by Sofia Daniel
“Enough chatter,” snapped Lady Aster. “Are you in or out?”
I stared the trio down. Lady Gazania seemed to wilt under my glare, and the flames of her hair dimmed to a dull yellow. Lady Aster’s nostrils flared, giving me the impression she would do something drastic if I refused her offer. Lady Salix’s lips trembled, and she held onto her friend’s shoulder, presumably for support.
Right now, I had seen and heard enough. Raising my nose to the cloudless sky, I said, “I’ll leave my chances to fate, thank you.”
Lady Salix and Lady Gazania looked to their friend for guidance, but Lady Aster hissed like a scalded wildcat. “You’re siding with Gala? She’s the one whose idea it was to have you banished to Dubnos!”
“I’m siding with no-one, but thanks for the offer.” Raising my head to address an imaginary Mistress Ellyllon, I shouted, “I’ll discuss my reasons with you later, headmistress!”
Lady Aster placed her hand in her pocket and pulled out a glittering, round ball. “Die, bitch!”
A spike of adrenaline lanced through my heart, urging me to move. Jumping back into the remedial building, I grabbed Flora and slammed the door shut.
A heartbeat later, something boomed, making the wood rattle.
“Come on.” I grabbed Flora’s arm and headed for the back door. “We have to leave.”
“You fucking idiot.” Flora shoved me hard on the shoulder, slamming me against the stone wall. “What did you do that for? The headmistress told you this truce was your only chance of survival!”
“What did you see?” I asked.
Flora blinked. “Huh?”
“When you looked out in the hallway, who was there?”
“Lots of people.” She scratched her head. “The Starlight sisters, those girls from the Noble House of Kellas, Mistress Ellyllon and Master Gladiolus—”
“You can’t see through glamours, can you?”
She reared back. “What?”
“I swallowed a pinch of salt.” My fist opened, revealing the pink sachet. “When my eyes cleared, it was just those three standing alone.”
“Oh, my Lord.” Flora clapped both hands over her cheeks. “What did they do that for?”
“They’re angling to blame Lady Gala for what all four of them did to Helen.”
“No!” she cried, although from the tone of her voice, she had believed every word.
“Think about it.” I wrapped a hand around her arm and guided her through the quiet hallway. “Prince Rory has made it clear that he prefers me over his supposed fated mate. If they can pin their crime on Lady Gala, she’ll get locked up, and he’s going to need a mate.”
“You,” she whispered.
I raised my shoulders. “Maybe, if I joined forces on them, people might believe Lady Gala was working alone.”
“Devious bitches.”
My teeth ground together. “It’s how they got me naked in front of the school with Elijah.”
She rubbed the back of her neck. “I did wonder about that.”
“Well, now you know,” I said. “Let’s get a wingless horse from the meadow around the back.”
Flora shook her head. “Please. I grew up around winged horses. We’re flying.”
“Alright then, but let’s take the long route. Something just exploded against those doors, and I’m not going back out to inhale a lungful of poison.”
We walked around the back of the remedial building, through the outdoor barbecue area and around the other side of the stables. When we reached the courtyard, we found Prince Caulden stroking the muzzle of a white horse with wings that shimmered like silk.
“Going somewhere?” he asked.
Flora bobbed into a low curtsey, leaving me standing like I had no sense of etiquette. I folded my arms across my chest. It was hard to defer to a guy whose thick, pulsing dick had been in my mouth the day before.
“We’re going shopping for the next round,” I replied.
His gaze dropped down to my wrists, and he frowned. “With no family patronage, how do you intend to pay?”
Flora straightened and kept her eyes to the ground.
“Barter,” I muttered.
“Nonsense.” He strode forward and offered me his hand. “No future mate of mine will ever need to trade her favors.”
Flora gasped.
A barrage of retorts rose to the back of my throat along the lines of how dare he assume that I was swapping sexual favors for fabric, and didn’t he know I wasn’t that kind of girl… anymore, but they evaporated on my tongue as I realized what he had just said.
“F-future mate?” I asked.
He strode to my side, looking magnificent in his Royal Fae Academy uniform. The burgundy of his blazer contrasted with his pale blue hair, and his shirt lay unbuttoned halfway to his sternum, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of his pecs.
“Has anyone but me made a formal offer?” he asked in a low voice that made my heart quicken.
“No,” I whispered through a ragged breath. This was it. My ticket out of this shitty death trial and my greased slope into a life of luxury and power. But a nagging thought pulled at my heartstrings. “What about Queen Titania?”
Prince Caulden sighed. “If you’re worried about thwarting my mother’s wishes, I’ll help you find a gown that will dazzle her, and when you’ve won that trial, I will make my proposal in front of an audience of spectators.”
I glanced at Flora, who gave me an encouraging nod. Not that I needed it. Prince Rory had given me a good pearl-licking, but he hadn’t yet come forward to make a formal claim. I liked them both, but my survival instincts told me to choose the first brother who was willing to formalize a mating bond.
“Alright.” My gaze fell onto the horse walking around the courtyard with its wings outspread. “Are we taking that to the Mound?”
Prince Caulden flashed me a grin so dazzling, I had to blink stars out of my eyes. He wrapped an arm around my waist. “We’re going to the Prudence Plaza, the shopping place of every self-respecting royal faerie.”
A thrill of excitement shot through my insides and settled between my legs. I turned to Flora with an apology on my lips for ditching her, but she shooed me away.
“Have a great time and show me what you bought,” she said with a wide grin.
“Thanks.” I grinned back.
“Are you ready?” Prince Caulden gave me a gentle squeeze around the middle.
Desire swept over my skin like a desert wind, making my nerve endings tingle. Right now, I was ready for anything, but I think he was talking about the flight.
Looping my arms around his neck, I placed my lips to his ear and murmured, “Take me.”
Prince Caulden flared white, iridescent wings that reflected the rays of the sun and launched himself into the sky.
My insides lurched, but it wasn’t the numbing terror I had felt when Prince Rory had stepped off the highest tower in free-fall. Maybe this was his winter magic, but there was something safe about Prince Caulden, and I felt deep within my pulsing core that burning passion lay beneath his icy exterior.
“Salix told me you rejected her offer of friendship,” he said as we roared above the courtyard.
I glanced down, not daring to let go of his neck to wave back at Flora. “That’s because it came with a glamor and an offer to testify against Lady Gala when her father came to investigate the attacks on his daughter.”
“I see,” he said through clenched teeth.
A gust of wind blew golden hair into my face. I shook it off, my insides twisting with unease. “You think I should have accepted their truce?”
“I didn’t know the offer had come with such strings.”
“Do you think Lady Salix is capable of stealing a girl’s magic?”
Prince Caulden raised his head to the sun and closed his eyes. My gaze wandered over his strong jaw, prominent cheekbones, and perfect nose. This was the face of Prince August, only in alabaster and with hair the color of the sky on a frosty day.
I swallowed hard, waiting for his answer. Even if Prince Caulden’s feelings toward Lady Salix were fraternal, it had to hurt to hear that she had been involved in something so heinous.
“Salix isn’t the strongest of personalities,” he murmured. “She bends against the strongest will.”
“Like a sapling in the wind.”
He stared down at me with those gray eyes. “Precisely.”
I remained silent, waiting for his conclusion. His wings sliced through the air, each beat synchronizing with the strong, steady thud of my heart. We flew around the academy, over the stone garden, and across meadow of chamomile flowers while I peered up at Prince Caulden, who looked deep in thought.
After several moments, magic tingled against my skin, indicating that we had passed the wards. He glanced down at me, his gray eyes soft. “If those three approached you in such a dishonest manner, I have no doubt that Salix was part of the plot to steal Helenium’s magic.”
I was about to reply when a flock of swans with midnight-black feathers flew at our sides. Every single one of them turned to us and glowered through amber eyes.
“That’s all we need,” muttered Prince Caulden.
“What are those?” I asked. The only swans I’d ever seen in Doolish were white.
“Royal sentinels in their observer forms.”
“Shape-shifters.” I clung tighter to his neck. The only beings that could shift into animals were dark creatures that were supposed to have been banished to the Otherworld.
“Not exactly,” he murmured.
“More importantly, are we in some sort of trouble?” I asked.
“That remains to be seen.”
Prince Caulden flew the rest of the journey in silence, and a cloak of anxiety settled around my heart. If Queen Titania and a bunch of armed guards waited for us at the end of the journey, I wasn’t sure the prince would be able to save me from his mother’s wrath.
He gave me a gentle squeeze around the waist. “Try not to worry.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” I muttered. “You’re one of the princes.”
“There have been princes before us, but few survive to majority, and even fewer get the opportunity to bond with a mate.”
I drew in a sharp breath between my teeth. “Why?”
“Court politics mostly related to royal succession,” he said. “Queen Maeve murdered my father’s first mate when she was pregnant.”
“What?” My hands slipped from around his neck, and I clung to his shoulders.
Prince Caulden wrapped both arms around my back, bringing our bodies flush. His heartbeat was so strong, it reverberated against my rib cage. “She didn’t want any additional threats to her continued leadership.”
“Did she try to kill your father as well?” I glanced up at the sky, taking in the fluffy, white clouds far in the distance.
“By the time her assassins reached him, he was within the protection of the United Nations, negotiating this new regime.”
The black swans dove down toward a plateau on the mountains, and a breath of relief eased out from my lungs. Maybe they weren’t spying on us. I wrapped my arms around Prince Caulden and squeezed tight. “Is that why the four of you are destined to rule the courts instead of becoming the king?”
“Yes. His Majesty will have us rule over the dukes when we come of age.”
“How long will that be?” My lips brushed his ear.
Prince Caulden’s shiver against my body sent tingles between my thighs, which I squeezed together instead of wrapping around his hips. “In two-and-a-half years, when we turn twenty-one. He says that not making us heirs to the throne will guarantee our survival.”
I wanted to ask what happened to the other heirs to the throne, but it felt rude to expect him to dredge up something I could find in a history book. Instead, I focused on enjoying the rest of the ride, making a note to ask Mr. Whittaker if there was a library in the remedial building.
“Here we are,” he said.
Below us, the mountains dipped, revealing a canyon filled with streets arranged around a vast square surrounded by buildings that looked carved out of stone.
A gasp slipped from my lips. This was four times the size of Doolish town square but a thousand times grander. “What is this place?”
“Prudence Plaza,” he replied. “It’s where all members of the Royal Court go to relax and shop.”
“This looks like something from the outside world,” I murmured.
“His Majesty fashioned it from St. Marks Square in Venice.” Prince Caulden straightened his wings and swooped down toward the rooftops. “The best part about Prudence Plaza is the glamor that makes it appear like part of the mountain range.”
I held my breath, waiting to see who the black swans had informed of our arrival. Part of me expected a troop of soldiers in white uniforms, each holding balls of magic between their elegant fingers, but as we landed, all I found were high faeries walking in and out of window-fronted stores and vendors selling their wares on the street.
“Perhaps I overestimated my mother’s reach,” said Prince Caulden.
A relieved laugh bubbled up to the back of my throat. “I’m glad it was nothing.”
He slipped an arm around my waist and rested his hand on the small of my back. “Let’s go,” he murmured into my ear. “I can’t wait to see you try on those gowns.”
The next store we passed had live mannequins in the window display, dressed in sheer gowns that skimmed their svelte bodies. Their dragonfly wings were adorned with diamanté, making me wonder what kind of accessories they sold.
“Otherworld Outfitters has the best seamstresses.” Prince Caulden inclined his head at the doorman, who let us inside.
I expected to see rows of garments, just like the stores patronized by every single Real Housewife. Instead, there was only a single velvet sofa with a male sitting in the middle and reaching for his champagne flute.
Prince Rory raised his head and grinned. “You took your time. Hurry along, Unity, the garment mistress is waiting to get you out of that uniform.”
Chapter 6
Prince Caulden and I stopped in the middle of the clothes store and shared confused glances. From his wide, gray eyes and slack features, it was clear that the winter prince didn’t know his brother would be here, but I had to ask.
“Was Prince Rory behind the black swans?”
“And the crows, and the jackdaws.” Prince Rory raised a fluted glass containing sparkling liquid. It was too dark to be champagne and looked like flower nectar that had enchanted with bubbles.
“What are you doing here?” Prince Caulden dropped the hand on my back and stormed across the empty store.
I took stock of my surroundings. Marble adorned its floors and ceiling, while each wall was either mirrored or contained the window display.
The mannequins with dragonfly wings twisted around to get a better look at the two princes, who squared off to each other like rutting stags I’d once seen in a nature DVD. All they needed were a pair of antlers, and they were ready to battle.
“You said I could have Unity,” Prince Rory snarled. “Why are you trying to poach her for yourself?”
Prince Caulden’s shoulders broadened, and the temperature in the store plummeted. “The better question is why you left her in the Mound and failed to secure a mating bond.”
Frost formed on the surface of the mirrors and froze the floor. The live mannequins wrapped their arms around their svelte bodies and shivered.
“Hey.” I raised my hand. Didn’t anyone ever tell these two not to argue in public?
The Autumn Court prince bared his teeth. “What kind of gentleman forms a mating bond with a lady in the upstairs room of a tavern?”
“The same who would take advantage of her in said institution.”
My cheeks burned, and I dipped my head and stared down at the carpet of frost forming under my feet. This was just verbal sparring. Two siblings fighting over something
they both wanted. It wouldn’t result in an all-out war.
Prince Caulden continued to disparage his brother’s unseemly conduct, making me squirm. Words like ‘take advantage of’ and ‘vulnerable’ reminded me too much of how Sicily had described my relationship with Elijah.
Eventually, the words stopped, and a warm breeze blew around the room, melting all the ice. The boys glowered and growled at each other like feral beasts, making me wonder if they were related in any way to the ogre with the enormous bat wings from the stone garden.
They were both of the same height with muscular builds that looked like they’d been carved by a master craftsman. The breeches of their uniforms skimmed muscular buttocks that I longed to squeeze.
“Your Highnesses?” I said for want of a better way to address them in public.
Neither of them turned around. They were both too engrossed in hate-staring at each other to notice me.
I sighed and rubbed my fingertips over my temples, which now pounded. It was great having two powerful males vying to mate with me, but it also made me cringe to come between two brothers. If only there was a way I could have them both.
One of the mirrors on the back creaked open, and the most colorless faerie I’d ever seen peered out. A mop of powder-white curls sat piled on the top of her head with curls that framed her slender face.
She glanced from me to the bickering princes, her pale mouth forming a perfect ‘o’.
I beckoned her forward, and she stepped into the central part of the store, clad in a shimmering white dress. Behind her flapped dragonfly wings, their transparent membranes dusted with white sparkles.
“Forgive my interruption, Your Highnesses.” She bobbed into a curtsey. “But Her Majesty will arrive in two hours.”
Both princes stepped apart, sporting near-identical grimaces. The wind died down to the barest of breezes, and the temperature of the room rose back to normal.
“Then let the fitting begin.” Prince Rory swept his arm towards the faerie, who I presumed was the mistress of the establishment.