by Nissa Leder
The royal cemetery lay in the back corner of the castle grounds, surrounded by rose bushes and other hedges to keep it private. The High Priest stood by the white, marble casket holding the king’s body.
Cade still couldn’t believe his father was gone. His father was still a young king, whose own father was nearly three-hundred-years old when he was killed in the last major fae war. But the king was only eighty—still a young adult in the fae world.
Something had been wrong with him for a while. It wasn’t unheard of for a fae to lose his mind—just rare. Regardless of why, the king was dead.
Cade and Kassandra stood next to the priest. Right before the ceremony began, Raith showed up, taking his place next to Cade. The castle servants were there to give their respects, too.
Everyone wore black, the proper color of mourning. Some cried. No one spoke. To do so at the ceremony so would be treasonous. Only the High Priest and family were allowed to speak. Anyone else murmuring even a single word was disrespectful.
As the High Priest gave his blessing, Cade remembered his father. The king had taught Cade about the history of the fae and how the Summer Kings before him had ruled.
When Cade won the battle—he would defeat Raith—he hoped to be as good a king as his father was. The Summer Court had seen true peace, and his father respected all beings, including humans. Cade admired his father’s kindness.
Once the ceremony was over, Cade went back to his room to have some time alone with his thoughts. In a few days, the battle would begin. The winner would immediately be king. Cade had always expected his father to live for at least a while longer—not for the winner of the battle to become king the moment of victory. Had that ever happened before?
Truthfully, he wasn’t ready to rule. He’d completed all the necessary lessons, but he’d just become an adult in the fae world. He should have studied harder. What if other courts saw his young age as weakness and attacked? What if the people didn’t respect him?
He exhaled the worry he felt about the future. First, he needed to win the battle. Then he’d figure the rest out.
One of the queen’s servants came to Cade’s room. His mother required his presence. Cade sighed, but went straight to her room. He wasn’t sure how his mother was handling his father’s death. She was never one to show her emotion. But if she needed Cade for anything, he would be there.
The queen sat on a chaise by the window in her room. “Son, come, sit.” She gestured to the chair next to her.
The door closed behind Cade as he walked to her.
“With the king gone, our victory is more crucial than it’s ever been. Now is the time for you to focus.”
“Of course, I’ve been training every day.”
“So has Raith, and he’s been strategizing. Why else would he claim the human as his second?”
“To mess with my head,” Cade said. That was Raith. Always finding a way to stir the pot. But picking Scarlett as his second was sloppy and foolish. She was no match for Poppy, a trained Summer soldier. Her mortal nature made her weak and slow and breakable. Had Cade not gotten to know Scarlett, he’d be delighted at his brother’s choice. But the image of Scarlett dead on the forest ground sent a twinge of sadness through him.
“I’m sure that was part of it, but he also took away your main power source,” Kassandra said. “And I think you’ve grown fond of the human.”
He’d enjoyed his time with Scarlett, sure. But he wasn’t attached enough to let it interfere. More than anything, he felt sorry for her, he assured himself.
“What exactly is the bargain you made with Raith?” Kassandra asked.
“Scarlett is mine except for a training session a day with Raith, but I can’t feed on her emotion or make her do anything against her will.”
He hadn’t had much use for her since she stopped Cade in bed. He could feel his power building from his lust, and then once she said to stop, it froze.
“She’s only a burden to you now, son,” Kassandra said.
“What should I do?”
“She should be put in the dungeon. It will mess with her focus, as well as show Raith she means nothing to you.”
The dungeon? That had to be a little extreme. Scarlett hadn’t done anything to Cade. It was all Raith. His father would never have approved. But his father wasn’t there anymore.
“Even now, you’re questioning if I’m right,” Kassandra said. “The stakes are too high for you to show any mercy. You must be strong. For your father.”
Guilt sat in the pit of Cade’s stomach, but he agreed. Kassandra would have her guards take Scarlett and lock her up, only allowing her out for her training session per Cade’s agreement with Raith.
Then, in a few days, Cade would take his brother down.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
A hand on her wrist yanked Scarlett from her dreamscape. Her eyes snapped open. A fae soldier, dressed like the guards at the doors, pulled Scarlett from her bed. Two others joined him. Scarlett kicked as three guards dragged her from her room. Two held her arms and the last, her leg.
“Let me go,” she yelled as they walked by a group of servants.
Her fighting was futile. The guards held her until they tossed her into a cell underneath the castle. Scarlett landed on her butt with a thud.
Anger radiated through her. What assholes. Had Cade asked for her to be thrown in the dungeon like some criminal? All because she turned him down? Typical.
There was a thin mattress on the floor in the corner of the cell with a blanket and a pillow. On the other end was a toilet. This was literally a prison. Scarlett screamed, but no one paid her any attention.
The stone floor sent a shiver up her back, so she moved to the bed. Eventually, she curled under the covers and tried to clear her mind.
Hours later—how many, Scarlett didn’t know—Raith showed up with a guard who unlocked her cell.
“C’mon,” Raith said. Scarlett could feel the rage bursting from him.
When they were in the training room, Raith exploded. “I can’t believe that bitch would do this. And, of course, my little brother went along with it.”
“What’s going on?” Jaser asked.
“They’ve locked her in the dungeon.” Raith gestured to Scarlett. “I honestly underestimated Cade’s momma’s boy syndrome.”
Scarlett still hadn’t spoken. Everything was spinning out of control, faster and faster with each passing moment. All she wanted was her own bed and her old life. No fae. No battles. No powers. Why had she so desperately wanted her life to be something else? Things were hard at times, but things were safe. Somehow, she’d even managed not to get thrown in prison until coming to Faerie.
“Are you okay?” Jaser came to Scarlett and placed his hands on her shoulders. “They’re doing this to mess with you. The battle is in in a few days. Don’t let them ruin you now.”
Scarlett blinked. The world around her came into focus. Jaser peered down at her with chocolate eyes. “Why do you care? I’m just a stupid human. What do I matter to a fae like you?”
“Throwing a pity party isn’t going to save you,” Jaser said. “And not all fae think so little of you humans, which, by the way, you aren’t one-hundred-percent. I’ve been to the mortal realm a few times and from what I saw, humans can be kind, generous, and loving. Sure, most fae put themselves on a pedestal and look down upon mortals, but that’s not me.”
Scarlett gulped back tears. Everything was so overwhelming, but she felt the sincerity behind Jaser’s words and it made her want to cry. The emotional roller coaster she’d been riding had come crashing down, throwing Scarlett against the pavement of her new reality.
“Now, we have a battle to prepare for.” Jaser tossed Scarlett a staff and Raith daggers. “You two can practice against each other.”
She could do this. She’d spent enough time running from her problems. It was her chance to face them—all of them. Crying would not save her and neither would cowering.
Scarlett
put all her anger into practice. Raith would always find a way to give the killing blow, but the more they practiced, the longer Scarlett could hold her own. At least she was improving. If she had more time, she might turn into a competent fighter. But she didn’t, so she’d have to learn the best she could. Hopefully it would be enough to keep her alive. Finally, Raith said it was time to head back to her cell, otherwise the guards would find her and drag her back.
Jaser nodded, his stare full of sympathy. On the way to the dungeon, Raith pulled Scarlett into a dark room. Raith waved his hands and the curtains flung open. Another flick and the door shut. Next to the window sat a cherry wood grand piano—the same shade as Scarlett’s mother’s casket.
The grief struck her, but she didn’t shy away from it this time. She allowed it to flow through her like water.
“I wanted to apologize,” Raith said to Scarlett’s left, her eyes fixated on the piano. “I wanted to do as you asked and take your memories. I just…couldn’t.”
She looked to him. “Thank you.”
“I’m sorry?” Confusion filled his features.
“I’m glad you didn’t erase them.” She looked back to the piano. A thick layer of dust covered it, but the beautiful tone of the wood still shined in sunlight. “It was wrong of me to ask you.”
“Do you play?”
“Play what?”
Raith tilted his head to the piano. “You’ve barely glanced at anything else since we came in here.”
Scarlett nodded. “I haven’t touched a piano since she died.”
“It was my mother’s. This was her special room. She’d play for hours, looking out to the forest in between songs,” Raith said. “Would you like to play?”
Scarlett’s fingers shook, but she walked toward it. She brushed the dust off of the bench and sat down. She knew she might never make it home. Her fingers hovered over the keys. She ignored the dust as she pressed down a chord.
Her fingers took control of her mind as they moved to Chopin’s Waltz in B Minor. She remembered her mother’s smile as she’d listen to her learn it. When the song was through, Scarlett folded her hands in her lap.
“You miss her, too.” Scarlett’s gaze met Raith’s. “I can feel it.”
“It’s why I couldn’t take your memories. I couldn’t imagine if I forgot my mother. I couldn’t take yours from you.”
Raith joined Scarlett on the bench.
“I thought I’d never be able to handle them, but when I realized they could have been gone forever, I knew I needed them. Memories are all I have left of her.”
Scarlett had thought she was only part of the game, but sitting here next to Raith, the connection between them vibrated.
“I’m also sorry…about what happened next.” Raith stared at the floor. “I mean, it was great, but you were vulnerable.”
“I knew what I was doing.” Scarlett bumped her hip against his. “You seemed to know what you were doing, too.”
He grinned. “You weren’t too bad yourself.”
Before Scarlett could ask where they stood now, the three guards who stole her from her bed barged into the room.
“Time’s up,” one barked.
Anger poured from Raith.
“It’s fine,” Scarlett said. “I’ll be okay.”
She hoped.
The next days were all the same. Scarlett was stuck in the cold room until it was time to train. A servant would bring her three meals a day, all some gross mush that Scarlett could barely get down. The night before the battle, Raith brought her an actual meal of turkey, potatoes, and fruit. It tasted divine—almost as if she were a prisoner on death row given her last meal.
They hadn’t had a chance to finish their conversation. Every moment together went toward training. If they didn’t live past the battle, their feelings for each other didn’t matter.
After Scarlett finished dinner, she got into her bed. As she drifted to sleep, she heard Kassandra.
“My, my, don’t you look comfortable.” Kassandra’s tone was pure ice.
“What do you want?” Scarlett asked. The time for pleasantries with the queen was over.
“Now is that any way to treat a visitor?” With a wave of her hand, Kassandra unlocked the cell and stepped inside. “Stand up.”
When Scarlett didn’t listen, she felt her mind explode. Pain shot through her brain. Visions of her friend Natalie being stabbed plagued her. Blood oozed from Natalie’s wound as her eyes became lifeless.
Then it all stopped and Scarlett’s vision returned to the cell. “How did you do that?”
“It’s my gift.”
Like Cade could enter dreams and Raith could see and take memories? Kassandra could make people see things?
Pain shot through Scarlett’s head again. Instead of seeing something in her mind, her sister Ashleigh appeared in front of her, right there in the cell.
“Scarlett,” Ashleigh said. “Help me.”
“No!” Scarlett yelled. “Leave her alone.”
“Please.” Ashleigh’s eyes doubled in size. She coughed. Blood dripped out of her mouth and onto the stone floor.
“Stop it!” Scarlett screamed. She tried to go to her sister, but her body was paralyzed.
Ashleigh held her stomach and vomited up more blood.
No, this couldn’t be happening. Scarlett tried to look away, but her eyes were glued to the vision of her sister in front of her.
It wasn’t real, Scarlett told herself. It couldn’t be. Ashleigh had appeared out of nowhere. It was just a hallucination. Even knowing this didn’t make it easier to watch.
A slice appeared across Ashleigh’s throat, blood squirting from it like water from a hose, and she dropped to the ground.
Another spasm attacked Scarlett’s mind—like a migraine but a million times worse. Scarlett pressed her fingers into her temples, but it didn’t help. The pain seemed to last hours before the cell appeared in front of her again.
“My son deserves to be king. If you do anything to stop him, well, think of this as an appetizer to what I’ll do to you. Next time, it won’t be an illusion of your sister I kill.”
Kassandra turned and left the cell, locking the door behind her.
Scarlett curled into ball on the hard stone floor and cried herself to sleep.
Chapter Thirty
Scarlett was still in the fetal position when Raith woke her the next morning. He lifted her and set her on her feet.
“What happened?” he asked as he held her upright.
Scarlett shook her head as she relived the hallucinations. They had seemed so real. And although they weren’t, she knew Kassandra was beyond capable of making good on her threat. Cade knew where Scarlett lived, where Ashleigh would be when she wasn’t at school.
“It’s okay, don’t tell me. Let’s get you to your room.” Raith held Scarlett by the waist and evanesced them to her room.
Could Scarlett get a message to her sister, telling her never to go home? Even if she could, there was no way Ashleigh would listen to it. Why would she? Scarlett never listened to her mom’s concerns about the voices in her head.
Away from the dungeon, Scarlett could think a little clearer. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Evanesce? Most high fae can, but it takes our magic from us, so most of us don’t do it often.”
“Shouldn’t you be saving your magic for the battle?” Scarlett stepped away from Raith. Though still weak, she was able to stand on her own now.
“I’ll be fine,” Raith said. “I’m going to have someone bring you breakfast. A real meal, not that garbage they were feeding you…before.”
Scarlett headed straight for the tub, catching her reflection in the mirror, her ribs poking out more than normal. Her hair was a knotted, greasy mess. She hadn’t bathed in days and was sure she reeked.
After she was clean and feeling more herself, Abigail brought her breakfast.
“I’m here to help you prepare,” Abigail said as she set the tra
y of food on Scarlett’s bed.
Scarlett scarfed down the eggs and bacon. Even though she’d had a good dinner the night before, the days in the cell had taken their toll on her. What if they were the last few days of her life? What a miserable way to go.
But she wasn’t going down without a fight. Now that she was clean and adequately full, she felt more capable. She might not be fully fae, but she was smart and resourceful and would give the looming battle everything she had.
Abigail helped Scarlett dress. For the battle, Scarlett would wear black leather pants and boots, and a leather vest that crossed in front. At least she’d be able to move quickly. Abigail braided Scarlett’s hair into two long braids.
“My mother used to braid my hair,” Scarlett told Abigail. Speaking of her mother pulled at her chest, but it didn’t hurt like it used to—her words felt right.
“Mine, too.” Abigail smiled.
What brought Abigail to Faerie? Scarlett had never thought to ask until now. “Why are you here?”
“I don’t actually remember,” Abigail said. “All I know is I bargained away ten years for part of my memory to be erased.”
What happened that was so bad it was worth ten years of servitude? Scarlett changed the subject to a more pleasant topic.
After Scarlett was ready, Abigail left her to go help prepare the food being served to all the guests, giving Scarlett a moment to herself.
Scarlett sat in a chair next to the window overlooking the courtyard, which was filled with fae—all there to witness Summer Court history. To Scarlett, this battle was a fight for her life—for a chance to go home. But to everyone there, it was part of their society. A ritual important to their future.
A knock on the door startled Scarlett. Raith must be back to take her downstairs. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see the Unseelie King staring at her, a smirk on his face. “Don’t you look feisty.”
“Can I help you?” Scarlett didn’t have time for any more games. She couldn’t help him pass the time answering all his stupid questions like during The Hunt. Today, she’d be a participant in the main event. Had he come to cheer her on or watch her fail?