“I missed you,” he said in a hushed voice.
“I missed you too. So, what did Nevin want?”
Irritation rushed over me from our bond. “Don’t worry about it, I’m not going to let it happen. Let’s just get some sleep.”
“Not going to let what happen?” I sat up, but he pulled me back down beside him.
“We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?” He brushed my hair from my face. “I don’t want the guards listening in on everything we say. But just know that Nevin’s worried about our kingdom. The Council is fighting him on every decision he needs to make. After being cursed to the human world for so long, there are some who have lost faith in his ability to lead. So he needs to make some tough choices soon—to show he’s strong and that Summer is strongest with him as King.”
“Is that all you talked about?”
“No. But I’d rather not get into that tonight, I’m exhausted, and so are you.”
“Why do you always have to keep stuff from me? Seriously? It’s starting to piss me off.”
He sighed. “Because I’d like to enjoy what time we have left out here together, without ruining it with talk of things that will make us both miserable. We’ll be at the palace soon enough. Once we get there, I’ll be busy and won’t be able to spend as much time with you…I promise, you will find out everything soon enough. I’m not keeping things from you, as I have every intention of explaining what Nevin and I have talked about to you. Just not at this moment.”
Frustrated, I rolled over and stared at the walls of the tent. Even though he wouldn’t tell me what was going on, I knew whatever Nevin had said to him had upset him; I could feel it through our connection. Did Nevin tell him I had to go home? Or was it something more about Gareth going off to defend Summer? Whatever it was, I knew it wasn’t good.
Chapter Eleven
Kadie
The room was still dark, and I had no idea what time it was. I sat up and rubbed my arms. My body was no longer pressed against Etienne’s. His close proximity all night, coupled with my surroundings, had made it hard to sleep, but I must have eventually passed out from sheer exhaustion.
What I wouldn’t give to be back home, in my room, in my soft bed. If I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine the smell of Dad’s infamous omelets, or the sound of my brothers arguing over video games—stuff that used to piss me off, but I longed for now. A lump lodged in my throat. I might never see any of them again.
Moments later, Etienne shifted and climbed out of bed. He lit several candles around the room then grabbed a pair of breeches from an armoire.
“Good morning.” He gestured for me to get up.
“There’s nothing good about it.” I narrowed my eyes at him. Ah. This whole trying to be nice to him thing might be harder than I thought. But I needed to stay focused.
“I see you’re in a great mood today.” He chuckled as he made his way over to a pile of clothes that’d been set next to the bedroom door.
“You try being kidnapped and forced to sleep in a castle straight out of a horror flick and then tell me how flipping happy you’d be, jerk-off.” I crawled out from under my blankets then stood. My body ached all over. It was like I’d been run over by a snowplow.
He pointed at a clean dress and undergarments. “Go change. Breakfast will be here soon.”
I took them from the floor and went behind the black screen. With a sigh, I wondered what I’d have to deal with today. Etienne mentioned last night I’d have to go back to the Bone Yard. I shuddered. Already my stomach churned at the thought. Blood. Bones. The cold. I forced myself to join Etienne at the table. Maybe I could get out of it by showing him some affection or maybe giving him some meaningless information.
“I—I don’t really have to go back to the Bone Yard do I?”
“Yes. The queen ordered it.”
An older lady scurried into the room, carrying a tray of food. She set it down then rushed back out into the hallway.
“There’s got to be a way out of it.” Desperation dripped from my words.
“Kadie,” he whispered. “There is only one way. I’ve already told you.”
I shook my head. “But I’m telling you the truth, I don’t know anything.”
He scooped some eggs out of a dish and put them on my plate, followed by a biscuit and apple slices. “I’m being sent away for a few days, so you need to be on your best behavior. The others are not as tolerant as I am.”
My mouth went dry, and I gripped the edge of the table. “Where are you going?”
He glanced at me, then grabbed a biscuit and spread jelly across it. “That is none of your business. Now, my maid Rena will retrieve you from the Bone Yard each day and make sure you are bathed. You’re free to use my bed while I’m gone—but know the room will be locked so there’s no way to escape.”
“So I’m going to be stuck in here, all by myself?”
He shrugged. “Yes, and if you listen to nothing else I tell you then at least try not to cause a stir. I won’t be here to defend you against the queen or Teodor.”
Etienne stood and went over to a cabinet near the back of the room. He pulled something out then relocked the cabinet. He handed over a small wooden box.
“What is this?”
“It’s an iron dagger.”
Startled, I shot him a wary look. “You’re giving me a weapon?”
“I’m not going to be here to protect you all the time. I want you to have some means of defending yourself should you need to. You can have Rena help you belt it beneath your dress so the guards don’t see it.”
“Wait, doesn’t iron kill faeries?” I thought back to all the fairytale stories and books Salome’s grandma had read to me over the years. Tales I never realized I’d have to use for survival.
“Yes. But if you’re caught with it on you, I will deny giving it to you, so don’t let anyone find it.”
“But this could kill you too.”
“Only if you stab me and give me a fatal wound with it, which I’m trusting you won’t do since I’m your only key to getting out of this forsaken place alive.”
Why should he care if anyone decided to hurt me? My eyes met his, and his gaze softened.
My pulse quickened. What the hell?
No way am I reacting to him. This was the douche bag that got me imprisoned here to begin with.
Damn, I had issues. But the fact that he wanted to keep me safe did earn him a few bonus points—and I now had another weapon.
Etienne left right after breakfast and his maid Rena came in. “Come along—Master said you’re to be brought to the Bone Yard.”
I followed her plump form down the winding halls. Too soon, we came to the large, blood-drenched courtyard. The stench hit me full force.
“I’ll be back this evening to retrieve you,” Rena said, her red curls springing every which way.
My gaze took in the same horrors as yesterday. Bones. Blood. Bodies. The assembly line was hard at work.
“Get moving,” one of the troll guards said. His massive frame lurched toward me, whip already drawn.
I stumbled forward then saw Demetria waving at me. Not needing any more prodding, I ran to where she stood, stacking leg bones.
“Morning,” I said.
She smiled. “Morning. I see you survived another night here.”
“Barely.” My fingers closed around a femur that’d just come out of the pot. It burned my hands. “Etienne is gone for a few days.”
Demetria frowned. “Then you need to be extra cautious. The other nobles might take notice of his absence and try to take advantage of you.”
“What?”
“Shhh…you don’t want to bring attention to yourself. Just come here, do your job, and return to his quarters.”
I shivered. “And what if they still take notice?”
“Then you need to be as cordial as possible. Don’t give them a reason to become angry.”
Oh God. I was the least docile person in the world. I d
idn’t put up with people’s shit.
“I’ll try.”
Another load of severed legs was dropped in front of our pot. Demetria quickly loaded them into the boiling water. As we stood there waiting for the flesh to separate, I watched my friend. She was so kind; she didn’t deserve to be here.
“How did you end up in this shit-hole?” I asked.
“I was foolish,” she said.
“Well that makes two of us.”
She smiled. “Misery loves company, and as you can see, I’ve got lots of it.” She gestured to the lines of girls. “Most of us have similar stories of how we came to be in Winter. How we were tricked or infatuated.”
“Guilty of infatuation…” I said, remembering how Etienne had caught my eye. “I should’ve known it was too good to be true with my history of picking out losers.”
Demetria wiped her hands on her apron as she walked over to help me organize my pile.
“Well, I too suffered from infatuation. My family was part of a traveling acrobatic group in Romania. We performed for royal families, nobles, commoners—whoever had money to pay us. Eventually, my father decided to book us passage to America. He said we’d have great opportunities here and could stake our own claim. It was a hard journey, but when we got here, Father managed to arrange several shows for us.”
“Shows?” I said. “What kind of shows?”
She stared into the distance as if lost in thought. “I specialized in high wire and tumbling acts, which I performed with my eldest sister. We were working one night, just outside of Boston when a man approached me. He was tall, dark, handsome—one of the most beautiful men I’d ever seen in my life. His name was Teodor, and he invited me to dinner.”
My stomach lurched. “Teodor?”
“You’ve met him?” Demetria said. Her eyes widened. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No, but he—he scares me.” I shivered, remembering the way he undressed me with his eyes, the way he threatened me with threats that I knew would become promises.
“As he should. But he wasn’t always this cruel, or at least he wasn’t when I first met him.” Demetria tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “We were attracted to one another right away. He was well traveled, elegant, and he showered me with compliments and gifts—things I wasn’t used to getting. After our first meeting, he asked if he could call on me the following night. My family of course said no, as they were afraid it’d interfere with our show. However, my eldest sister, Sonja, thought they were being too harsh and helped me sneak out to meet him.”
“Then what happened?”
She gave me a sad smile. “He brought me into the woods where he had a dinner set up near a bonfire, under a full moon. I should’ve known then that something was wrong, but I was young and infatuated. I liked him more than I’d ever liked someone before.”
How many times had I been in a similar situation—some guy trying to seduce me, me falling for it? But then again, how easy had it been for me to seduce and tempt people? There was something exhilarating about the challenge of luring someone in—getting them to fall over themselves for you, yet as I knew, it could be dangerous to.
When my gaze shifted back to Demetria, she continued on.
“Teodor told me he’d come to my performance the next night. I explained we’d be in another town, yet this didn’t deter him in the least. Instead, he promised he’d follow me. And he did. For three straight cities, he watched my show then met me after. At this point, my family was conflicted about him. My mother and eldest sister adored him. They believed I’d made quite the catch. My other two sisters, father, and brothers hated him and were convinced he was using me.”
Her eyes welled with tears. “When we got to New York, Teodor asked me to dinner again. This time he’d hired a carriage to take us into the country. We arrived in a wooded clearing, where there was a great bonfire. So many beautiful people danced around it. I should’ve known then something was wrong. Why would people be dancing in the snowy woods like that? It was here that he stole me away and brought me to Winter. He wanted my parents to believe I’d run off with him so they wouldn’t look for me. Almost as soon as we got here, he handed me over to the queen as a gift.”
“What? That asshole!”
She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her dress. “At first, Teodor still came to see me. However, it wasn’t the same. He’d changed into someone I didn’t know or recognize. He was cruel, not the gentleman he’d pretended to be before. I was forced to perform and dance for the court. Gradually they grew bored with me, and I was sent to work in the Bone Yard.”
“Did he hurt you?” I grabbed her arm, making her look at me.
“Yes, but he’s moved on to other conquests. I’m better off out here than caged up in his quarters, forced to do things no person should have to.”
A bell at the center of the courtyard clanged. Everyone dropped what they were doing and lined up. A moment later, women dressed in white walked through and handed us each a bowl and spoon. Two trolls carried a cast iron cauldron outside and another lady scooped soup into each bowl.
When it was my turn, I watched the yellow liquid slosh into my bowl. Veggies and meat floated about as the steam rose from it. I swallowed hard, not sure if I wanted to eat it.
Demetria glanced at me. “Don’t worry, it’s safe.”
“H-how do you know it’s not human flesh?”
“Because I’ve worked in the kitchens—they use chickens.”
I took a deep breath. With trembling hands, I slurped some of the food into my mouth. It tasted just like chicken noodle soup, minus the noodles. It wasn’t bad, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t poisoned it.
Once we finished eating, we went back to sorting bones for several more hours, during which time I told Demetria how I was brought to Winter. By the time we ended our work I was exhausted. Rena led me back to Etienne’s room, where she locked me in.
I slipped out of my blood stained clothes, took a bath, then sat down to eat in front of the roaring fire. From somewhere deep in the castle, I heard screams. My body tensed, and I covered my ears.
Please. Make it stop.
But they didn’t.
So I focused on the flames. Somehow, I needed to plan my escape. The Winter Court had to have some type of weakness. Some way out. Clutching the dagger close to my chest, I laid down in the blankets, counting the moments until daylight and praying I survived another night.
With a groan, I stretched my arms above my head. My back ached from working in the Bone Yard all day. The only thing I wanted to do was eat, take a bath, then go to bed. Unfortunately, the guards told me and Demetria we had to help serve the Winter Court’s dinner tonight, which of course had me in panic mode.
Etienne was still gone. That meant I had no one to protect me if I pissed off the wrong person. Here I thought I’d be glad he was gone—so not the case. Not to mention I spent most of my time jumping at the smallest of sounds. At least when Etienne was there, I knew no one would openly attack me…Well, other than the psycho queen.
Just be on your best behavior. You can do this.
Etienne’s maid, Rena, poked her head round the door. “Come along, time for you to go to the kitchens.”
When I stepped from the safety of the room, I saw Demetria waiting, too. Some of the nervousness went away, knowing she’d be there with me.
“Hey.” I waved.
She gave me a forced smile. “Hello again.”
I wiped my sweaty hands on my apron. “So, what do we have to look forward to tonight?”
We walked down the hall and she leaned in to whisper. “I’ve been told we’ll be serving the wine. I must warn you, though, dinnertime can get gruesome.”
My gaze met hers. “What do you mean?”
“Be prepared for the worst. Some of the Fae are not very kind.”
The scent of pastries and soup wafted in the air as we approached the large kitchen. Cooks bent over stoves, stirring pans of food or prepari
ng trays. Maids bustled back and forth refilling decanters or getting dishes ready.
“You best hurry up.” A stocky dwarf woman shoved wine decanters in our hands. “The queen is in a mood tonight.”
Demetria cast me a glance over her shoulder. “Follow my lead.”
My hands trembled as I walked behind her. Wine sloshed against the sides of the glass container. I slowed my pace. The last thing I wanted to do was spill it everywhere. Obnoxious laughter echoed as we stepped into what looked like a ballroom, with dining tables lined up around the edges.
Candlelight splayed off icicles that hung from the chandeliers. Black and white marble tiles covered the entire floor, while two monstrous fireplaces blazed like hellish infernos on each side of the room.
“I’ll take the queen’s table,” Demetria said. “Why don’t you start filling the nobles’ goblets? When you’re done stand against the wall and wait to be called on for more drinks.”
My eyes snapped to three human girls, tied up like dogs at the end of the nobles’ table. They sat on their knees, gazing up at the food as if waiting for someone to toss them a scrap. My stomach clenched. Sick bastards. How could the Fae treat people like this?
“What are you waiting for, stupid?” A Fae tossed her auburn hair, her finger pointed at me.
My eyes narrowed. I bit my lip to keep from telling her where I’d like to shove one of the icicles on the ceiling. Heart pounding in my chest, I moved forward and poured wine into her goblet.
I went around the table, filling glasses. One thing I noticed right away was that only the beautiful Fae sat to eat. Creatures like the goblins, trolls, and satyrs acted as the help. My nose wrinkled as I stared at the satyrs. They had the body and arms of a human, but the legs, hooves, and tail of a goat. Coarse hair covered them, while goat ears poked out of the side of their heads.
“Good, the entertainment’s finally here,” a tall, bronzed man said.
My gaze shifted to the doors, where several girls were roped together and led to the center of the floor. Four human men came in next, each carrying a stringed instrument, followed by servants with towels and buckets of water.
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