The Summer Marked

by Rebekah L. Purdy

  “You have some vital information that could aid me in the war against my enemy. Most prisoners break the first night without any interrogation at all. But you, you’re stronger than most. Such a curious thing. I really hope you don’t force my hand further. I want to be nice, Kadie, but you will realize that I shall not be denied anything.”

  The hair on the back of my neck bristled. So that’s what this was about? She thought I’d spill what I knew. I’d already given her a couple details that I really hadn’t planned on giving, hoping to save Demetria, my friend, who she’d ordered to be murdered. “And how do I know you won’t do to me what you did to Demetria or any of the other girls? That you aren’t going to just get information from me then kill me?”

  Her piercing blue eyes met mine. “Demetria was punished for disobeying me. She lived way beyond her human years here in Faerie, longer than she would’ve survived in your world. I can be a reasonable person. But sometimes it’s hard to trust people. And that, Kadie, is where you and I are alike. I can offer you the life you deserve. You will be second fiddle to no one. You will have the best dresses and the finest chamber. I can give you jewels and any choice of the Fae Lords here, including the Winter Princes. You will want for nothing—you will be crowned as a Winter Princess, the first our kingdom has had in centuries.”

  She reached a pale hand forward and caught hold of mine. Her skin was cool, like a December breeze. “Thus far, I’ve forgone any formal interrogations because I believe we are kindred spirits. We don’t have to be enemies, Kadie. You will become our Winter Princess, and all I ask in return is for you to provide me with what information you know.”

  Holy shit. Was she crazy? I wanted to go home and get out of this fucked up place.

  But to what? The tiny, poor life I’d left behind? The desperate search for respect? Riches? Hot guys? Fame? She was offering me all of that and more.

  Tempting, but I doubted she’d keep her end of the bargain.

  As though reading my mind, she said, “You won’t have any more cheating boyfriends or a family who doesn’t understand you. You will no longer have to live in Salome’s shadow, or be her protector. Here, you will be revered as my right hand.”

  Yeah, because being her right hand would be so amazing. I could torture people with her. Maim them. Murder them. And in the end, I’d still be her prisoner, just under another name.

  But at least I’d be alive…

  “I’m flattered, but I’m not sure I’m the person you want for this. Besides, you hate me and have told me so on several occasions.”

  Crap.

  Don’t you dare consider this.

  Yes, it had sucked over the years constantly being Salome’s watchdog and keeping an eye on her. But wasn’t that what friends did?

  She’s one of the reasons you got imprisoned here. You went looking for her, and they caught you. And the only reason they’ve kept you locked up is because they want information on her and her boyfriend.

  Yeah, the boyfriend she’d never even told me she’d moved in with.

  I shook my head. Salome was my best friend. I blushed with shame thinking of how angry I was toward her. God, I felt sick to my stomach. But all I could think about were all the times my parents had made me drop my plans to go hang out with Salome because her mother or grandma called. How I’d missed out on dances or parties, opting to stay inside during the winter because Salome was too scared to go out. My life really had always been about Salome.

  Was that what had gotten me into this awful situation? Was choosing something different what would get me out?

  “How do you know so much about me?” I shot a quick glance in the queen’s direction.

  “You wear your heart on your sleeve. And when you came into the club, you were searching for your friend. I just hate to see you hurting. You remind me so much of me at that age. Believe me, you’re not the only one to betray herself because she cared too much about others. To put herself on the line time and time again.” Her mouth turned down in a frown and her gaze darkened. “But that’s a story for another night. Finish up your dinner, and then I’ll have Etienne show you to your new room. I really do think we can both come out of this ahead. Why don’t I let you sleep on it?”

  I still didn’t trust her. To tell you the truth, right now I didn’t trust myself, either. But I also didn’t know how to get myself out of this, so I’d take her offer and buy myself some time while I figured out what to do next.

  “Okay,” I said. “Your Majesty.”

  “No. No. That won’t do. Please, you must call me Grisselle.” She stood, gave my shoulder a squeeze, then turned to Etienne once more. “I want Kadie to have the Gold Room. You may stay with her if you’d like, and we can all meet back here for breakfast tomorrow. And, Kadie, to show you just how much I’m hoping you will truly consider my offer, I’m letting you off from Bone Yard duty for the remainder of your stay here.” With that, Grisselle left the room in a flurry of skirts.

  The Winter Princes followed soon after, until only Etienne and I remained. We ate in silence. Shit. I had no idea what to do. Maybe I could barter for my release.

  Yeah, and go home to what?

  Your family is pissed at you. Salome’s not around. And you have no place to stay at this point. But do you really want to be stuck in this terrible castle?

  I couldn’t give in. Not after everything I’d been through—after everything I’d seen. Yet if I refused her, I might be signing my own death warrant.

  “If you’re finished, I can show you to your room now,” Etienne said. His brow furrowed as he stood and helped me up beside him.

  I dropped my napkin on the table and took the arm he offered me. We left the formal dining room and headed further down the corridor. At the end of the hallway, there was a stained glass window depicting a woman holding a sword, and to the left of that was a large wooden door.

  Etienne led me to the door and with a turn of the handle it swung open. Candles already flickered inside, and I gasped. Damn. Now this was a room. A large canopied-bed sat against the back wall, with pine green velvet drapes tied back with golden chords. A fire roared in the fireplace, which was decorated in light marble and gold-foiled holly leaves. There were two dressers, one on each side of the bed, along with a settee of green, gold, and red at the foot of it. The ceiling had a scene painted on it of a couple ice skating on a pond, surrounded by trees.

  There were two overstuffed chairs in front of the fireplace, and in the corner of the room was a white marble tub with golden fixtures.

  “Oh. My. God.” I released Etienne and spun around. I hurried to the bed and ran my hand along the soft white furs that covered it. Then a beautiful scarlet gown caught my eye. It’d been laid out for me, along with a wooden box, which contained a ruby necklace, earrings, and ring.

  “Is this for real?” My gaze met Etienne’s as I held the dress up against me. It was just my color. Ah. I wanted to try it on.

  “Yes,” he said softly.

  “You’ve been here a long time, what do you make of what the queen said? Do you think she’ll kill me if I give her information or do you believe she’ll keep her word?” I chewed my bottom lip. What the hell was I thinking? But look at this room! I bet Hollywood celebrities didn’t even have stuff this nice.

  Etienne moved the short distance between us; his hand cupped my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Tread lightly, Kadie. Grisselle might be a woman of her word, but she also knows how to manipulate people into doing things for her.”

  “But she let you surrender and save your people.”

  “And look where we’re stuck—in a place worse than hell. She kept her pact and didn’t kill my people, but instead she imprisoned us here and turned most of the Spring Court into hideous creatures.” Etienne’s words were filled with acid. “I’m forced to do Grisselle’s bidding, as my magic has been diluted by her. The only freedom I have is the freedom to fall asleep in my own room.”

  “You’re alive. And that�
�s something.”

  Would I really trade everything just to keep my ass safe? And what would Salome want if she could tell me what to do? Wouldn’t she tell me that sometimes a person had to be selfish? That sometimes a person had to do whatever it took to survive?

  Etienne glanced at the fireplace. “You should bed down for the night. The queen will wish to speak with you early, and you’ll want to have your wits about you when you do.”

  I clutched my arms to my chest, staring at him. His shoulders sagged some, and his eyes focused on anything but me. He looked defeated.

  “If this isn’t the right choice, then tell me what you’d do in my place. Sit back and wait to be killed? Try another escape?”

  “I just want you to be safe, and right now, I don’t think any of the above options are going to help keep you that way. But the decision is ultimately yours; just beware of what choices you make.” He sighed, then stepped away from me.

  I swallowed hard. No matter how luxurious this room was, I didn’t really want to be left alone. I knew what lurked in the rest of the castle. With my luck, this area would dissolve away in my sleep, and I’d be stuck in a pile of bones.

  “Do you think you could stay the night with me?” My gaze locked with his. For once, this wasn’t about seducing someone. I needed him. The only time I got any rest in Winter was when I knew he was close by. Eventually, maybe I wouldn’t need him in order to sleep. But for now, he was the only person I trusted.

  “Kadie, I—”

  “Please?” I touched his arm. “I don’t want to be by myself, even in here.”

  “Okay. I’ll let you get changed, and I’ll come back once I’ve let Rena know where we’re at. I don’t want her worrying.”

  “Thank you.”

  When he left, I hung up the scarlet gown, then searched through the dressers for a pair of pajamas. At last, I found a cream colored nightie made of thick, soft material. I slipped out of my clothes and into the PJs. For the first time in days, my hope was restored. I might still make it out of here alive…unlike Demetria.

  My throat thickened as I pictured her last moments. I needed to be strong. I needed to survive, and in order to do so, it meant I had to make some sacrifices. There couldn’t be any harm in sharing some small bits of information with Grisselle—just enough to keep her from hurting me. And in the meantime, I could take some small comforts, safely locked away in my new room.

  You don’t know what you’re saying. Fight harder. Don’t give in.

  I quieted the voice inside me.

  Sometimes, you had to know when to throw in the towel. And for me, that time was now.

  A knock sounded on my bedroom door the next morning; I set down the hairbrush I’d been holding and went to answer. I wondered if it was Etienne, back from his meeting with the guards.

  “Grisselle,” I said. Surprised, I took a step back to let her in.

  “I hope you slept well in your new room?” Her purplish-blue gown swept the floor as she came inside.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “And everything here is to your liking?”

  I smiled, smoothing down the scarlet gown she’d given me. “It’s perfect, everything is perfect. I feel like a princess.”

  Grisselle touched my arm, her skin ice cold. “As you should. Now, I came here this morning because there’s someplace I’d like to show you. A private area that I don’t allow most people into. But I feel close to you—like I can trust you.”

  She ushered me from my room and across the hall to where a large tapestry of a sleigh going into the woods hung. Grisselle tugged it back away from the wall to reveal a hidden staircase.

  The jagged stone stairs were dimly lit by the dancing flames from candles situated in sconces the whole way up. Shadows stretched and contorted against the stones like dark ghosts drifting along. Grisselle took my arm and brought me upstairs. When we got to the top, she produced an old-fashioned looking skeleton key and slid it into the mammoth size door. I heard a click, and the large barrier swung open.

  My breath caught in my throat as I stepped inside the large suite. White tiles with blue snowflakes in them covered the floor, along with several white, fluffy rugs. There was a large bed with white lacy curtains sitting at the back of the room. A fireplace with differing shades of blue and white tile sat near the frosted double doors that led onto a balcony. There was a vanity perched in the corner, complete with large mirror, brushes, perfumes, and ribbons.

  But it was the painting above the fireplace that caught my eye. It was a portrait of a much younger Grisselle standing next to a girl with auburn hair. I watched as Grisselle glanced at it, too, her face visibly shaken, almost like she was nervous. “Are you okay?”

  Her lips turned up in a shaky half-smile. “Yes. Sorry. Sometimes I still get emotional coming in here. This is my old room from when I was a child. Believe it or not, I wasn’t always the person you see before you now. There was a time when I was much happier—when I too had dreams of the perfect life. That girl in the picture with me, she was my sister—one of my betrayers.”

  I stiffened. “Your betrayer?”

  “Come, sit down on the bed, and I’ll tell you a story.” She moved over to the vanity, her fingers trailing over the items on it.

  “Are you sure? I-I don’t want to bring back bad memories.” My stomach tightened, wondering where she might go with this.

  “Yes. I want you to understand me, and know that when I’m offering you favors, I’m putting myself in a position to be hurt again. I’m telling you this so that you know I’m not making this offer lightly. I have trust issues too.”

  I took a seat on the edge of the bed, my hands fisted in my lap.

  Grisselle picked up a sapphire necklace from the vanity and held it, watching it spin around and catch the light coming in through the glass doors. “Once upon a time, there lived a family at the Winter Court. This family was all powerful. Nearly all the crowned royal females of this line were marked to become the Queen of Faerie. There’d only been a couple of the other seasons who’d ever been marked as such.” She glanced at me and set the jewelry down once more.

  “When I was thirteen, Faerie marked me as its next queen. I was powerful. My parents pushed me to study with the best scholars. I spent most of my days doing lessons and training to use my powers. My duty was to my family and my people, which meant I wasn’t able to have a normal childhood, but still, I knew how special and privileged I was to be marked. There were times when I’d go days without seeing another person other than my sister. She’d come up here into my room, and we’d play games or do one another’s hair and talk about our futures. Because I’d be Faerie Queen, my sister would be next in line to take her place as the Winter Queen. Our relationship was a lot like yours and Salome’s.”

  My eyes slid around the room, landing on a table set up with an unfinished game of chess. Most of the pieces were still on the board, but I noticed that the black had more left than the white. A chill snaked across me like a serpent gliding on sand.

  “During my seventeenth year, I grew tired of all my training and being pushed so hard to become stronger for everyone else’s sake. I wanted a break. To see more of Faerie, to experience things. So on the Winter Solstice, I snuck from these very chambers and followed one of the Faerie Troupes into the human world.” A playful smile tugged at her lips. “It was this night that I met Leonardo, a human artist who’d been in the woods working on a painting of the scenery. It was love at first sight for me. We grew close and became lovers despite knowing how my family despised humans. So I had to meet Leonardo in secret. Sometimes I’d sneak away from my lessons to go see him. Other times I waited until the household was asleep and used a portal to go into the human world. For the first year, no one knew what I was doing. But one night, after a grand ball, drunk on pomegranate wine, I told my sister of Leonardo and how I wanted to bring him to Faerie to be my consort when I was crowned queen. This would prove to be a big mistake. For once, I wanted to pu
t my needs before everyone else’s, to have something special. My whole life, I’d been trained to think of Faerie and only Faerie, and all the sacrifices I’d have to make to keep everyone safe. My role as queen was to protect, serve, and rule. But it was so much pressure—and to never be allowed to have the things I loved…it was difficult to think about. But you can relate to this, yes? How much of your life you spent doing things for everyone else—for Salome?”

  I nodded my head as she gripped tightly to the edge of a chair, her fingers turning whiter than normal. Fury washed across her features, and I saw the hatred burning in her eyes.

  I swallowed hard, not wanting her to get pissed off. “Are you sure you want to continue?”

  Grisselle peered at me as if not even seeing me. “Yes. I want you to know. I, too, have lost things I loved because I cared too much about others and not enough about myself…”

  “Okay,” I whispered. My gaze slid to the doorway, wondering if I’d be able to escape if she got too angry.

  “The next night I sneaked into the human world again. Leonardo met me in the woods along the lake with a picnic. We’d just begun to kiss, but then my parents and sister burst into the clearing. My parents were furious and dragged me away. My sister had spilled my secrets and had told them everything. As punishment, they got with the other elders from around the kingdoms and they decided to strip away my title, even though Faerie had marked me as her next queen. Even though I’d sacrificed my whole childhood to finding ways to be the best queen I could. I betrayed myself by caring so much for my people—and then, they couldn’t even allow me this one small thing: the love of a human. The elders soon found a powerful spell to take away all but my winter power. It was like being hooked to a lightning bolt and struck over and over again.” Her eyes welled as she stared at me.

  “Your sister betrayed you?” For fuck’s sake, how could someone do that to family?

  “To a point, yes. My closest companion—my own flesh and blood had let me down, but I’d dedicated so much of my time to Faerie, that in essence it was my own fault for being weak.”