Of Glass and Glamour

by Chanda Hahn

  “The fae,” I whispered.

  His eyes glittered dangerously. “The fae.”

  I turned, and his hand snaked out and grabbed my arm, his fingers pressing hard enough to leave a bruise. I hissed in pain, but he shook my arm. “If you tell anyone, breathe a word, then it will get back to Evander, and he will do anything to protect the throne. He will start a fae genocide. None will be spared. And all of those lives will be on you.”

  “I don’t believe you,” I snapped.

  “Then you’re as blind as the rest of the world. You humans see us as nothing more than cattle or dogs. We are not.”

  “That’s not true. My tutor was fae.”

  “Oh, so you know one fae that you don’t treat as a slave. Good for you,” he replied sarcastically.

  “You are horrible!”

  He gave me another mock bow. “Yes, Your Majesty.” He was slow to get up because of the pain in his abdomen.

  I was about to make a sarcastic retort when a knock came at my door.

  We both stood there frozen in place. Dorian shirtless standing next to an unmade bed. My dress and hair in disarray. I waved at Dorian to hide, and he just stood there smugly. He had no intention of leaving; in fact, he seemed like he wanted to be discovered. Then I would be kicked out of the manor and he would win. I would be sent home.

  He took a step closer to the door as if he was going to answer it in his half-naked state. Furious and haphazardly, I waved my hand at him, causing him to be frozen in place. His mouth opened, and I slapped him with the same silencing spell that I placed on the transport driver.

  Doing what I did best, I pushed him into a corner and forced him into a chair.

  “Sit there and be a good boy,” I teased, patting him on the head. “And I may give you a treat.” He was not happy. By the angry glare, I knew he would find a way to get revenge. But I would deal with him later. I quickly wove a glamour over him, disguising him as the chair.

  Opening the door a crack, I was surprised to see Prince Evander. He was turned to the side and talking to Harmony. She was doing her absolute best to distract him with idle chatter.

  Evander thanked Harmony for her time, and she ducked into her room, raising her hands toward me and mouthed, “I tried.”

  “Thank you,” I mouthed back.

  Evander looked worried, his brow furrowed, and so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t heard me open the door. He raised his hand to knock again, and his knuckles wrapped against my face.

  “Ow!” I jumped back in surprise.

  “Oh my. I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there!” He followed me into my room. “Here, let me see.” He reached out and cupped both of my cheeks and proceeded to check me over for a bump. I dared not breathe as the prince’s face was only inches from mine. I could feel his breath against my skin as he lifted and turned my face right and left, searching for any mark.

  I tried to not turn my head and glance at the chair. I could feel Dorian’s anger radiating at me from the corner to the point that goose bumps prickled up the back of my neck.

  I prayed that Dorian would be good. Because he was fae and had magic, if he tried hard enough, he may be able to knock the chair over, and then my glamour would be revealed.

  Evander stopped and looked into my eyes. “I swear sometimes your eyes are green, but right now they’re blue. Must be a trick of the light.”

  His lips parted, and his eyes lowered to my lips and stayed there. “You are beautiful.”

  A thump came from the corner, and Evander looked up in surprise. “What was that?”

  Dorian broke whatever magic spell we had created together, for Evander shook his head and dropped his hands.

  “Oh, nothing,” I answered and shot a look at the chair, and it didn’t move. It seemed that Dorian didn’t have an issue as long as Evander wasn’t touching me.

  “You seem fine. No permanent damage,” Evander teased and stepped farther into my room.

  He held his hand out, and I stared at it. A wry smile played at the corner of his lips. “Let’s go.”

  “Where to?” I asked suspiciously.

  “There’s someplace I would like to take you. Just you.”

  His hand still hung in the air, and I looked at it. I could feel the judgement coming from the chair. “Okay.” I didn’t take the hand. “Can you give me a few moments to change?”

  Evander grinned. “I will be waiting outside.” He stepped outside and closed the door. When I heard the latch click, I sighed and buried my face in my hands.

  I glamoured my dress into that of a deep ruby red with a low neckline. My hair I spun up into a sleek updo, leaving my neck exposed. I heard a scrape of a chair and turned, knowing that Dorian did not approve of my attire—attire that was meant to seduce.

  Slowly, I walked over to the chair and dropped the glamour. His eyes burned like fire. His lips pressed into a thin line. He hated being bound by magic.

  “It’s not so fun being kept prisoner, is it?” I whispered. “I was your prisoner, and now you are mine. Although, breaking you of your bonds is right up your alley.”

  This time the kiss was giving me pause. It wasn’t like kissing the transport driver. When I leaned in to kiss Dorian to break him of the spell I cast, I took my time, letting my lips linger upon his, drinking him in. Knowing it was a kiss of goodbye. That I was letting him go.

  I felt the silencing spell break. It was done. But I was not.

  His lips moved against mine, and our mouths parted. He shouldn’t have been able to move with the binding spell, but his hands reached up and pulled me into his lap, refusing to break the kiss.

  I pulled back, out of breath, my breathing ragged, and Dorian was affected as much as I was. I turned to get out of his lap, and he leaned to whisper in my ear. “Now who’s playing games?”

  Heat rose to my cheeks, and he grabbed my wrist. I watched hungrily as he lifted it to his mouth and placed another tantalizing kiss on the underside of my wrist. “I’m not done with you,” he whispered. “You will help me stop him.”

  I roughly pulled my hand away. “No, I won’t.” I changed the subject. “How did you get out of my binding spell?” I asked, pointing to his hands that were moving about freely. “Have you been able to get up and move the whole time?”

  “If you don’t know the answer, then I won’t tell you,” Dorian teased.

  He didn’t say it, but I knew. It was because I was horrible at casting spells. I tried to not let my irritation show. “Don’t move until I leave,” I hissed.

  “Red looks good on you.” Dorian’s eyes roved up and down my dress before lingering on my face. “And I don’t mean the dress.”

  I turned to face the mirror and saw how flushed my cheeks were from our kiss. I stepped out into the hall and slammed the door.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I stood outside my door, shaking with anger.

  “What’s wrong?” Evander’s voice pulled me back to the present.

  I took a deep breath and turned, giving him a full smile. “Nothing. Just nervous.”

  Evander grinned. “Don’t be.”

  “I’m walking with the crown prince, and you’re telling me not to be nervous.”

  He stopped in the middle of the hall and turned to me. “I’ve sent Elise home.”

  “What?” I wasn’t expecting that.

  “Yes, her heart wasn’t pure. The encounter with the unicorns proved that. I’ve also sent Sela, Helia, and Persephone home.” He moved to look out the window over the front of the manor. “I need to weed out the girls that are not compatible.”

  “I see.” I felt horrible that I didn’t even know there was a girl named Persephone.

  “I’m prepared to send you home too.”

  “I understand,” I said stoically. Too say that my heart wasn’t breaking was an understatement. Somehow, I had grown very fond of our interactions, even if they’ve been random and sporadic, but each one had been very real.

  Evander turned and le
aned against the windowsill, crossing his ankles. “And that right there is what confuses me.”

  “Now, I don’t understand.”

  He rubbed his chin. “The others cried, wailed, and threw themselves at my feet. Yet, you tell me you understand. So, despite the coy game you have been playing, I know it’s you.”

  “Who?” My mouth was dry, and I struggled to swallow as I waited for him to call me a witch or the daughter of Eville.

  He pushed off from the windowsill and stopped inches from my body. He leaned in and whispered, his voice husky, “I’ve taken off my mask. You know my secret, but I don’t know yours.” His breath brushed against my cheek. “Who are you, Eden? Why are you hiding your true self from me? Pretending to be someone you’re not.”

  “I’m scared that you won’t accept me for who I am.”

  Evander stepped back and grasped my shoulders. “You can’t deny what happened in the tent.”

  “I… I….” I wasn’t sure how to explain.

  “You are special,” Evander added. “Don’t be ashamed.”

  My mouth dropped open in shock. He didn’t actually say a witch.

  “You saved her life, for that I’m grateful.”

  “Are you going to tell your parents?”

  “My mother already knows.”

  My heart began to thud loudly. They must suspect and will probably be sending someone to kill me right now. My hands trembled, and I went to sit down on the bench. I could imagine Oz bursting down the hall with a sword to slice me in two.

  “So I would like to be honest with you,” Evander finished speaking.

  “Hmm, what?” Oh no, I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear what he asked of me.

  “I have to find a bride in the next few days, if I live that long.”

  I began to choke. I couldn’t breathe. My eyes were watering, and Evander rushed to my side. “Please, tell me you’re joking?” I choked out.

  “No, I’m not.” He gripped my hands between his and rubbed his fingers over my knuckles. “There is a prophecy that has been foretold,” he began, “that I will be murdered by a witch on my wedding day.”

  “No,” I spat out as I envisioned Prince Evander’s lifeless body lay on the floor and a bloody knife in my hand. I was a sorceress, my mother sent me here. Was I the one who was foretold to kill the prince?

  “Excuse me?” he looked hurt.

  “No. I mean you must be wrong. No one will try and kill you.”

  He lips twitched as he tried to force a smile. “I hope you’re right. But if I don’t marry soon, someone may try and take the throne from me.”

  Now it was beginning to make sense. Why King Ferdinand didn’t want me to come anywhere near the palace. But what happens when the reaper of death walked right through their front door.

  “What about your father?” I asked fearfully.

  “He doesn’t know. I haven’t told him. He has a different opinion when it comes to people who use magic.”

  “Like the witch the first night of the ball. What happened to her?”

  “Please, let’s not talk about that.”

  “I think we should,” I said firmly. “What happened to the witch who tried to come to your ball? Was she not a daughter of Candor? Could she not attend?”

  “No,” Evander said vehemently. “And you know why. She might try and kill me.”

  “What about a dwarf, elf, or a dryad? Would they be allowed to attend?”

  “Why, of course not.” He shook his head. “Why would you be so ridiculous? I can’t possibly marry a fae.”

  “Well, you owe much of your kingdom’s wealth to the dwarves, who mine the Dorado Mountains, and the dryads who keep your forests healthy and protect the animals so you have food for your table. And speaking of table, what of the house elves who slave all day cleaning and living in squalor.”

  “Now you sound like Dorian,” Evander accused.

  I stopped speaking and had to think carefully about how to approach the next question while keeping my face blank. “Dorian, is he a friend?”

  Evander let out a long breath and rubbed his face. “Dorian is complicated. But he, too, is pressuring me to change the way things are, and I can’t. I can’t risk losing the throne because of a prophecy.” I could hear the pain in Evander’s voice and tried to think back to the man I had gone riding through the country with, who had no cares in the world and swam in the stream. Now, just a few days later, was a man with a burden, and I understood why he questioned being king. This crown may as well have been made of thorns and blood, for it seemed that it would be hard to bare.

  We walked outside through the garden, and I saw where we were heading—back to the magical menagerie tents.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked when my pace began to drag. He let go of my hand, and I felt my heart drop.

  “I wasn’t expecting us to come back.”

  Evander frowned. “They will be here over the next few days in celebration of my forthcoming betrothal.”

  “Oh,” I muttered and looked at the ground.

  “But I have a surprise for you, a reward if you will. For saving Elise.”

  “I don’t need compensation,” I said quickly.

  “Eden,” Evander whispered my name, and I looked up and met his kind eyes. “A gift then.”

  I wasn’t used to receiving gifts from anyone other than my family, and that darn blush came back to my cheeks. He took my hand and led me into one of the larger tents.

  “This is a magical menagerie, and I wanted to take you through alone. Not with the other girls.”

  I blinked in surprise at the array of fae creatures that were gathered together. Various tanks of water, ranging from the size of a bread box to one that had to be moved on a wagon, were filled with everything from water dragons to undines, kelpies, alvens, and small water fairies that could float away in bubbles.

  My fingers reached out and brushed across the glass, and the water dragon inside followed my finger along the side, chasing it back and forth. I laughed, and Evander watched me. Above the water dragon was a tank, and inside was a feisty grindylow, a creature with long green arms and legs and fins on the side of his face.

  A tank was covered with a black cloth, and the dwarf caretaker, Humperstink, gave me permission to lift up the cover. A small, translucent child was floating inside the tank of water.

  “What is it?” Evander asked worriedly. He began to look for the lid to open it up and rescue the child.

  “It’s an ashray,” I said.

  “What’s an ashray?”

  “Some would say a water ghost, and this one has, for now, taken the form of a child.”

  “So, it’s not a real child?”

  I shook my head. “No, they’re nocturnal, and if the sun so much as touches its skin, it will turn into a puddle.”

  “You know your creatures,” Humperstink said.

  We walked through the earth terrarium, and I laughed at all of the earth fae. The ballybogs with their round bodies, covered in mud and peat moss and spindly arms and legs, that only communicate by grunts and gestures as they tried to bully the jackalopes.

  Evander looked uncomfortable but continued to walk with me through the tour.

  We received a tour of all of the larger fae creatures—a harpy, chimera, basilisks. I could have spent all night within the tent and the menagerie of animals. When we came to the end, there were smaller enchanted cages that were not kept out on display with the others. A black bat hung upside down within a cage. I kneeled to get a closer look.

  “Who are you?” I asked gently.

  The fur shifted and the bat opened his eyes, and I was met with one blue eye one gold eye. I kneeled closer, and the bat disappeared in a flash of smoke and reappeared on the bottom of the cage as a black cat.

  “That is different,” Evander said, reaching a finger within the cage, and the cat rubbed his face along the prince’s hand.

  “A puca, I believe.” Although, I wasn’t one hundr
ed percent sure. There was something odd about this animal. Pucas, when they shapeshifted, were normally black in every form, except this one. Its leg was pure white and encased in a silver band.

  “It’s been with us for years, but we can’t remove this,” Humperstink said, pointing to the silver band around the animal’s leg—a silver band with symbols etched on it.

  “He should let it go,” I said angrily. “A puca should freely be able to transform and not be bound by man.”

  Humperstink rubbed his long beard and mumbled to himself. At first, I thought he was mumbling to himself, but he was actually speaking to someone on the other side of the tent wall. Another listener. “Yes, yes. You are right. Okay then.” He turned to me proudly. “You are right. You can have it.” Humperstink came forward and handed me the enchanted cage with the puca. I wasn’t prepared for the cage or the black crow that now cawed at me from within.

  “I don’t know how to care for a puca,” I cried and tried to hand the cage back, but Humperstink waved his open palms at me. “Naw, naw. Yours now. Hope it brings you better luck than it did us.” I could have sworn he swore at me.

  Evander laughed. “Now look what all of your ‘free the fae’ views has done. It has saddled you with this.”

  I scrunched up my nose as the puca cawed and screamed in an ungodly way. What had I just gotten myself into? I sighed. “Fine. I will keep it for now. Or at least until I figure out how to get the band off its leg.” After my announcement, the puca settled down in its cage and remained quiet as we walked out of the tent.

  “I’m sorry,” I muttered.

  “For what?” Evander asked.

  “When you asked me to stay on as one of the chosen, I became scared. Scared of being myself. That I would inevitably mess up and you would send me home.”

  “Then you don’t understand your value. It is because of who you are that I asked you to stay on.”

  I held up the cage in front of him and said, “Well, this is what being me gets you.”

  A white dove flew into the tent and circled Evander before landing on a trunk. Evander rushed over to grab the message tube and read it silently. His face turned into an ugly snarl. He crushed the note in his hand and slammed his fist into the trunk, startling the dove who flew off in a panic.