by Sofia Daniel
I glanced at Pokeweed’s furry face. Part of me wanted him to pretend to be King Oberon, but we were already in enough trouble and didn’t need to add impersonation to our list of crimes.
The low-ranking guards with the tall hats raised balls of light, which circled our bodies and shone brighter than a will-o’-the-wisp. My throat dried, and I hoped this wasn’t a form of magical barrier. As the guards closed in on us, all five brothers formed a circle of protection around me.
“What is the meaning of this?” said Prince August in his haughtiest voice.
“Do you know it’s against the lore to open portals to the Otherworld outside the new moon?” asked a distant voice.
“I don’t see why that’s any business of yours,” replied the prince.
My insides cringed. It probably wasn’t a good idea to anger the guards, as we didn’t know if any of them were the assassin responsible for Pokeweed’s poisoning. I peered out from between the prince’s bodies.
The guards parted to allow the Duke of Medietas to approach. His stern features hardened with a determination that made my skin tighten. What was he going to do next?
He placed his hand on what appeared to be the hilt of a sword, and said, “King Oberon has authorized summary executions for those who risk the integrity of our realm, regardless of the offender’s status.”
My heart leaped and tried to gallop out of my throat. A tense silence stretched out through the clearing, and even the cicadas stopped buzzing to listen.
The duke pulled out a glowing sword, and I sucked in a sharp breath through my teeth. He was heartless enough to execute us all. Helen was still missing three months after the Fated had cast her into the Dark Fae Prison. He probably didn’t need a daughter who had lost her magic.
Prince Rory sniffed. “I doubt that His Majesty authorized you to murder his heirs.”
“He did not, Your Highness.” The duke’s eyes met mine. “But Her Majesty will thank me for removing an unsavory influence she already sentenced to death.”
“Unity is our mate,” said Prince Caulden.
“We won’t let you touch her,” added Prince Bradwell.
The duke’s face twisted with disgust. “Very well, then. You will accompany us to the palace.”
A jolt of alarm shot through my insides. We couldn’t go there. Queen Titania would kill me with her lightning strikes, but not before she tried to kill Pokeweed.
Prince August stepped forward. “My brothers and I will accompany you to the palace. Unity will return to the academy.”
The duke stepped back through the ring of guards, who closed in around us. “No, Your Highness. All six of you will face the king and queen.”
My brows drew together. Why was he walking away? In the blink of an eye, the balls of light expanded into a circle.
“They’re going to entrap us!” Prince August retracted his wings.
Pokeweed swooped me into his arms and launched himself into the sky, but a dome of light stretched overhead, trapping us in the clearing. I glanced down, and the enchantment expanded across the ground, encasing us in the light.
“What is this?” I yelled.
“A light sphere,” said Prince Rory. “It’s the kind of magic that keeps the realms separated and inescapable.”
“It’s also a method of transporting dangerous criminals,” said Prince August.
Pokeweed stamped his foot on the ground, and shoots grew through the light, only to turn brown and crumble into dust. Prince Caulden threw a ball of ice into the light, but it sizzled into vapor. I turned to Prince Rory, whose wind attacks didn’t shift the enchantment.
It didn’t matter that I was in the presence of five powerful princes. If there was magic strong enough to prevent Queen Maeve from escaping the Otherworld, the magic encasing us was probably impervious to the attacks of my mates.
The band squeezing my chest tightened. We were beyond screwed.
Before we could think up another plan, the sphere flashed, burning my retinas. I blinked several times to focus, hoping that one of my mates had broken us out of prison. The light faded, revealing a huge throne room.
The space was over twenty times larger than the academy dining room with marble tiles arranged in hypnotic circular patterns. High fae dignitaries stood against the walls as still as the statues in the academy stone garden but infinitely more colorful in their velvet and silk faerie outfits.
Prince August turned to one end of the space and bowed, and all the brothers, including Pokeweed, followed his lead.
Bobbing into a deep curtsey, I swept my gaze up to a grand staircase, where a mezzanine level formed a bay of arched, floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of the mountains. Within this vast space, the king and queen sat on thrones that glittered in the moonlight.
Queen Titania rushed to her feet, sparks of lightning crackling from her fingertips. The silver light reflected on her gown, which I suspected was made of Emporium.
She hissed, baring gleaming white teeth. “You!”
My breath turned to ice, and I clutched my hands to my chest. She would probably want me dragged around the levels of the Mound and then quartered.
Prince Bradwell pulled me into his embrace, and Princes Caulden and Rory stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the queen.
“How dare you bring that wretched creature to my home,” she screeched.
Lightning illuminated the throne room and sparked off the walls. Queen Titania wasn’t just powerful, the faerie seemed deranged. My wings trembled, and I rested my head on Prince Bradwell’s chest.
“Isn’t that the girl from the beauty contest?” asked King Oberon.
“Not her,” snapped the queen. “Pokeweed.”
My head snapped up, and I spun to find Pokeweed standing strong and defiant. He stepped forward with his moth wings spread wide.
“She’s going to kill him,” I whispered.
“His Majesty won’t allow it,” murmured Prince Bradwell.
“I don’t follow,” said the king.
All manner of shit would break loose the moment Pokeweed told the royal court the identity of his father, and I couldn’t let the assassin hurt him with something even more deadly than nightsbane.
Pulling out of Prince Bradwell’s embrace, I said, “We need to help him.”
Without waiting for their replies, I hurried after Pokeweed.
“Who are you?” The king leaned forward in his throne.
Pokeweed pulled back his shoulders. “I am the son of the Duchess of Nevermore, Your Majesty.”
I couldn’t see King Oberon’s expression, but his weary sigh echoed through the throne room. “That was a tragedy. I am sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you, sire,” said Pokeweed.
My heart pounded against my ribcage harder than an ogre debt collector at the door. Now was probably the time to blurt that the Duke of Nevermore had murdered his wife to enslave the princes, but fear of an assassination held my tongue.
Queen Titania pointed her scepter at Pokeweed. “Who brought this wretched creature?”
The Duke of Medietas rushed forward. “I caught His Highnesses and these reprobates opening a portal to the otherworld—”
“And you didn’t execute them?” she screeched.
Gasps echoed through the chamber, quickly drowned out by rapid chatter. I glanced from left to right at the scandalized faces of the faeries and pressed my lips together. Queen Titania had probably been referring to the execution of Pokeweed and me, but everyone thought she was talking about her sons.
King Oberon stood and touched her arm. “Darling, what are you—”
“And you.” She slapped his hand away with a bolt of lightning. “You’re even worse than Pokeweed.”
“Explain.” The king’s voice went cold.
Everyone fell silent. I suppose it didn’t matter what level of society a person occupied or whether or not they were fans of reality TV. We all had an instinct for drama, and what the queen said next would cause
everyone to reel.
“Allow me.” As Pokeweed approached the stairs, guards appeared from nowhere and blocked his path. He stepped back a respectful distance and cleared his throat.
“Take Pokeweed away.” Queen Titania swept her arm to the side. “And that human whore!”
“Do not disparage my mate,” said Pokeweed in an eerily calm voice.
The king glanced from me to Pokeweed and back to the queen. “Let him through. I will hear what this young faerie has to say.”
Four of the guards blocking Pokeweed’s way stepped aside, creating a path to the king. Pokeweed walked through the gap, reached the bottom of the stairs, and bowed low.
“Your Majesty,” he said. “It took an assassination attempt and the love of my true mate to uncover the identity of my father.”
“Who?” shouted a harsh voice. I turned around and locked eyes with the Duke of Nevermore.
“Oh, no,” I whispered.
It was one thing to tell the king that Pokeweed was his son and that the queen had cursed him and the Duchess of Nevermore to forget that they’d ever mated, but saying all this in front of the dead faerie’s ruthless mate would be disastrous.
“Stop,” I said.
Prince August pulled me into his side. “We’re all watching Pokeweed’s back, and we won’t let anyone hurt him.”
I gave him a weak smile. Someone desperate enough would find a way to stop Pokeweed before he revealed his secret.
Pokeweed waved a hand in front of his face, and I held my breath. His wings retracted into his overalls, the mottled brown fur fell away, and his golden hair returned. He stood with his back to everyone but the king and queen, but I already knew what they would see.
King Oberon’s jaw dropped. “You’re—”
“I’m your son,” said Pokeweed.
Whispers echoed across the vast space. Queen Titania’s shoulders slumped, and she glared at the king, who rushed down the stairs. I bit down on my lip, waiting for someone to say it was a glamor or some type of magical ruse, but nobody spoke.
That was the difference between here and the outside world. The DVDs of The Maury Povich Show always proved paternity with side-by-side photos of the father and child, followed by something called a DNA test. Here, a family resemblance was enough to prove that King Oberon was the father.
“I don’t remember conceiving you,” murmured the king. “But then the poor Duchess of Nevermore always maintained that she had forgotten who had tended to her heat.”
I stared up at Queen Titania, who made eye contact with someone behind us. When I followed her line of sight, it was the Duke of Nevermore, and his gaze was as cold as his daughter’s.
King Oberon turned Pokeweed around, revealing their identical features. “Behold, my full-blood heir!”
My brows drew together. If he had to declare Pokeweed a full-blood, then how many half-bloods had the king conceived? Maybe it was him responsible for cast-offs like Mr. Whittaker.
Everybody cheered and stamped their feet. I glanced at Pokeweed, who stared back at me with wide eyes. My chest tightened for him. This morning, the poor faerie thought he was the son of a satyr and destined for an excruciating death. Now, he was welcomed by his birth father and had become the heir to the throne.
My other mates gave Pokeweed applause and warm smiles.
King Oberon spread out his golden wings, which were streaked with black tiger-like stripes. “Let’s see how much you favor your father!”
Pokeweed revealed wings as silver as his hair was gold, reminding me somewhat of Lady Gala. I turned again to glance over my shoulder at the Duke of Nevermore, who stumbled forward and gaped.
The king threw his head back and laughed. “Your wings are identical to your mother’s.”
“No,” roared the duke.
Everyone went silent.
“Do you have something to say, Nevermore?” King Oberon’s eyes hardened.
I gulped. Paternity episodes with the husband and the scoundrel who had impregnated his wife always ended in blows. I glanced up at Prince Bradwell, who smiled and wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulder.
“Luna was my mate.” The Duke of Nevermore stepped forward and balled his hands into fists. “You sent me away on a meaningless mission with the outsiders because you could sense her oncoming heat!”
King Oberon rubbed the back of his neck. “I have no recollection of having done such a thing.”
“You did,” snapped the queen. She descended from the mezzanine, her heels clicking on the marble with each step. “Your head snapped up the moment Luna of Nevermore stepped into the throne room, and I knew she had an oncoming heat.”
I turned to Prince August and grabbed his lapels. “The duke is angry enough to attack in full view of the court. We have to do something.”
All four brothers rushed to form a line between their parents and the Duke of Nevermore. I stood beside Prince Bradwell and raised my chin.
“Is this why you plotted to overthrow the throne?” asked Prince Caulden.
“What?” The Duke of Nevermore stepped back, his eyes darting from side to side.
“We know you enchanted us to be loyal to you and Gala,” said Prince Rory. “You’re making Gala bring on an early heat so that she can mate with us and take the throne.”
“You stole your mate’s magic to have enough power to murder His Majesty,” said Prince August. “Admit it.”
All the courtiers standing at the walls clapped their hands to their mouths and gasped. One female faerie even swooned. I glanced from left to right, taking in the scandalized reactions. Something told me that every single one of these people knew what a faerie needed to do to force a heat, and they didn’t approve.
The Duke of Nevermore’s face turned red, down to the tips of his platinum hair. “How dare you? My daughter would never lower herself—”
“I saw her in the woods with a centaur.” I stepped forward, curling my hands into fists. This was the bastard who had cast Pokeweed out into a hostile world, robbing my mate of a chance to know his own mother. “And the centaur was making her swallow his semen at the source!”
“They told me you were dead.” He glowered at the princes as though stealing their free wills wasn’t a big deal. “You burned her body.”
“Medietas,” snapped King Oberon. “Throw the Duke of Nevermore into the dungeon pending a trial for treason.”
Guards appeared out of nowhere and surrounded Gala’s father, forming a sphere of light that looked like a glowing sun from the outside. The Duke of Medietas strolled across the throne room, withdrawing his sword.
“Oh, no you don’t!” The Duke of Nevermore roared from within the prison.
A second later, an explosion sent bits of blood and guards flying across the room.
Prince Bradwell wrapped his arms around me and encased us in a howling cyclone. The air moved so quickly that the light behind the wind became a blur of white.
With my pulse fluttering in my throat, I twisted around to find Prince Rory standing at his back with his arms raised.
“What was that?” I asked Prince Bradwell.
“The Duke of Nevermore must have devised an explosive powerful enough to break through the light sphere,” he replied. “I believe that this was the magic he had stolen from the Duchess.”
A shard of ice speared my heart. “But what about—”
“August and Caulden can form barriers with water or ice.” He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest.
“And Pokeweed?” My voice broke.
“He’s powerful.” Prince Bradwell pressed a kiss on my forehead. “Besides, he’s standing with His Majesty, who can’t be slain by magic.”
Prince Rory pressed himself against my back and wrapped his arms around my waist. “There are enough guards in the throne room to protect my brothers.” His lips grazed the shell of my ear. “All of them.”
I relaxed in their embraces, hoping they were right.
Several moments later, the light behind the cyclone dimmed, and the brothers slowed the sphere of wind until it became transparent. The Duke of Nevermore climbed out from a pile of broken bodies.
“Guards,” the queen screeched.
I turned to the stairs, where King Oberon lay face-down with a dagger in his back. Queen Titania waved at Pokeweed and screamed, “He has murdered your king. Arrest Pokeweed!”
Chapter 19
Even more guards stepped out from nowhere, each advancing on Pokeweed, who stood with his palms up. King Oberon lay face-down on the floor in a pool of spreading blood.
The Duke of Nevermore bolted toward the door, but Prince August threw a ball of fire into his back, setting him alight. As the duke froze the flames, Prince Caulden ran across the throne room, forming a spear of ice.
“I didn’t kill the king.” Pokeweed stepped back onto the stairs, his face stricken.
If terror hadn’t snatched my frantic heart, it would have broken for Pokeweed to have met his father, only to lose him immediately after.
“Kill Pokeweed.” Queen Titania staggered up the stairs, making a show of acting frightened. “He wishes to break us for making him suffer.”
“He didn’t do it,” I shouted. “Look at his hands. They’re unburnt, but I’ll bet yours aren’t.”
“Kill his human accomplice, too.” She waved her gloved hand in my direction.
I turned to Prince Rory. “You can’t let them arrest Pokeweed. He’s innocent.”
Indecision crossed his features. It wasn’t hard to tell what was going on in his mind. Pokeweed was the next in line for the throne and would have the authority to banish the princes if he wanted to keep me to himself. But if he let Pokeweed die, the four princes could rule the Isle of Fae and wouldn’t have to share their mate with an older, more powerful brother.
About a dozen guards surrounded Pokeweed, each brandishing swords. From the darkness of the metal, it was probably iron.
My stomach dropped to the marble floor. After years of their colleagues bullying Pokeweed, I doubted that these guards would give him the benefit of the doubt.