by G. Bailey
The king draws a magical shield around me just as my magic explodes from my being. The dark energy stabs at the shield with monstrous claws, but the light magic doesn’t give way.
The impact does, however, send me crashing onto my side, knocking the air from my lungs. Pain consumes me from the inside out. On top of all the deceit, this is the last thing I need.
Pitch is at my side, helping me up, but I shakily brush him off. I don’t want him to touch me right now. More than that, I don’t want to be here, in this palace, with King Ulric and all those people being tortured at the other end of the hall. I want to go back to my room at the academy and forget this day ever happened. I want to see my friends and curl up in bed with Echo. I don’t want any of this.
“I know what you’re trying to do, Your Majesty.” I face the king and hold my head high despite the exhaustion tugging at my bones. “And it isn’t going to work. Pitch is mine and I request that you release him.”
“You deserve better than a traitor by your side, Corvina. I will not accept him as your mate. You must mate with a light fae.”
There’s no poison in his words this time. If anything, he sounds almost protective as well as crazy. It doesn’t matter right now. Mating, or whatever the hell fae do, is a long way off. The only men I’ve been remotely interested in are not even close to light fae.
“If you really want to be my father, then please...let me decide.”
Empty words, of course. This man is no more my father than Professor Greyhorn was. My father died with my mother years ago. They were the parents that bought me pink socks because I wouldn’t wear any other colour. They were the ones there when I lost my first tooth and fell out of a tree when I was six and dried my tears. I even planted roses outside our old, burned-down home, because that was my childhood and my family.
King Ulric will never replace the humans that raised me and nor will Queen Narah.
After a strained pause, the king waves his hand and the shackles binding Pitch vanish into a cloud of white smoke.
Pitch rubs his wrists and glares at the king returning to his throne.
“I want to go home now,” I tell the fae, seconds away from passing out. Losing control of magic like that takes up a lot of energy. I just hope I haven’t done any internal damage. The last time I lost control, I broke four ribs and punctured a lung. Even then, those were minor injuries to what could really happen, like with Nessa.
“You are home.” King Ulric settles down on his throne and crosses his legs, placing his hands on top of the wolves’ heads. His eyes flit over me, probably taking in how weak I’ve become since the outburst. “It has been decided that you will spend a week in my light court with me and my daughter, Princess Evangelina, then a week with your mother in the dark court. On the weekdays you will attend Shadowborn Academy which will have new protection from both the courts to ensure your safety. Either way, you are expected back from the academy an hour after the last lesson of the day and weekends.”
My heart pangs at the idea of meeting my mother, the frigging dark fae queen. I’ve heard she is bat shit crazy, worse than King Ulric, and now I know that’s saying something. The rumours alone make me want to run away, but I have a funny feeling I wouldn’t get far.
Another wave of his hand and a gilded mirror appears next to his throne.
“Only you may use this portal to come back. I expect you here every night this week for dinner and to sleep here for your safety.” A shadow flits over his face. “And Corvina, I may have given you up once, but I will not be losing you ever again. You would be wise not to mingle with those who seek destruction.”
In other words, I shouldn’t hang around Pitch.
I’m livid at him but I need to hear his side of the story. I can’t just take the king’s word for it. Father or not, the fae is a complete stranger to me and he’s also a king who isn’t above bending the rules.
“I look forward to dinner with you, Your Majesty.”
I incline my head sardonically, and with a glance in Pitch’s direction, I step through the mirror. The other side leads me into the forest where Shadowborn Academy stretches towards the sky in the near distance. Pitch emerges not three seconds later, and I turn to him, half of me wanting to scream and the other wanting to kiss him.
“Of all the places you could’ve taken me...why there?” My voice comes out small as I rest on a fallen tree embedded in the earth. My legs and hands are still trembling from all the magic pulsing in my veins. Remnants of the king’s healing still linger in my body though and that certainly helps to dull the pain a little.
Pitch walks over and sits beside me. “I thought the faerie pools would’ve taken us to the Dark Kingdom.”
“You mean to Queen Narah?”
“Yes.” He turns to me and his hand reaches for my face, but he stops and pulls his arm back. “Will you ever forgive me, Corvina?”
I think for a long moment, worrying my bottom lip. “It depends. Did you really want to kill me?”
Pitch nods, causing my stomach to churn. “I was misled by my mentor at the time. He told me of a prophecy. ‘One born of light and dark, royal down to the last drop, blue of hair, silver as night, this child will be the most powerful in the ever long night.’ He claimed this child would be the undoing of our kingdom and that if I wanted to protect our people, I had to lead her into a wishing well in the Enchanted Forest.” His long lashes turn wet as tears threaten. “I didn’t know what would happen—I was just a kid myself—but when I saw you die, I couldn’t just stand there, so I went in after you. I never returned to my own realm until the day you entered the forest again.”
“Why did you go back?”
“To kill my mentor.” He says the words without any remorse, sending a chill through me. “I also told the queen that I had found you alive, safe and well. It was the first time I’ve ever seen her shed a tear.”
I’m quiet for a long moment, digesting every word and debating on whether or not I should trust him. Unlike Light Fae, the Dark Fae can lie without repercussions, and Selena only knows how many times Pitch has lied to me since the day he led me to that damn well. I can’t believe I was so trusting despite always knowing he was hiding something from me. How could I have let my guard down? I guess I already know the answer. I was terrified of being alone after losing my family and home, all I had left in my life was Pitch. I clung to his soul as much as he clung to mine while my entire world burned to ashes.
Can I really blame him for trying to protect his kingdom? He was brainwashed by someone he trusted. After all, he did save me. And no matter which way I try to spin it, I still love him. He was more than just my shadow for all these years. He was my soul mate.
“I don’t understand why you never told me any of this to begin with,” I say, wiping my eyes with the back of my hands. I’m just devastated he never trusted me enough to begin with, otherwise, he would have told me. “Why did you hide this from me?”
“I didn’t want to.” Pitch looks away and runs a hand through his dark hair. “The queen put a spell on me that forbade me from ever telling you the truth.”
“But at the palace—”
“King Ulric counteracted the spell. Without him doing that, I still wouldn’t be able to tell you any of this.” He swipes a large palm over his face and breathes out a frustrated sigh. “Corvina, we have both lost so much. I also lost my family and myself that night but I found you. You will always be worth that pain.”
He looks at me, and my heart jumps. How I want to reach out and touch him, to hug him and inhale his familiar scent, but something stops me. Pitch sees it written clearly on my face and stands from the tree.
“I just need some alone time to think,” I tell him quietly.
He nods and walks a few feet away, but turns back around. Just when I think he’s about to say something, he disappears into the shadows.
The scents of the forest and its mossy ground are a comforting relief as I walk back to the academy. The tall b
uilding stretches high into the trees, but it never seems daunting, especially now that I’ve seen the light fae court and how cruel that world is.
The trees here are more of a home to me than anything I’ve found so far. It’s where I’ve found friends and possible love, but most of all, I found people like me. People who have swum in the same darkness as me and come out fighting. I’ve never really been alone, not since Pitch latched onto my soul. Without him here now, I feel increasingly empty.
I’m glad of the distance between us, in some sense. I need time to figure out who I am before I can even begin to figure out who he is. Or at least try to wrap my head around it all.
The academy is silent as I climb the steps to the doors. They open before I reach the last one. With every echoing footfall into the stone hall, I can’t help but feel nervous. The nerves quickly turn into cold dread when I catch Willow walking out of a door with Gage, chatting away. My whole world seems to stop as I watch them.
The papers in Gage’s hands slip from his fingers and spill across the tiled floor, but no one says a word as they both stop to look at me.
“Aren’t you meant to be dead?” Willow snaps in my direction. “Honestly, does dead not mean the same thing anymore?”
My hand twitches to slap her in the face but I force it down. I have too much on my mind already.
Displeased by my lack of comeback, Willow finally gets the idea to fuck off.
Gage walks right over the papers to stop in front of me. With not a single care about being in front of people, he kisses me like the world doesn’t matter and it makes my knees weak. The kiss doesn’t last more than a second but it feels so much more as he grips my shoulders.
“How are you?” He shakes his head. “Wait a second, I best pick these up and then we can find the others to talk. Wait here.”
“I told you dead doesn’t suit the princess over here,” Jonah’s sarcastic voice drones with zero hint of emotion.
I look up to see him walking down the steps with Zander. The two of them side by side look like ice and fire, and I instantly notice changes. Jonah’s silver locks of hair have been cut off, shaved short and they make his handsome face far more defined.
Zander’s hair has grown out to the point of being messy, but it works for him, especially as the locks somewhat hide the darkness in his reptilian emerald eyes. He looks as broken as I feel and not even Jonah’s sarcasm can mask the tension between the three of us. It feels like it could break the world into tiny pieces and nothing would ever put them back together.
Zander looks between me and Jonah, before helping Gage clear up the dropped papers.
“Jonah, did you find your sister in one of the pods? Is she okay?” I ask, and a smile tilts his lips for a moment—a smile that I can’t help but return.
“Yeah, she’s still healing at the infirmary in Helios. It will be a long road for her and the others but thanks for checking. I owe your highness a great debt.” He dips his head, and the sincerity in his voice makes me cringe. I’d much rather he made a joke out of my heritage than take it seriously.
Has the world come to an end? Jonah, not being sarcastic? Yep, something is wrong.
“Don’t start that shit,” I warn him. I pray to Selena that no one else knows about the princess stuff for now. I just want to graduate from the academy as a normal, albeit better than most, student.
“Well, at least this year at the academy you have an excuse for failing. Royal duties and all that,” he mumbles, shooting me a wink that makes me grin.
“Calling me a princess isn’t going to stop me beating your ass at every turn this year, Jonah.”
I frown when I see my skin frigging glowing a hazy white colour.
Dammit!
I swear to Selena, if wings pop out of my back right now, I’m flying off. I am beyond done with today.
“See you around, Glowing Princess,” Jonah says around a chuckle as he walks off.
That’s going to be a year-round joke, I just know it.
In some ways, I’m happy things have gone back to normal, but I need to see Sage and tell her everything. Gage and Zander come back to me at the same time and I open my mouth before they can.
“I know we need to talk but can we get Sage first? She needs to hear all this. Where is she?”
The guys look between each other and the sorrow pooling in their eyes makes my heart clench in panic. I don’t wait for them to explain. I simply run through the academy until I reach our room, nearly taking the door off the hinges when I throw it open. Our bedroom is just like I left it when I woke up without Sage. Cold and empty. The world seems to slow as I turn around and shake my head.
“Don’t you dare tell me she is dead,” I all but whisper, not being able to say those words any louder. The panic in my chest intensifies as I look over at her bed. “I can’t lose her. Not my best friend. I’ve found out I’m a damn princess, my parents are crazy, I was traded for a fae baby who just so happened to be Pitch, the headmaster of the academy wanted to kill me and then one of my closest friends stabbed me. Oh, and the shadow I’ve had since I was a child is actually a dark fae prince. I can’t take anything else.” I touch the blanket draped over her bed, my bottom lip quivering as tears fill my eyes. “I need Sage.”
It’s like the entire night has finally caught up with me and I fall to my knees, great sobs leaving my body in shuddering heaves. I bury my face into her blanket and let everything out, my cries, my screams, my curses, and then I feel arms surrounding me. I’m not sure if it’s Zander or Gage, or both of them but they hold me as I try to cope with the world falling apart around me.
“Sage is missing,” Zander whispers, his breath hot against my face. “The water took her somewhere and no one can get a sense of her. Professor Gale is searching the entire forest for her and he will find her. If anyone can, it’s that fox.”
His words should make me feel better, reassured, but they don’t. I do, however, feel like I can breathe for the first time since getting here. Gage and Zander let me go but sit next to me on the floor, our legs pressed together. I close my eyes for a moment, needing to control my emotions.
“Your powers are leaking out of you. I believe our lessons will need to focus on the reasons why now,” Gage kindly says, trying to make me breathe and calm down. It really isn’t working all that great.
I have fae magic, both light and dark, and shadowborn magic to deal with. No wonder I’ve always struggled to get my powers under control. No wonder I’ve always felt like such a wreck.
“We have a lot to discuss, that’s for sure,” I mutter, crossing my arms. Gage wipes my tears away with his thumb. “I feel like my life is a cruel joke right about now.”
Zander’s hand slides into mine and he holds it tight. “Your life is everything you need it to be. Be our strong Corvina and show the fae that their princess, their heir to the throne, is a fucking badass. Sage is strong. She’ll be okay because you taught her that strength. Hell, you taught me how to ignore the rules and take what you want because life is short in the Shadowborn world.”
“Seems life is long in the fae world and I’m a bit of each,” I eventually say, and for the first time, I see the brightness in his eyes.
Zander steps closer, a burning passion in his gaze that is addictive to look at. “You’re a bit of everything that the gods created, Corvina. Don’t you see how exceptional that makes you?”
“Beautiful and exceptional. A deadly mix,” Gage agrees, lifting my other hand and gently kissing the back. “The royal fae have no idea who they have just found. I can’t wait for you to show them.”
My cheeks burn with how intensely Zander and Gage are looking at me, the dedication and possible love in their voices making my heart soar. They’re right. If there’s one thing I am good at in this world, it’s survival.
“How long was I at the fae court?” I ask instead of trying to come up with a response.
“Three weeks and you’re home just in time for the assembly with th
e new headteacher,” Zander answers and glances at his watch. “Wait we should get going now. The man seems like a stickler for the rules.”
“Anyone is an improvement on the last headmaster who quite literally liked to drain his students,” I reply with a dark chuckle, relieved that we managed to save their lives. They both shake their heads at me as I head for the wardrobe to get changed into something better than this weird dress. Time to start year two at Shadowborn Academy.
And, even without Sage, I’m going to make her proud when she gets back.
I look up at the trees fluttering against the window and close my eyes, sending a silent prayer to Selena to give me strength and save Sage.
This academy is going to suck without her.
I instinctively look for Sage when I enter the auditorium, my boots smacking against the shiny floor with each heavy step. The hope that I’ll find her waiting for me is quick to fade when I don’t see her among the other students. I do notice, however, that no one is wearing their crystals anymore.
Gage is standing with the teachers along the ends of the benches and Zander has joined the other wardens at the back of the hall.
It takes me a long moment to look away from where I would usually sit with Sage and Ronan. Neither of them is a choice now, and one of them for good reason. I glance for my next friend, Izora, but I don’t see her silver hair in the crowd. Strange. She’s never missed an assembly before. Eventually, I sit down next to a girl I recognise from the Tryouts, but I can’t remember her name.
Feeling more than one pair of eyes on me, I focus on the front of the room just as the long, floor-length green curtains are pulled back and a light fae in a striking white suit stands behind the dragon-shaped podium.
She has curly blonde locks all pulled back into a high ponytail with a few of the strands braided. Her outfit hugs her like a corset at the top and the pencil skirt ends just under her knees. Behind her, white wings flutter softly and she looks every bit the poster girl for the light fae.
Everyone breaks into whispers as the light fae searches the crowd and eventually locks her eyes on me, her violet eyes gleaming.