“No one from the Crumbling Court has ever been invited.”
“Ever?”
He shakes his head. “One of the reasons the trials were such a big deal for us. They’d never recognized us as a court before.”
“That’s crazy.” The Crumbling Court was once part of the Crystal Court, but civil war involving the dwarves caused a split about eighty years ago. “How do you feel about it? The gala?”
He walks to the window on the far side of the room and leans against the wall beside it. “Bittersweet, I guess. You?”
I nod. “Yeah. It’s strange. But also... kind of amazing. Even if it won’t change things for me personally, it gives me hope for my court. And maybe it will give my people hope. They need it.”
He smiles. “I doubt many dwarves have been invited either.”
“True.” I hadn’t even considered that.
“I’d never owned any formal wear until the trials. I don’t know much about dresses, but we have a dressmaker I can send up for you.”
I smile and nod, accepting his offer. I’m capable of creating something entirely out of magic, but there are downsides to that tactic. Something made of magic can be unraveled by magic. That’s not usually much of a risk in high society, but as notoriously hated as I am... well, I wouldn’t put it past someone to recognize the magic binding the fabric and playing a joke on me. Not worth it.
“That would be wonderful, thank you.”
“How is Rev?” he asks. “I’m concerned about him.”
I bite my lip. “Yeah, he’s... I don’t know. He hasn’t broken down again, not like before. But it’s weighing on him. He needs us.”
“He needs you,” Ty says. “You’re holding him together right now.”
I open my mouth to respond but shut it, deciding it’d be better not to say anything at all. I care for Rev, but I won’t dare let myself hope. I won’t let myself fall for a fae prince I can never have.
I’ll give up anything to save him—anything except my heart. That, I’ll keep locked away forever.
Rev
I wring my hands anxiously as I wait in the foyer. There are fewer items decorating the tables here, and that simple realization has my stomach sinking. The fae portrait is back in its place on the wall, but it’s missing its frame. No one has said a word about the damage I caused. Maybe Ty came up with some excuse that didn’t involve me. I don’t even know.
I try to convince myself that I don’t care, but deep down it eats away at me.
Guilt for my own weakness. A king wouldn’t act that way. Maybe my father is right and I’m not worthy of the crown. Any crown.
I shake my head. Confidence. Ty and Cae are right, faking my way through tonight is my only course of action. I need to prove to the queen I am still the right choice for savior. I can do this.
Even if doubts are now eating away at me, I can’t let her know that. Don’t let them see your weakness.
The clinking of heels alerts me to someone approaching, and my stomach does summersaults as Caelynn nears. Her hair is pulled back and decorated with tiny glowing gemstones that look like pixies.
Her dress is a simple sea green, low cut, and cinched at the waist, hugging her gentle curves. There are several strands of curls that fall down her bare back. She wears a string of lovely gemstones around her neck.
My mind jumps to the Lumistone still in my pocket.
Tyadin walks beside her, wearing an ensemble of war-ready armor. Leathers and golden chest plate. All he’s missing is a helmet and battle-ax.
I raise my eyebrows as he approaches. “Who are we fighting tonight, friend?”
Ty smiles. “Anyone we want.”
“Preferably no one,” Caelynn adds seriously. I smirk at her and red crosses her cheeks. I pretend not to notice.
“You look good,” I tell them both. Tyadin’s attire is less traditional but still formal in appearance. I quite like it actually. He’ll stand out but in a good way.
Tyadin nods, and that’s all the small talk my odd crew has in them tonight. We walk together down the dark hall and find a carriage waiting for us. The last gift the Crumbling Court offered was the use of a mahogany carriage adorned with lovely yellow gemstones. It’s very clear which court it belongs to, which is exactly the point.
The Crumbling Court wants to show off that they’re hosting the Luminescent Court prince, Trial of Thorn's victor, and potential High Heir. I don’t mind. I’m used to the politics. And a little added reputation is the least I can do after my behavior the other night.
Once we head inside the carriage, the world around us disappears, and for just a little while, it’s only me, Ty, and Caelynn. The two people I trust most in the world. As odd as that is.
As soon as the carriage begins making its way, Tyadin grins and pulls out a bottle. “To help us loosen up a bit,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.
“You’re so lame,” Caelynn says, but her lips curl into an amused smile.
He pops the lid of the fire whiskey and takes a swig before handing it to Cae. “Wait!” she says. “We’re not going over that narrow stone bridge in this thing, are we?”
Ty laughs. “No, we’re taking a different route. You two took the back-way in.”
“Good,” she says, and her shoulders relax. I chuckle.
“What?” she spits, her eyes shining with that lovely gold I’ve come to adore.
“Oh, nothing.” I grab the bottle and take a long swig.
Our journey to the High Court will be significantly longer than I’m used to. The Luminescent Court has a portal directly there—all of the ruling courts do. They’re highly guarded and blocked until invited by the queen, but they make it convenient for travel to and from the High Court. A few minutes ride, and we’re there.
The Crumbling Court doesn’t have any portals at all, unfortunately. We had considered traveling the thirty miles to the Schorchedlands portal then to the Luminescent Court and through their portal. We decided instead to request passage through the Crystal Court’s portal. It’s essentially the same distance, but it allows us to avoid my father.
The Crystal Court was easy to contact. I sent a quick note to Kari via falcon. She set it all up in a matter of minutes, and I heard back within the hour that our passage was set.
So, now, we’ll need to spend an hour in the carriage before reaching the portal, but with good company and fire whiskey, I find myself glad to have this time away from prying eyes and expectations. It’ll be short-lived, but the laughter we share is just the tonic I need.
HALF THE BOTTLE OF fire whiskey is gone before the Crystal Court is in sight. The castle is tall, nearly the whole thing made of purple crystal, shooting haphazardly into the sky. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was a strange mountain, as opposed to a castle. As we get closer, though, we can see more details that give it away. Windows and balconies and flags flying on the topmost towers.
“Wow,” Caelynn breathes.
“Never seen it?” Ty asks.
She shakes her head. “I can count the courts I’ve been to on one hand. This was not one.”
“I’ve only seen it from a distance,” Ty says. “There’s a mountain pass just to the north of the palace that’s common enough for dwarfish travels and had a good vantage. I’ve never been through its gates, though. I didn’t think I ever would. But then again, I never thought I’d be living inside the Crumbling Court palace either.”
“Life is never quite what we expect,” Caelynn says, staring out the window as we glide smoothly down the mountain pass. “Good or bad. It’s never what we expect.”
I sit back in the seat and lay my head back. My mind already spinning. We’re getting close now. Soon, those prying eyes will stick to me. They’ll ask questions.
Questions I can’t answer. How am I supposed to answer them?
“You all right?” Ty asks, patting me on the back.
I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. “What am I supposed to say? When peop
le ask me about the cure, about the Schorchedlands?”
Caelynn drops the window curtain, her entire attention back on me. “Change the subject. Brush them off. It’s none of their business.”
I press my palms to my eyes. “It's fine,” I say, more to myself than them.
“Make a joke,” Tyadin suggests. “We can come up with something witty. ‘Schorchedlands were great, I met your mom there’.”
Caelynn laughs but grimaces and smacks Ty on the back of the head. “Mom jokes, that’s what you’re resorting to?”
He shrugs but already the pressure on my chest has lessened.
“Just pull the dark and brooding thing. That’s what I do,” she says.
“You do have that role perfected. Got any tips?”
She shrugs but then considers seriously. “Keep your face flat, no emotion. Helps if you focus on the things that make you angry. Look off into the distance when people talk to you. No smiles. No jokes. Keep moving through the crowd like you have somewhere to be.”
“It’s better than mom jokes.”
Caelynn snorts, and Ty hollers. “Hey! I coulda come up with something better, I was just warming up.”
We laugh and take another round of shots; my blood warms and heart is comforted. My stomach still squirms uncomfortably, but I take long looks at my friends and know this is a moment I’ll keep with me forever, no matter what else happens.
Caelynn
The carriage glides so much smoother than I’d have ever expected. I assume magic steadies the wheels and cabin because even a car couldn’t ride this smooth on this kind of terrain in the human world. We pull back the curtains and watch as we pass through the crystal gates and onto palace grounds. The massive trystine towers looms over us. The colors vary, deep purple at the base into an amber in the middle and then a light lavender at the topmost tower.
I can’t believe this place is real.
“Did dwarves build this palace?” I ask.
“Not the outside. A lot of the palace itself is natural, just enhanced, and carved out to become inhabitable. But you’d find many dwarf-mined gems decorating the inside and even the grounds. The sugilite pathways and banisters were dwarf made. Even so, the palace is very impressive.”
I nod, it is.
There are three crystal-covered carriages waiting outside the front steps to the massive structure, and we pass by them toward an elaborate archway. The portal, I realize. My heart pounds harder as we approach. In moments we’ll be on the High Court island. Where my ancestors once ruled.
A cool mist settles over my skin the moment we pass through the archway, and I blink as the magic stirs in the air. The sun has long since set here, the sky scattered with stars.
Rev stares straight ahead, jaw clenched and eyes unfocused. I give his hand a gentle squeeze, and he flinches, eyes darting to mine in surprise.
“You got this,” I tell him.
His lips part, but then the carriage comes to a jerking stop and whispering begins as the fae outside realize who’s inside the Crumbling Court carriage.
“Is it Rev?”
“Rev is here?”
“He’s with the dwarf court? That’s weird, isn’t it?”
“They’re helping him defeat the scourge,” someone says proudly, and Tyadin’s eyes shine. His court’s reputation has risen significantly in recent months. Even though he’ll be leaving it all behind soon, I know it means a lot to him.
“You go first,” I tell Ty. Let him have his moment. While the attention is on us completely.
“You two will walk in together?” Ty asks. “I’ll walk in alone, I don’t mind.”
My eyes grow wide. I hadn’t considered...
“No,” Rev says quickly, and my stomach drops. I hadn’t expected us to walk in as a couple or anything, but his tone has my heart aching. “I—“ he stutters. “I’ll go in alone.” His eyes meet mine, one part hard and determined, one part pitying.
Perfect. I repress an eye roll and smile. “Of course,” I say sweetly, eyes cast to the ground.
Ty narrows his eyes and frowns disapprovingly at Rev. But then, he opens the door and hops out of the carriage in one smooth motion.
I watch as he marches through the gathering crowd proudly.
Soft fingertips glide over my ear, tucking a strand of hair behind it. “I’m sorry...” he says. “I just... I don’t want to give them the wrong idea.”
My blood runs cold, heart beating faster. The wrong idea.
God, it’s stupid for that to hurt as much as it does. I know there’s nothing between us. I know there’s no hope of a future for us. We’re not together, and we never will be.
But damn if it doesn’t sting to know that my own fated mate is embarrassed of me.
That’s what his real issue is. No one knows we’re mates, so us walking in together wouldn’t imply anything more than allies or at most a fling. In fact, it would deflect some of the attention he’s so nervous about.
Walk in with me, keep their whispers focused on us, and they’ll pay much less attention to the fact that he’s not in the Schorchedlands. But he doesn’t want that. Because he doesn’t want to be seen with me any more than he already is.
Several moments pass in silence. Rev finally gives up and exits the carriage on his own. I close my eyes and let out a shuttering breath, pain washing over me.
It’s okay. This is what I’m good at.
I’ll never be what Rev needs. I’ll never be the girl I was supposed to be.
Sometimes, I think I see it. The way he looks at me. The adoration I’ve so longed for. But then, he remembers. He sees the monster inside. He could have loved me, if things were different. He would have. The more time I spend with him, the more that truth is solidified.
We would have been perfect together, if not for the Night Bringer. My nightmare. He carved my soul right out of my body but left me living. Just enough to know the pain of the loss. To recognize what could have been.
I curl my darkness around me, anger and pain and rage and defeat. Dark ripples cast over me like wings, simmering like smoke falling off my body.
I’d almost forgotten who I am, hiding away with Rev and Tyadin where I could be just Cae, innocent and free. But no, that’s not who I really am.
I am the villain.
To these fae here, and even Rev, I am a shadow fae murderer.
So, like so many times before, I’ll play the part again. I’ll use my pain as my strength and be who they all expect.
My expression falls into that cold indifferent mask I’ve worn so many times, and I march into the crowd of murmuring fae that parts for me as if I were the plague itself.
A yellow-eyed fae with glimmering gold horns gasps as I march past her, head high, eyes distant. “It’s the murderer,” she says.
“What is she doing here?”
“Did she come with Rev?”
Rev watches me, eyes darkened, but I avoid his gaze. With so much attention, it’s a challenge to get away and find a shadowed corner where I can disappear entirely, but behind a large, twisted green tree, I find my opening. I duck behind the tree and curl my shadows around me until I’m all but invisible to the fae around me.
This is where I belong. Hiding in the shadows. My only real friends.
Rev
Shit.
That’s the extent of my very eloquent thought process as Caelynn marches into the crowd with her head high, face slack and eyes hooded. Once, I would have believed her act.
Powerful. Indifferent. Intimidating.
She marches through the whispering crowd that hates her. It’s the exact reason I didn’t want to be seen with her, but, God, my gut twists as I watch her face them alone.
I should have been there. I should have stood beside her, damn the consequences. Because now, I know better, and I can see the pain through her façade.
She disappears into the crowd without looking in my direction, and I know I’ve failed her.
Caelynn
; I watch from the corner shadows inside the grand hall as Prince Reveln of the Luminescent Court is presented to the High Court and marches down the largest set of stairs I’ve ever seen.
The room is full, the lights dimmed, making it very easy for me to slip to and from without a glance in my direction. It was easy to sneak my way into the grand hall without being “introduced.”
Rev walks down the stairway, hand gliding over the banister made of intricate golden vines with actual living flowers. They look like metalwork, but they’re real living plants. A gift from the previous Twisted Court King.
His eyes are hardened and distant, his shoulders back and head high. In this moment, I first picture him as the king he could be. Should be. Here in the High Court, the most powerful kingdom in the most powerful realm in the universe.
He fits the part. Perfectly.
Rev reaches the main floor, his first step echoing through the hall, but the step after is lost in the encouraging murmurs. The floor is translucent glass, thick and glistening but clearly showcasing the tossing waves that crash a hundred feet beneath the hall.
The High Court is on an island of its own on the west side of the realm, and the palace here is the most intricate and incredible thing I’ve ever seen. It’s a combination of every past ruling court’s element. The walls are decorated with living vines, flickering in blue flame and flowers with sparkling centers. There is a massive chandelier over the steps that drips with incredible, eternal ice crystals.
Every court that has ruled here has left its mark.
Once Rev slips into the crowd with roaring applause, I turn my attention to the second most beautiful sight in the room.
The ceiling is a deep black void, unending, covered in gobs and gobs of glittering stars. Like its own expanding galaxy.
Without the dark, there would be no light. My mother used to say that. It’s a bittersweet thought. Because I know I own all of the darkness. My darkness and pain will allow him to have light in his life.
Curse of Thorns (Wicked Fae Book 2) Page 8