by Emma Hamm
In front of the doors, the guards paused. Each took time to readjust the glass beads on her dress until she dripped in false ice. Then they nodded to the announcer and shoved her into the Great Hall.
People were packed from wall to wall. Shoulder to shoulder, they all turned as one to stare at Danielle. Some men stared with hopeful eyes. Those were the ones she knew came from poor kingdoms, or no kingdom at all. Others stared at her with hunger, and she knew those were the dangerous men.
She stood at the top of the stairwell, frozen in place. The announcer called out all her many titles, but she didn’t hear them. Instead, she focused on all the faces who could decide her future.
A man stood next to the wall, both hands filled with drink. He sipped at one while staring at her like she was a prized horse. His violet clothing were unfamiliar to her, likely not a prince or even a noble.
Another whispered excitedly to the man next to him, pointing with clear exuberance. His paunch belly hung over his pants. But he seemed kind, or at least excited to meet her, while all the others didn’t.
One man stood very close to her father’s throne. His mustache curled toward the top of his head. Beady eyes stared at her with a calculating gaze as he whispered words to the King.
She didn’t know who would end up marrying her tonight.
The only eyes she cared for in this moment were her father’s. He stared at her, watching every move, deciding which man would be the most suitable for the kingdom and greatest punishment for his wayward daughter.
A game was afoot. She could play this in many ways.
Perhaps she should pretend to hate the man she thought would make a suitable husband. Then at least she knew her father would place her with him.
Although, the King was intelligent. He would expect her to play such a game, which meant he would choose someone regardless of her reactions.
Her mind whirled and her vision skewed to the side. She swayed, shifting as though she were already dancing, but really, she was reaching for the bannister so she didn’t fall.
“Oh isn’t she graceful?” a whisper split through the silence.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” someone answered.
“She’s a princess, she’s both those things.”
The whispers, once started, didn’t end. A great cacophony lifted into the air like a flock of birds. Each person begging her to be someone she wasn’t.
Beautiful.
Lithe.
Powerful and meek at the same time.
A princess everyone could love. Including her future husband, whoever he may be.
She wanted to raise a hand and beg them for silence. Please, just one moment, she thought. But she couldn’t do any of that when they were all staring at her with such expectations.
As one, the crowd of men moved closer. She saw the glint of the hunt in their eyes. They all saw her as a prize to capture. A woman to tame. An object to hold as their own and gesture to their friends they were good enough to marry the princess of Hollow Hill.
She didn’t want any of them to touch her. The grime of their fingers would leave marks that would take her hours to scrub off.
Danielle almost swallowed her tongue as they ascended the stairs toward her, but before they could snatch her off her feet, hands circled her waist.
“I believe the first dance is mine,” her brother announced to the crowd. “Family first, gentlemen.”
The crowd parted like a wave as her brother waltzed her down the stairs and out onto the dance floor. The band in the corner struck up a slow tune, and together, brother and sister whirled across the floor.
She had a moment to catch her breath and then looked over Milo. He wore trousers this time, but a swath of fabric about his waist could have been a skirt for any other occasion. The corset around his waist was tight, far smaller than any woman’s waist here. Dressed in icy blue, he was as lovely as she.
“Milo,” she said, reaching up to tuck his long hair behind his ear. “What can I do to repay you for saving me from the wolves?”
“Wolves? Dear sister, they are nothing more than rabbits compared to us.” He spun her in a wide arc, tempting the men to grab onto her, only to spin her away at the last moment. “They know not what they hunt.”
“A woman with no other choice?”
“A princess who knows how to run a kingdom on her own, and who has no need for a lecherous king.” Milo leaned down and pressed his lips against her ear. “Please tell me one of these men is your mysterious forest lover.”
“I can’t tell you where I’ve been.”
“And why not?” He leaned away and grinned at a man who wore kohl around his eyes. “After all, I am your brother.”
“You’d be mad at me.”
“Why would I? I know you well, Danielle. You wouldn’t do anything to endanger your family or kingdom, which means you’ve found someone who hates our father as much as we do.” The song ended far too soon. Milo released his hold on her waist and bowed. “I only hope your friend has considered helping us.”
“How did you know that’s why I was leaving?” She hadn’t told him whether she was meeting a lover or just a friend. She could have been meeting a neighboring kingdom for all he knew.
He winked. “You wouldn’t leave for anything else. So? Is he here?”
Danielle opened her mouth, only to be interrupted by their father’s voice ringing out over the crowd.
“You’ve had your fun, princess. Now choose your next partner.” His voice was bored, but she knew this was all part of the game. He wanted to show her off. To see just how hungry these men were.
“I-” She tried to say something, but the words stuck in her throat.
The crowd drew closer.
Milo shifted, turning toward her so his back was to the men. “Danielle, just tell me.”
“I was just-”
A man reached for the edge of her skirts, his fingers flirting along the swell of her hip. Yet another, emboldened by the first, stroked a finger down the coiled tendrils of her hair.
“Danielle,” Milo insisted. He reached up and slapped away both of the hands. “We don’t have much time, you need to tell me.”
The crowd swelled. The wave burst over her head and she couldn’t think couldn’t breathe.
A high-pitched scream burst out of the crowd and struck the ceiling. It rained down upon them all like arrows in war.
Had she finally broken? Had she screamed and given her father everything he desired?
No. Her mouth remained sealed, her lungs remained still. Who was screaming?
The surrounding crowd all turned as one toward the only door entering the Great Hall. Screams echoed beyond it, one then another. More and more until it sounded as though an entire kingdom called out for help.
Danielle shivered and backed into her brother’s waiting arms where he pulled her against his heart.
“Danielle?” he whispered in her ear, the question still remaining.
“I’d imagine that’s him,” she replied.
For what other creature would make an entire kingdom scream?
The doors to the Great Hall busted open. They fell off their hinges, striking the floor with a great clap of thunder. The heavy wood slid down the stairs, cracking the marble as it went.
Behind the door, smoke entered the room like a mist. Thick, heavy waves crawled along the floor and down the stairs out of the darkness beyond.
Someone heaved in a great gasp. Another fell to the floor in a dead faint.
Out of the darkness, demons approached. They stalked through the fog and into the Great Hall as though they owned it. Dark wings spread wide, clawed feet clicking on the marble and echoing in the room’s silence.
Each Dread was more terrifying than the last. Their war-painted faces glowed in the candlelight. Wings of many colors flexed, tipped in silver daggers. They all held weapons. Light caught on the blades and blinded those who stared at them for too long.
Danielle searched for the o
ne familiar face she knew must be in the crowd. But more Dread poured through the door, some launching up into the air to hover above the crowd. None of them were familiar. Not yet. But she knew he would be there.
Then, as if by magic, the last Dread strode into the room.
He wore a hammered silver chest plate. His horns were larger than the others, in fact, his entire body was. Muscular arms bulged with every movement and in both hands he held twin broadswords as though they were nothing more than letter openers.
The scars on his face had been painted white, while the rest was painted red.
He stared at the crowd in fury, then a wicked grin spread across his face. It was a fanged smile, jagged and cruel. His eyes, narrowed and angry, swept across the crowd until he found her pressed against Milo’s chest.
Only then did he react. He inclined his head and bowed to the Princess of Hollow Hill.
Milo muttered, “That is who you were meeting?”
She thought to explain herself. He was the man who had saved her, the beast who had become something more than just a monster.
Except her father’s voice rang out once again. “Welcome home, creature,” the King called out. “You should not be here.”
Her Dread turned toward the King and the smile disappeared. “Did the call for a husband not go out to all? King of Hollow Hill, I’m here for your daughter’s hand.”
Chapter 19
He shouldn’t be here, but the Emperor knew better than to let her fight this battle on her own. She was too fragile. Still too weak to know how to take on the King of Hollow Hill.
The fire deep in his chest still burned, just as it had when she first told him of her battles. Though her fight had been with words, it was similar to the story he remembered. The same flavor he’d experienced on that fateful night when her father had cut away his horn.
He strode into the Great Hall as though he owned the palace. Let the humans cower and quake. Let them fear him as he walked among them. The creature from the forest. The monster their children feared. Let them know he was real.
He wore armor, the kind only the King would recognize. He’d seen it before, long ago when his people remembered the Dread. Before they had forgotten so much, although the Emperor didn’t know how they had forgotten a war in such a short time. Magic? He wouldn’t put it past the king.
But the Dread did not forget. They remembered long years, hardships unnumbered, and starvation as the King of Hollow Hill refused them a home or a harvest.
The Emperor of the Dread knew the cruelty at the hand of this king. Today, he would not bow. Instead, he would take the only future the human king had.
The Emperor cast his gaze over the crowd and saw her. She was tucked against a man who looked as though he could be her twin. Perhaps a female, although his scent was masculine.
Odd, but the Emperor liked him. Perhaps it was the way he held onto Danielle’s shoulders as though he could protect her from the dangerous creatures.
The attempt was endearing, if unfounded. No one here knew the princess of Hollow Hill had made her place in the hearts and minds of the Dread.
He liked to think his people had also made a place in hers, however; he was about to ruin that. He’d seen enough of the princess to know she’d want to slice his throat from ear to ear after he was done.
She was too prideful to be bought, as he intended.
When his spy had rushed into the Hollows, breathing hard and claiming the princess was to be married off to the highest bidder, he’d seen red. The thought made his gaze heat and his wings flare wide.
The King of Hollow Hill had no right. Father or no, his daughter could make her own decisions.
Although even those thoughts were at war with his desires. He had come to the feast just as the other men here. The only difference between him and them, was that he would leave with the princess tonight.
He couldn’t afford to look at her again. The red haze at the edges of his vision was too similar to how it had been before.
When he lost control, he didn’t remember what he did or who he killed. The Emperor no longer battled because he knew what his hands could do. He’d awoken too many times to find a crushed skull between his claws, and no knowledge of why he’d chosen such a destructive path.
He killed now only if he needed to. Only to protect his people, his kingdom, and their way of life.
And yet, he was still here. With all the greatest warriors of the Dread in the Great Hall of Hollow Hill.
All for a princess. The very daughter of the man who had nearly destroyed him and his kind all those years ago.
Her face appeared in his mind’s eye. Her upturned nose which wrinkled when she laughed. The dimple in her cheek that only appeared when she was amused.
His original plan had been to woo her into the Hollows, to turn her into an agent he could use. But she’d become someone far more than that. A woman who had taken the chance to love his people.
A princess who had become a friend. And friends didn’t let each other drown.
The Emperor strode up to the King of Hollow Hill and stood before the monstrous man. He squared his shoulders and bared his teeth in a mockery of a grin.
The King stared back at him with equal parts humor and confusion. As he should. He likely thought the Dread were wiped out from his kingdom.
And here stood a veritable army. All those who would have fought for the little human woman who had showed no fear.
The King would never know there were more of the Dread. Hundreds more who would fight as soon as their Emperor called upon them.
He cleared his throat. “King of Hollow Hill, I presume you heard what I said?”
The King’s cheeks had long since bled of color. He shifted in his throne and threaded a finger under the tight collar at his throat. “You were not invited.”
“The invitation said anyone was welcome to come and ask for the princess’s hand in marriage.”
“You were not included. No invitations were sent into the forest for your monsters to find.”
The Emperor spread his arms wide, the grin on his face spreading until it was painful. “And yet, here I am.”
“I will never give my daughter to you,” the King hissed.
“You may not have a choice.”
Did the King of Hollow Hill think he would show up without a plan? His daughter may be young and sheltered, but the Emperor was not. He had eaten lesser kings for breakfast and dined upon their hearts.
He stepped closer to the throne. The guards on either side of the King drew their swords, swinging the meager metal as though it would stop the Dread from approaching.
He looked at the thin blades and snorted. “Little men, do you think those would ever pierce my flesh?”
The King looked up at his horns. “I remember my axe did the trick just fine.”
Every muscle in his body locked. The red haze appeared in his vision again, but the Emperor held onto his sanity. He snarled, “And yet, I am still alive, king. Your blade sawed through horn, but not skin.”
“Was flesh required?” the king asked. “I marked you, beast. You are mine as much as you are your people’s. My conquest.”
“Ah, yes. I’m sure you remember me as nothing more than a trophy. But you will now give me your most prized possession, as I gave you mine.”
Only then did the Emperor allow himself to look at the princess again. She was still tucked against her brother’s side, although she seemed to argue with him. When she caught sight of the Emperor’s gaze, she jerked in her brother’s grasp.
Did she think to come to his aid? Her protective spirit was adorable. Like a spitting kitten threatening a hunting hound for coming too near.
Someday, he would ensure his kitten grew into the tiger he knew hid beneath her skin. But for now, he had to steal her away from the father who held her captive.
He turned back to the king and tilted his head to the side. “Just how much do they know?”
The King paled
even more, if that was possible. But he straightened in his throne and cast a furtive glance at his guards. “My people know all they need to know.”
“So they don’t know the whole truth. And just how much did you hide?”
“They’d never believe you.”
The Emperor shrugged. “Perhaps not. But there will be some who were waiting for the right information to betray you. I know far more about you than any of your guards, King of Hollow Hill. How much are you willing to give up to keep your daughter by your side?”
Every word was truth. They both knew the Emperor of the Dread held the secrets to all the corruption, the bloodshed, the hatred in the King’s heart.
But there was one thing that would shatter the king.
The Emperor leaned closer so no one but the king would hear him. Only then did he utter, “Do they know what you did to the queen?”
The King slammed his hand down upon the arm of the throne. The slapping sound echoed through the chamber and stunned all within to silence.
“Careful,” the Emperor advised. “Everyone is watching now.”
So many eyes stared at his back, burning between his wings. He knew every person in this room was rabid for information. Drama fed them more than fruit or wine.
A single word from him was all it would take for them all to scent blood. They would destroy the king in a heartbeat if they thought they had a chance.
As he watched, a drop of sweat rolled down the King’s temple. He stared out at the crowd instead of at the Dread.
He had more to fear from his own people, at the moment.
The King realized this. He sank back onto his throne and eyed the Dread before him with clear distaste. “What do you want?”
“I’ve already made it very clear what I want. Your daughter.”
Said woman was still struggling with her brother. She clearly didn’t want to hurt her brother, but her struggles would eventually clip his pretty face. The Emperor hoped she struck him just to prove how hard her punches were.
She did him proud, grappling like that. Any Dread woman would have done the same.