by Emma Hamm
The King cleared his throat, directing attention back to the throne. “I will not give my daughter to you.”
“You don’t have a choice, as I made very clear. I will tell all your people what the King of Hollow Hill really did.”
The guards eyed each other behind the throne. They wouldn’t ever let their king see such a look. The Emperor saw, however, and he knew he’d already sown the seeds of distrust.
Good. Let the king be busy with all the madness the Dread had created while the Emperor spirited his daughter away deep into the belly of the earth.
Thoughts ticked behind the King’s eyes. He watched, knowing the other man would do his best to twist the situation in his favor.
There was no way for the King to mince his words. He’d made certain of that long before they got here.
The King’s throat bobbed and worked before he finally snarled, “You want my daughter’s hand?” His voice boomed through the hall.
All fell silent once again, staring at the monster who dared ask to take their princess away.
A monster among them he might be, but the Emperor was not afraid of standing before these people in all his glory. He was dangerous and frightening. They should have nightmares of him and his people when they returned to their beds tonight.
He flared his wings wide. The wind buffeted away the men standing too close to him, some falling to their knees, others falling onto their backs. The Emperor straightened his spine and lifted his scarred face with pride.
“I have come for your daughter, King of Hollow Hill. As my bride and no one else’s.”
He heard her muffled gasp from across the room. Danielle would not be happy with his decision. Her choices were the most important part of her life, he knew that. He understood in a bone deep way that rattled his soul.
He wished he had a moment to tell her there was no other way. That her father was as dastardly as they came, and the only way to defeat him was by not giving him a chance to plan.
The Dread showing up at the palace was the first surprise. The second, asking for her.
He realized his attention had shifted for a moment too long. The King narrowed his eyes upon the Dread and smiled in a way which suggested he thought he’d won.
The King pointed to his daughter. “You may have her, Dread. But I will never honor a marriage between a beast and my most precious child.”
The brother standing next to Danielle stiffened. This time, he let her go when she tugged on his hand.
She ran to their sides as quickly as her tight skirts would let her. Shoulders squared, jaw tight, she hissed, “I am not something to be bought and traded.”
He knew that. He tried to tell her with his gaze they would speak of this later, but she had little pity for him. Instead, she just glared.
Fine. Let her be angry.
He bared his fangs. “All in the kingdom were welcome. And are we not part of your kingdom, King of Hollow Hill? Your people aren’t aware of the monsters underneath their homes, deep in the earth. We are the ones who give you a good harvest. Isn’t that what the legends of old said? If you don’t honor us, we will pull your crops down by the root.”
Worried chatter echoed his words. The rumors would start soon, as they had long ago when the King was young.
“If only that myth were true,” the King snarled. “You have no power here.”
“Ah, I have a great amount of power and you know this.”
Danielle stepped between them, her words quieter than theirs. “Perhaps we should go somewhere private to have this conversation.”
“Step out of the way, daughter.”
“I won’t.” She stood straighter than before, confidence seeping from her being like water overflowing from a well. “This isn’t right to have this conversation here, father. We should go to your study.”
“I said, step out of the way.” The King’s face turned red with a dark blush. “Or shall we have a private conversation like we had a few weeks ago?”
Danielle flinched back until her spine touched his chest. It took everything the Emperor had to not wrap his arm around her then. Surely she understood he was here to save her from the King? He would protect her with sword and claw if he must.
He’d already won this battle. The King just didn’t know it yet.
He placed a single hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Your daughter is mine, King. This is the bargain we strike.”
“Hollow Hill will never recognize any marriage between the two of you,” the King hissed.
“That’s not what I’m asking.”
The King’s sharp inhale was all the Emperor needed to know he had won. He grinned at the King, feral and cruel.
Danielle remained still under his hand.
Her father relented, but his words were a weapon against his daughter. “I will allow you to take her, beast. But she is no longer a princess of Hollow Hill, nor is she my daughter. I do not give her to you as a wife.”
“Then I do not take her as one.” The Emperor leaned down, scooped her into his arms, and shot up into the air.
The Dread turned to follow him as one. All they left in the Great Hall was the sobering whistle of wind in the Emperor’s wings and a single glass slipper which fell from Danielle’s foot.
Chapter 20
Danielle knew better than to struggle while flying. She kept her mouth shut as well, so she didn’t argue the entire way to the Hollows.
How dare he? She was not a horse at the fairs. Her father saw women as chattel. But the Dread?
She’d never been so disappointed in her life. Never been so angry either. The heat of rage burned in her chest and made her fingertips numb.
She wanted to smack him so hard he saw stars. How dare he steal her away like this?
Underneath all the rage was the crippling rumble of fear. Her father had disowned her and now she was nothing. Just the plaything of the Dread, who she thought she could trust.
How was she supposed to reconcile this with the creatures she knew? They had taken her from her home. Her siblings.
Her mother.
Danielle was the only person the queen would speak to. She was the only one who ensured her mother had clean air, clean bedding, was listened to when she wanted to speak.
With the Dread and her plans for overthrowing her father, she’d neglected her mother recently.
Guilt mingled with fear, creating a deadly toxin in her body as strong as poison. She’d abandoned her sickly mother, the one whom everyone thought was crazed. She’d been forced to abandon her siblings and without them, who was she?
All without her permission. Now, she was nothing more than a branch ripped from its tree. No roots. No leaves.
The Dread landed in the familiar meadow and one by one descended into the tunnel. They wiggled through the dirt, their wings folded close to their chests. Her Dread, although she didn’t know if she could call him that anymore, placed her feet on the ground and steadied her.
“I cannot carry you,” he murmured, his voice low and deep. “But you know that already.”
“I’ll manage. I always do.” Danielle held her spine straight, shoulders squared, face relaxed into nothing more than a smooth surface without emotion.
The Dread reached out a claw and touched a single glass bead at her shoulder. “I regret to ruin this dress. You are exquisite, princess.”
Even though she wanted to hate him, her face heated at the compliment.
She took a deep breath and told herself not to fall prey to his intentions. He’d proven himself to be a monster. He’d taken her from her home and made her nothing more than a slave.
Danielle met his gaze and shook her head. “I’m no longer a princess.”
The furrows in his brow deepened, scars digging so deep into the craters of his face they became crevices of darkness. “You’ll always be a princess to our people. To me.”
Tears burned in her eyes. She couldn’t think of the Dread as her own, not when her people had disowned
her.
Danielle turned toward the tunnel, got down on her hands and knees, and made her way deep into the Hollows.
Every crawling motion scraped at the beautiful dress. She heard ripping fabric, and the gentle plunk of glass beads falling in her wake.
In a way, she left behind all she was in that tunnel. Every bit of her beauty, her nobility, her honor. All of it gone.
Who was she, if she wasn’t a princess?
She wasn’t a warrior. Danielle had begged him to teach her, and all he’d done was stall. She wasn’t a queen, she had no kingdom to call her own. So what was she now?
A Dread waited at the end of the tunnel with her arms outstretched. It was the same Dread who had waited at her window. The one with the mangled features and the permanent evil smile.
Danielle reached for the Dread without hesitation and let herself be pulled from the tunnel. The Dread steadied her with a solid hand on both shoulders. “Good?” the Dread asked.
“I’m fine.”
The other female paused, staring deep into Danielle’s eyes. “Good?” the Dread repeated.
Danielle didn’t know how to respond. No, she wasn’t good. She was tired, exhausted, angry, and wanted to scream until the roof caved in on them.
But she knew better. She was a princess by blood, and she would not argue in front of anyone but the Emperor who ruled the Hollows.
So she inclined her head in a soft nod. “I’m well, thank you.”
The Dread stepped away then, and they both made room for her Dread to slide into the Hollows. He stood up, larger than life, with violet wings she had once thought familiar.
Only now, she thought of him as the monster her people had claimed him to be. Such a change saddened her.
She’d thought him to be a friend.
He eyed her, then spread his wings wide. “Shall we, princess?”
That nickname would be the death of her. Every time he said it, her heart squeezed in her chest. She hated the name and loved it all at the same time.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she replied. Danielle held herself stiff and poised. “I will speak with no one but the Emperor.”
The female Dread beside her muffled a laugh with her hand. Danielle glared at her, only to realize all the Dread were staring at hers with a mixture of amusement and surprise.
She turned back to her Dread and stared at the large wings on his shoulders. His horns were bigger than the others, even with the broken side. His claws were longer, his fangs more fierce.
Why hadn’t she seen it before?
Her shoulders slumped forward in defeat and her knees grew weak. “You’re the Emperor.”
For the first time, he wasn’t sarcastic in his response to her. Instead, he nodded his head. “Could it have been anyone else?”
“I had hoped...” She stopped herself before the words continued. Danielle didn’t know what she’d hoped. Only that she had wanted to yell at someone other than him.
She sighed and gestured toward the open cavern of the Hollows. “Then there is much you and I have to discuss.”
“That there is, princess.” He moved as though he would hold her in his arms, only to pause.
She wrapped her arms around her own waist. Already she felt as though she could shatter at any moment. His touch would only make that worse.
He eyed her, then turned his back to her and waited. Did he wanted her to ride him? Like a horse?
She eyed his wings and wondered how this would be possible at all. She couldn’t put her legs around him with those appendages jutting out from his shoulder blades. She’d impede his flight and then they’d both plummet to the bottom of the caverns.
Sighing, she walked around him to the front. “We both know this is the easier way.”
“I won’t force you to do something you don’t wish to.”
“You already have.” Danielle avoided his gaze and lifted her arms at her sides.
His heavy sigh brushed across her face like the breeze of a Dread taking flight. He slid his hands underneath her arms, pulled her close, and then launched them into the darkness.
Danielle wasn’t afraid. She didn’t know if she had the emotion in her anymore. All she could feel was numb.
She should be angry. Wasn’t that what she deserved? But the longer she was in this cold, dark place, the more she wanted to hide. If she stayed here with them, as her father had condemned her, she’d never see the sun again.
Danielle stared over his shoulder at the hundreds of Dread perched on ledges who watched them. How did they survive without the sun? How could they live here while they knew there was more above ground?
Would she become like them? Pale and smooth, like a stone rolled by the sea?
He flew beyond the ledges and deeper into the earth. All light disappeared. She didn’t know how he knew where to go or didn’t crash into a wall.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Was this the end? Was he taking her somewhere no human could ever find? Would she finally disappear as her father wished her to?
Her Dread landed, his clawed feet scrabbling on the floor before he set her down. “Open your eyes, princess.”
“There’s nothing here,” she whispered. “Nothing but darkness.”
“All you have to do is open your eyes to see the beauty. Trust me.”
Perhaps the worst part of all the tragedy and danger she’d suffered was that she still trusted him. With all her heart and soul.
Danielle opened her eyes. They’d already adjusted to the darkness, and she realized everything glowed blue. Moss covered the walls and somehow emitted a light so beautiful it rivaled the sky.
They stood in a cavern. There were no ragged stones on the floor, just a smooth surface worn down by years of dripping water. Even the walls were so smooth they were like mirrors everywhere the moss didn’t grow.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“I told you there was much more to the Hollows than what you’ve seen.” He left her side and reached into the inky darkness beyond her sight. “Come.”
Somehow, she didn’t think he was talking to her.
Fingers stretched into her line of vision, out of the shadows where the faint blue light didn’t reach. The wrinkled, frail hand closed upon her Dread’s and allowed him to draw the creature into the light.
The Dread he now guided was ancient. Her Dread wrapped his arm around the woman’s waist and helped her step into the light. Then another, more and more until there were hundreds of Dread approaching her. Each older than the last.
They were horrific to look at and wondrous at the same time. Age dulled the tips of their horns. Their faces lined and marred by years of fighting. But the sparks of their souls were still strong as they stood and greeted her one by one.
“Princess,” one said, its mottled skin glowing like the moss.
“Welcome home,” another coughed weakly.
“We’ve been waiting to meet you.”
Over and over, more greetings of the most ancient Dread.
Danielle did her best to be cordial even though she was more frightened of these than the other Dread. She saw the scars on their bodies, the missing limbs, and limp wings.
When the last had finally greeted her, she stepped close to her Dread and asked, “Why did you bring me here?”
“To prove a point.”
“Which is?” She stared at the crowd of Dread shuffling back into the darkness. “That I will rot in this place, just as they have?”
“No.” Her Dread placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her attention upon him and him alone. “They were the first to fight against your father. All that is left of the original Dread. War has taken its toll upon them, and they will die down here in these caves. All because of your father.”
“I don’t understand.”
“When the war started, neither did I. I thought the human king was courageous. But he was more than that. He was calculating, and he was cruel.” The shadows of war played across his fe
atures, wrinkling his brow and drawing his mouth into a tight, straight line. “He will stop at nothing to get what he wants.”
“Do you think I don’t know that? He’s my father. I’ve lived with him my entire life. I know what he’s capable of.”
“Do you?” He shook his head in clear disbelief. “You came to my kingdom broken and bleeding. You asked for my help, princess. What was I supposed to do?”
“You weren’t supposed to show up to the palace and take away my family.”
“Did I kill them?” The words burst out of his chest like the beat of his wings.
“No,” she growled.
He released his hold on her shoulders and paced backward. In the dim light, she could see him opening and closing his fists. “Did I harm them in any way?”
“No you didn’t, but-”
“There are no ‘buts’ princess. Your family is fine. I did what I had to do. You are no longer in that palace or with that creature who would mark his own daughter.”
Danielle was glad the floor was smooth. If there were any stones, she would have tripped over them in her attempts to distance herself from him. “I’m not a princess anymore!”
“Is that so important to you?”
“Hollow Hill is my kingdom!” she shouted. Her words echoed, bouncing back at her in a mockery of her pain. Tears burned in her eyes, then she corrected herself. “Was my kingdom.”
“It’s still in desperate need of a queen who cares for its people.”
“And now that queen will be my sister, Diana. My father’s puppet and head of his army. Don’t you see? You’ve doomed us all.”
Diana would make a horrible queen. She desired battle above all else because their father had forced such thoughts into her mind.
Already, Danielle knew what the future would hold. It wouldn’t just be the Dread Hollow Hill fought, but everyone else. Their father would revel in the bloodshed and Diana would become an angry storm of a woman.
She reached up and held her head in her hands. She tunneled her fingers through hair, tugging on the long strands as if the sharp pain might still her thoughts.
“Danielle,” her Dread said, stepping forward. Too close.