Chapter 20

I was relieved when there a knock on the door a short while later, followed by Brynja’s voice. “Morning, my lady.”

The door to my room swung open and the maid stepped through, before it slammed closed again.

“Brynja,” I said. “Who just opened that door?”

“Frima, my Lady.” She was carrying a tray laden with bread and fruit, which she set down on the desk. “The Prince is coming for you in half an hour, so we must dress you,” she said, kind of apologetically.

“I am dressed,” I said, trying to dispel the ominous feeling that came with her words.

She shook her head. “In a dress, my Lady. As is fitting for a female of Court.”

I sighed. I needed to know what I was here for. And I needed no more enemies. If I had to wear a dress to prove I was toeing the line, I would do so.

I ate as much of the food that Brynja had bought as I could in the limited time I had, while she prepared a dress that was simpler than the one from the previous night, in a pale lavender. It had a higher neckline, but it was lightweight, and I was pleased with how easily it moved once I had it on. If I needed to run, I would be able to. She was standing behind my chair, doing something time-consuming with my hair, when I remembered Voror’s feather.

“Brynja, I have a white feather over there. Do you think you could fashion it into my hair?”

“Oh. If you really want me to,” she said doubtfully.

“I’d be grateful.”

“Of course, my lady.”

When she was done, and I looked in the mirror I saw that she had managed something clever with a plain black headband, and tucked the feather in so that most of it was hidden between my thick copper hair and my ear. The top of the feather poked out artfully though, as though it was supposed to be there for decoration.

“It looks great. You’re really good at this.”

The maid blushed and gave me a small curtsey. “Thank you, my lady.”

I let out a sigh. “I’m not going to get used to you calling me that.”

“I’m sorry, my lady.”

A sharp rap on the door cut us both off. Butterflies flitted through my stomach.

Before the maid could reach the door, it banged open.

The Prince of the Shadow Court stepped into the room, staff in hand. He was dressed the same as he had been the day before, and I realized I had almost been hoping he would be wearing the mask.

His bright gaze fell on me immediately, the intense look matched by the scarred but so very beautiful face.

“Leave,” he barked, flicking his eyes to Brynja.

I scowled as the maid squeaked, then fled the room.

Say nothing, I chanted in my head. My goal was to get information and allies. Not to be difficult. All fae treat humans like shit. I couldn’t stop him being a dick to the maid.

“Sit.”

“Good morning,” I said, instead of sitting.

His eyes narrowed. “It is a piss-poor morning.”

“You’re not the one who’s been kidnapped and forced into marriage and/or death.”

Well, at least I’d managed two polite words.

“Sit,” he barked, louder.

“Why?” Reyna! Just do as you’re told! I chided myself mentally, even as I stared defiantly at him.

“I need to ward your mind against my stepmother.”

My chin ducked defensively. “Does that mean you have to get into my head?”

“Yes.”

“Then, no.”

He bared his teeth at me, and the few refined fae features that did show on his face vanished. He was every inch the warrior. “I am not playing games with you this morning. Sit the fuck down.”

Shadows swirled from his staff, and I knew what was coming next.

Power emanated from him, angry and taut, and enough to cause tendrils of fear to creep through my body.

Any patience or tolerance I had seen up to now had gone from him completely, and I knew I would not be safe pushing him today.

Did he know about my failed escape attempt?

Ellisar’s words came back to me.

He will be in a fight with the Queen all night.

I took a breath as the shadows moved toward me, ready to pin me to the chair.

“I don’t want to fight with you.”

He paused. “Why do I not believe you?”

“I just don’t want you in my head. Is there any other way?”

He stared at me, the shadows hovering between us. “Tell me what you saw on the riverbank,” he said eventually. His tone was hard.

“Why do you want to know so much?”

“If you do not want to fight with me, prove it. Tell me what I want to know.”

“I don’t remember.”

The shadows rushed me. “You have chosen the wrong fae to fight with on the wrong day,” he snapped, as I cried out.

“I chose none of this!”

“You think I did?”

I stopped struggling long enough to glare at him. “If you didn’t choose this, why the fuck are you doing it?”

He bared his teeth again, snarling. “If you choose to fight with me you will lose. And trust me, it will hurt. Stop lying to me.”

Resolve whirred through me, accompanied by a healthy dose of fear. Don’t be difficult. Get information and allies. Don’t get tortured by the Prince of the Shadow Court.

“I’ll tell you, if you agree to stay out of my head.”

If he got in my head, he could see so much more than the riverbank. He could see everything. He could see my attempt to escape the night before. He could see what I saw in my visions.

“If you lie to me…” he let the sentence trail off, his shadow snakes still pinning me to the chair and shade dancing across his bright eyes.

“Do we have a deal?”

He nodded tightly. “What did you see?”

“A Starved One.”

The snakes slackened instantly, then rushed back to his staff. I kept my eyes on his face, but other than a tightening of his jaw, saw no reaction.

“Describe what you saw, exactly,” he said.

“I saw a hand, then a head come over the edge.”

“How do you know it was a Starved One?”

I pulled a face. “Because its head was sewn together.”

Some of the tension in his jaw lessened, and he muttered something I couldn’t quite catch. Something about elders.

“Are Starved Ones common in the Shadow Court?”

“No.”

“How was it out there in the void? Is that where they live?”

“I don’t know how it was in the void.”

“But you know where they live?”

His eyes narrowed. “Enough talk of those vile creatures.” He held his hand out. “Give me your headband.”

I moved my hand to my head. “My headband? But, I don’t know how to put it back on. The maid did it,” I said, feeling a little stupid. Also, I didn’t want him to think there was anything strange about the feather tucked into it.

“Then come here.”

I stood slowly, nerves skittering through me. “You swear you’re not going to get in my head?”

“My word means nothing to you.”

“That doesn't stop you offering it.”

“Unlike the filthy fae of your Court, it does stop me. I will not give sacred words to one who holds me in such low regard.”

I blinked. Again, he was suggesting it was my fault that I didn’t trust him. “You do realize that you have told me repeatedly that you’re going to kill me and my friends?”

He glared back at me. “And you do realize that I made you my betrothed to save your cursed life?”

I stared at him in disbelief. He genuinely expected my gratitude. The male was delusional. But in his own fucked up way, I was starting to believe that he was at least honest.

“Ward my headband, or whatever it is you need to do,” I said. There was no point arguing with him, and I wanted it over and done with.

With a small snarl, he stepped close to me. He was so much taller than me that my eyes were level with his massive chest. The smell of woodsmoke and cherries washed over me, and as he raised his hand to the side of my head, I had the most insane urge to step into his solid body.

You should be running away, not toward him!

Heat flushed my face and I snapped my eyes closed to stop them moving to his face.

It must be part of his magic, I told myself, as I felt his fingers touch the band on my head. A cool breeze swirled around me, and I knew it was his shadows. Heat flared suddenly across my skull, and my eyes flew open instinctively.

Gold runes.

Two of them, burning bright on his collar bone, before drifting off his skin and floating away into nothingness.

I looked up at him, open-mouthed, and this time I did take a step back. There was hunger in his face. An intense desire that was unquestionably aimed at me.

It vanished as his hand snapped back from my hair, and his expression turned hard. But it was too late. The look was seared into my mind, and Odin help me, I already wanted to see it again.

“How are you doing this?” I whispered, taking another step back.

“I am warding your mind against my stepmother. Wear that headband, always, and she will struggle to get into your thoughts.” His words were stilted, and I shook my head.

“No, not that. How are you doing…” I lifted an unsteady hand, my face so hot it was uncomfortable. “The other thing.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He was lying. He had to be.

“Why are there gold runes on you?”

He was back in front of me in a flash, his shadows billowing out and surrounding me completely. Faint screams began to echo in the distance, and my skin felt like I had been doused in ice.

“Never, ever mention that inside these walls,” he boomed, and the voice was inside my head. I blinked terrified eyes up at his own, which were swirling not with smoke-like shade, but actually filled with writhing black snakes.

I nodded, desperate for him to back off, for the fear to stop.

He did, and the warmth of the room seeped back over me as I sucked in a shaky breath.

“We leave now,” he barked, and whirled away, striding from the room. Warm air filled the space he had left, the suffocating fear flowing away. Relief that I could no longer see his face washed through my pounding body.

If I had needed a reminder that he was a monster, I had just been given it.