Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

A distant part of my brain whispers to me that I need to wake up, my instincts firing to life and dragging my unconscious mind slowly back into the present. The first thing I notice is that my neck is stiff and aching, indicating that I must have slept strangely. A gentle breeze blows on my face, and my head rolls back, bumping against the warm chest behind me.

My eyes shoot open, and I jerk upright, away from the body I seem to be pressed against. I expected to find myself in my bed in the cottage I have called home my entire life, but I am actually on the back of a horse.

“Whoa, steady,” a male voice cautions behind me. His tone is gentle but with the authority of someone expecting to be obeyed without question. His arm tightens around my waist, ensuring I stay in the saddle.

As soon as I hear his voice, a full-body shiver takes over me, causing the hair on my arms to stand on end. Prince Alaric of the Seelie. I have so many questions, but there is one pressing matter I need to attend to first.

“Where are we?” My voice is croaky with disuse, so I cough to clear it.

The moon is high in the sky above us, indicating that it is well past sundown and we have been travelling for some time. My body aches, and I do not recognise the rocky landscape around us, so I am guessing we are several hours from Brine. I am acutely aware of the prince behind me, the brush of his shirt against my back, and the supportive weight of his hand on my abdomen, yet I cannot seem to summon the courage to look up at him.

“We are on King’s Road,” he answers, steering our horse to the centre of the path and away from the bush it is suddenly very interested in. “We shall be arriving in Clifftop City in the next hour or so.”

Clifftop City is the biggest in our lands and where King Mannor rules from. I have never visited it before but have dreamed of seeing it one day. It was always a throwaway dream I never thought would actually come true, the city seeming so magical and different from the small village of Brine on the other side of the land. Once, I might have been excited by this prospect. Right this moment, I feel the opposite. Am I safe here with the prince? I am alone in the middle of nowhere, with only his word? How would I even get back to Brine?

“Why?” I ask, that single word holding so much emotion that I feel him stiffen behind me.

He pauses as he gathers his thoughts. “Why what?”

I shake my head, keeping my gaze straight ahead. He knows exactly what I am talking about, and I do not know why he is pretending otherwise. Perhaps he is trying to put off the inevitable, or maybe he is just a heartless fae and really has no idea what has upset me.

“Why are you taking me there? What happened?”

I have no memory of leaving Brine. The last thing I remember was leaving the forest with the prince and Blaise. Why is my memory blank, and why would I agree to leave? Is my family safe? Do they know what happened and where I am? My heart clenches at the thought I might not have said goodbye. While my sister would not be bothered, my mother would be upset.

Despite my turbulent emotions and distressed thoughts, a huge yawn cuts through my internal panic. I am utterly exhausted. How is it possible to feel as though I have not slept in days when I just woke up?

“Take it easy,” he coos as though I am a skittish horse. “You were in a magic induced sleep. It is not true rest, so you will still be tired.” His hand shifts over my middle as he reassures himself that he still has a good hold on me. “We thought we would take the stress of the journey from you as it is long and you have been through much. We have almost arrived at our destination.”

It takes a few moments for those words to sink in, and I am not sure I understand him properly, because it sounds like I was magically drugged and taken from my home. Blinking slowly, I mull over his words, trying desperately to see this from a different angle, one that makes sense.

Nope. That is not an appropriate explanation, and I need to get away from here. Why I ever thought I was safe with fae , I do not know. Just because he saved me on one occasion does not mean he is inherently good. He is perfectly capable of doing messed up things too.

“Stop,” I demand, my voice stronger than I have ever heard it before. In fact, I am surprised I have it in me, but there is no stopping now. Throwing my leg over the side of our mount, I slide from the horse before Alaric has a chance to stop me. My ankles buckle, and I stumble but manage to stay upright.

“What is the human doing?” Blaise asks, sounding completely amused by my antics. Wonderful, I did not see him before thanks to my refusal to turn around, so it is my own fault. I should have known the prince’s friend would not be far behind us. Alaric and I ignore him as I step away from the horse and start walking in the opposite direction.

The prince pulls his horse to a halt. “Iris.”

Spinning, I glare at him with far more bravado that I feel, walking backwards to put more distance between us.

“You took the stress of the journey away by using your magic to knock me out.” Repeating his words aloud makes the situation feel so much more intense, the reality of it sinking in. I was abducted and alone out here with two fae I know next to nothing about. “You did not ask for my permission or discuss this with me.”

Alaric looks utterly confused as he seems to pick up on my rising anxiety. Huffing out a breath of frustration, he dismounts and walks towards me, only to stop as he sees the fear in my eyes.

“I told you I would take you somewhere safe, and you agreed.” He is clearly trying to justify himself, believing he is in the right. I do not think he understands why I am making an issue of this.

“I thought it would be close by, not halfway across the country!” I shout at him then take a deep breath and try to control myself. “It doesn’t matter if you took me ten miles or halfway across the country, that is not the key issue here. You knocked me out. You took away my choice.”

I force myself to stop speaking, not needing to go any further. If he chooses not to understand why this would be distressing to me, then I will not waste my breath on him.

“He is a prince, he can do what he likes.” Blaise looks as though he cannot make up his mind on how he feels about this whole situation, shifting between amusement and annoyance.

With a laugh of disbelief, I glare at the bearded fae. “Then maybe all fae are the same and everything I was told is true. Fae are evil and will only ever cause you harm.”

Blaise seems surprised at the strength of my ire, raising a brow as he reassesses me. I do not care what he thinks of me, though, and I turn back to the prince. My words seem to have affected him too, but in a different way. From the way he is looking at me and the annoyance in his eyes, I think I might have offended him.

“You have to understand, Iris, that things are very different in the fae lands, and I am not human. I will do whatever I can to protect my people and make sure the Unseelie never break their curse. If that means hurting your feelings in the process, then so be it.”

He makes my concerns seem so small and insignificant compared to the weight of his responsibilities, but that does not take away from the fact that he did something wrong. Even so, I do not want to have this fight with him out here. We might be far from the forest and need not fear the fae, but there are still other dangers out in the open, such as wild animals and bandits.

I breathe in deeply, trying to calm myself so I can reply rationally. He needs to understand why I feel the way I do, but in a way that is not going to throw us into a full-blown argument.

“I may be just a mere human to you, but I have feelings and rights.” Levelling him with a look, I keep my voice steady despite the frustration and fear coursing through me. “You may think our rules do not apply to you and that you are above us, but you have no right to expect me to just accept that.”

Wow. I’m proud of how in control I sounded. Here I am, standing off against a fae prince while sounding perfectly reasonable. Internally, I’m freaking out. This is a fae , one of the creatures who have tormented humans for centuries, and I’m lecturing him about equality.

His jaw tenses, and I like to think it is because he realises I am right. He has no control over how I feel about his actions, and he needs to accept that and move on. He glances at his companion who simply shrugs, amusement shining in his eyes.

With a gruff noise, he scrubs his hands over his face and then huffs out a breath. His gaze returns to me, sharp and shrewd, and he gestures to his horse. “Are you going to ride with me, or do I have to restrain you?”

Restrain me? Why does that make me flush, and why does it fill me with a warmth that makes me want to clench my legs together? Feeling flustered all of a sudden, I push any images of myself tied up and thrown across the prince’s lap to the back of my mind.

“I will ride with Blaise.” My reply is breathy, and I am sure it gives away my flustered state.

The dark-haired fae looks pained and shoots a pleading look at his friend, but the prince is already snorting with amusement as he gestures for me to go to Blaise.

“By all means.”

Taking a deep breath, I keep my head high and walk over to Blaise. He sits atop his horse, looking down at me in exasperation. I take his offered hand and with more effort than I expected, I mount the horse. In reality, it was less of me climbing up into the saddle and more of Blaise dragging me up. With all the grace of a stampeding bull, I get settled, ignoring Blaise’s curses as he attempts to keep us both from toppling over.

“Can we continue with our journey now?” Alaric’s tart voice makes my spine stiffen.

Turning to look at him, I narrow my eyes. “Yes, thank you for asking.”

There is no point in me fighting this. I would never be able to find my way home, and I am clearly in danger in Brine. The prince also made it pretty clear that he is not going to let me go. Besides, if I look past his dubious methods of getting me away, then I can feel my instincts urging me to trust them.

“Well, I would not want to upset your delicate sensibilities.”

Biting my tongue, I hold back my retort. Something about arguing with them has lessened my sense of fear around them. Most likely it is my anger that is riding at the front of my brain and taking the lead.

As we ride, I think over everything Alaric said, and in a distant way, I can understand where he is coming from. He hardly knows me, and I am just one person. Although his methods were heavy-handed, he was putting the well-being of his people above all else. It is something admirable, yet at the same time, I am still angry. My comments still stand—I deserve an explanation and a choice, and I hope that going forward, that is something he thinks on.

The sky is now starting to lighten, the pitch-black night becoming a deep blue as the sun replaces its lunar brother. Riding with Blaise is about as comfortable as sitting on a stiff-backed chair, the fae completely rigid behind me. I am almost to the point of pleading to a higher power that we will get to the city soon. It has been several hours since I was released from the magic sleep Alaric had me under, and I still have so many questions lingering in my mind.

“Why are we going to Clifftop City anyway?”

I see Alaric startle and glance back at me, only to realise that I am asking his companion behind me. It takes a lot for me not to feel smug at the look on his face.

Blaise sighs, clearly preferring silence and noticing his friend’s reaction. “We need to inform the human king of the changes to the plan,” he replies, tired of my questions already. “He is going to be pissed that we left his ministers behind.” He raises his voice, so I know he’s aiming this one at Alaric, bringing him into the conversation so he doesn’t have to carry the burden of talking to me alone.

“They would have slowed us down,” the prince says by way of explanation. His gaze slides to me. “We need to get you to safety.”

I wondered why it was just the three of us on this journey when they arrived at my village with a whole entourage. Travelling in a larger group would make it a slower journey, as would having a confused human woman who was reluctant to leave.

Alaric returns to watching the road ahead of us, and we all fall into silence. At least, that is what they think, as my mind is already forming my next question.

“What is the king like?”

Blaise groans loudly this time, but the prince and I ignore him. Alaric tilts his head slightly, a sure sign he is listening, but he does not turn to look at me. Instead, he raises his hand and gestures towards the lightening skyline where a dark shape is beginning to make itself clear.

“You can find out for yourself,” he calls over his shoulder, grim determination in his voice. “We are here.”