Chapter Twenty-Four

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

RELUCTANT ROYAL

I lay on the bed, unmoving, for a time, the phantom of desire still in me. Defeat and an overwhelming sense of loneliness clung to my skin. I considered attempting self-pleasure, but I was inexperienced and dejected.

Eventually, Olea came in and started the water for a bath. She coaxed me into it and gave me tea and biscuits and wouldn’t stop her jabbering until I’d eaten half the portion.

My thoughts drifted as she discussed proper court etiquette. What’s the point of any of this? I should just take Gia and leave.

If I remained here, I would be the object of endless gaming and scheming. Though I loved Cas in a way that would never cease, I still didn’t know much about who he’d become, or what he wanted from me. And there was the matter of my longing for another.

“Terra, wallowin’ doesna do much for ye,” Olea said, her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.

I rolled my eyes, and she continued. “How’re ye gonna prepare for the Sk?l ef ye jest set here, as a wounded pup?”

“I have no interest in that absurd competition. I will not kill just for the chance at Cas’s hand.”

She clucked her tongue. “Well, ets lekely there’ll be more death should ye not participate.”

“And why do you say that?”

“Well, accordin’ te tradition, the Sk?l es only open te five challengers, should there be a favorite selected by the king. That would be ye, en thes case. But ef there es no favorite, none chosen, well then the competition es open te any Fae female that wishes te join. Ets only happened a few times, the last bein’ Darlan’s Sk?l. Ets how he came te wed Agustina, a daughter a’ common Fae. En that Sk?l et was about a hundred Fae females that perished.”

The thought of a hundred Fae females fighting to the death for a chance to marry Cas made my stomach drop. “In my case, should I decide to compete I mean, how are the five females chosen?”

“Each High Fae House family submets a female te compete. Ets te show the king’s pick es the best, an’ she canna be outwitted or beaten by even the top a’ each House. The Five High Fae Houses can be traced back thousands a’ years. Te be a’ one a’ them families, well, ets a great fortune.”

I huffed. “Have there always been this many traditions and archaic rules in Viri culture? They are extraordinarily difficult to keep track of.”

Olea only chuckled. “Yes, mess.”

After Olea got me out of the bath, I dressed in training clothes, simple, soft leathers that allowed for free movement. And she redid my braids, winding them together in one large plait down my back. I asked her if I could get hold of the blades that I had on me when I arrived, and while she said she had not seen them, she promised to seek them out.

Olea deposited me at the training grounds, where I was to meet an instructor. The grounds were separate from the spectacle platform on the cliffs, where I had seen Cas again for the first time. These were proper warrior arenas, with spaces for conditioning, gravel pits for sparring, tools for archery, lanes for dagger throwing, and more.

My trainer had not yet arrived, so I walked around, feeling eyes follow me as I examined the spaces and weaponry. I watched a pair of Fae males spar in hand to hand combat, sizing up their techniques and comparing them to what I’d been taught in my early years, and re-taught by Leuffen. They were fancier, but also less scrappy and practical. I fingered the points of throwing knives and tested the weights of various swords. My sight landed on Cas in the conditioning arena, which sent a pang through my chest. He alternated from pushups to pullups on a metal bar set in the notches of two posts. I had not expected to see him again so soon after our morning encounter. And to make matters worse, the white-haired Fae I saw naked in his room the night before stood next to him, eying him as she struck a hanging flour sack. A wash of territorial possession came over me, though I knew I had no right to it. For a moment, I considered ignoring them.

But then, she looked my way and laughed.

Oh, this will be fun.

I made my way to the bow and arrow station and examined them. Finally, I found one with the right weight and balance and contour of shape. I stretched it out several times before I set out against the target. I knocked an arrow back into the bow and let it fly.

I could feel the searing stares as I not only hit the bull’s eye on my target, but as I fired again and again at the targets surrounding me. To my delight, the white-haired female paid me no more attention, her gaze still fixed on Cas’s glistening body while she struck the bag. In an instant, I sent my final arrow in her direction. It landed square in the middle of her flour sack, mere inches above her head. The small rip in the tension-loaded bag caused the whole thing to explode, flour shooting out all over her white hair and fair body.

She sputtered, clouds of flour puffing out of her mouth. She whipped around to look in my direction. Cas ceased his pullups and stared at me in disbelief, in good company with the rest of the trainees in the room. I saluted him with a smirk and left the arena.

The walk back to my room turned into a run. I didn’t at all feel myself. Who was I in the first place? A part of me still wanted to kill Fayzien—a desire that had been driving me for the last month—but that part was wilting. I’d taken no pleasure in his death the first time; it absolved none of my grief and anger. If I was being honest with myself… I simply wanted to never see him again. To ensure he’d never hurt someone I loved ever again.

So unless I killed him, which Cas made clear could lead to my own hanging, I had to leave. I had to grab Gia and bolt. However, nothing but sea surrounded one side of the palace and miles of cobblestone maze blocked the other. And even if I could find a map to navigate the tangled city center, there was the matter of Gia’s human fragility. I had no idea how long the journey back to the human realm would take without portaling—a skill I’d yet to learn. I could hunt and find clean water and shelter. But could I safely navigate thousands of miles of land inhabited by unknown magical creatures? With a pregnant human for a travel companion?

We were stuck here unless I could find someone to enlist for help.

The thought fired a synapse in my head. Jana . While she’d lied to me about my mother and my title, Cas seemed to trust her. And though I certainly didn’t plan to forgive her actions anytime soon, I needed her. At minimum, she owed me the truth, but I also had a feeling she might be able to offer more.

Help to leave Viribrum.

I found Jana with ease by stopping a lone, skinny-looking Fae in the serving quarters and passing him an unremarkable gem from my wardrobe for telling me where the king held the traitors.

Although determining their location came easier than expected, the access proved challenging. First, they were held in a much more secure location than Ezren had been, which puzzled me. The only way to access their cells, completely underground beneath the palace, was through tunnels leading from the guards’ quarters next to the stables. Second, it seemed my prison break from the evening before had put the palace guard on notice, because about ten of them stood around where the young Fae pointed when I asked him to show me the entrance.

I bid the servant thank you and stayed lurking behind the corner that turned to the guards’ housing and stables. I considered another late-night break-in, but they would expect that. Distraction seemed the best option, and one that didn’t have my signature all over it. I would need help.

I found Gia in her room, staring out the window, and requested that she come with me for a walk. She was easy to motivate, and her lack of characteristic stubbornness bothered me, the abnormality prickling my senses.

But I was mission-focused. I tucked her arm through mine and led her around the castle, trudging through the muddy ground to approach the stables nearby the guards’ quarters. We passed a group of guards gossiping about the poor soldier found tied up naked in that fateful alcove. And then we walked up to one of the stable hands grooming a recently ridden mare, brushing her sweat. I batted my eyes at the two of them in admiration.

“My, what an impressive steed. How lucky you are to be charged with her care,” I said.

The young Fae met my eyes in surprise. “Y-yes, miss, mistress,” he stuttered.

I placed my hand on his forearm as it continued to run the brush down her bright chestnut flank. “I would just adore the chance to help groom her,” I purred.

He looked at me in alarm, as if assessing whether my request was a test. I could feel Gia’s eyes of suspicion on me, but she said nothing.

“Do you have a prick?” I asked with an air of innocence, and he blanched. “A pick,” I raised my brows. “To clean her hooves.”

His cheeks flushed, and he handed me the tool. I went around the mare, crossing her at a distance from behind. Gia remained on her side, facing the guard quarters, jabbering with the stable hand about the types of horses they maintained and their training regimens. I knelt beside the chestnut and leaned into her. She shifted her weight and bent her knee, giving me her hoof in routine. I took it in one hand, but instead of picking it out with the other, I bent down and placed my palm on the ground. The mare’s large body hid mine from the rest of the stable hands, and, more importantly, the guards.

I may have not been a Water Witch, but I had learned to bend the Earth. So, I coaxed the dirt, squeezing it together until every inch of moisture rose to the surface. It moved slow at first, but then the water from the ground pushed to the top. And in less than a minute, the ground grew slick. Another fifteen seconds, and half an inch of water pooled beneath my feet. It built around the semi insulated stable and guard keep, causing a mild panic. Some Fae ran around shouting, others just lifted their boots in disbelief. The mare beside me stomped, prancing in reaction to the rising water level. I chuckled to myself, amused at the ease of arousing chaos and confusion.

Time to find Jana.

But then someone grabbed the collar of my leather vest. I was pulled to standing, my hand no longer commanding the ground beneath it. Cas looked over me, fuming, his eyes more heated golden than cool amethyst.

“What. Are. You. Doing.” Cas ground out, his words more threat than question.

I leveled a look at him and said nothing. In my peripheral, Fayzien waved his hands around, swirling the excess water in the air, forming shapes of animals that galloped into a well a few yards off. At that, Gia clapped, along with many other Fae. My stomach turned over at the sight.

Cas grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me to face him. “Terra, answer me.”

“Is that an order, Prince Casmerre?” I said, venom lacing my words.

“What was that about? And your display in the training arena? Why did you nearly shoot the head off Xinlan?” Cas demanded.

I only blinked at him.

“You know Terra, you’re behaving like an absolute child . Not at all like my future bride, let alone the future Queen of Viribrum.” His voice dripped with a condescending disdain that made my blood boil.

“Perhaps,” I said, my voice low, “that is because I neither want to be your bride, nor the Queen of Viribrum.”

Cas released me and pain flashed across his face. “I would not say such things lightly if I were you,” he growled.

“Does it really matter what I say, what I think, or what I want?” I whispered.

“Do you even know what you want, Terra? Just this morning, you were begging for me to have my way with you. And while I don’t know if it’s the binding or how you actually feel, you still clearly yearn for Ezren. What do you want in life? If you don’t want to be queen, what then? Do you have any aspiration for greatness at all? If you do not, tell me now. I’m sure I can set you up with a nice, easy, country-Fae husband. I have no doubt that, with your skill-set, you would be a legendary farmer.”

I froze for a moment, mouth ajar. His words settled, pressing an uncomfortable weight on my chest. I turned on my heel, not bothering to look back, not even for Gia.