“Why?”
I looked at him incredulously. “Look at me. I’m hideous.”
Confusion swept his features. “Evangeline, you are the most beautiful woman at this court. I couldn’t believe my luck when I spotted you alone, then you seemed to shy. It was surprising.”
“You must be joking. I’m a beast.” I ran my fingers over the bumps in my skin. “Every time I look in the mirror, I want to cry.”
His eyes widened, then he tapped his finger against his chin. “Have you always been, um, forgive me for using your words, hideous?”
I inhaled sharply. “No.”
“It just happened one day?”
I nodded.
“Ah. That makes sense.”
“What?” I asked.
He shot me an amused look. “I don’t see the ugliness you persist is there.”
“Don’t be kind.”
“Really. You’re beautiful.”
He paused, spending far too long staring at me. I looked away, feeling naked and vulnerable. I wished he would stop staring. “You must be cursed.” His tone was steady. Not a single shred of humor laced his words. He was being serious.
“I’m sorry?”
“Us faeries can see through curses and glamours. It’s the only explanation I can think of as to why you do not see what I do. I see the real you, Evangeline, and regardless of the curse, it really isn’t about how one looks when I choose who I befriend. Although, I admit it is why I first approached you.” He placed his hand on mine, sending shockwaves through me. “I am immortal. Looks fade in time, but loyalty, strong spirit, and intelligence last a lifetime. Don’t let anyone make you feel less than what you are, and more than that, don’t let yourself believe it. You have such spirit. You do not see us as lesser than you. You were disgusted seeing the dragons’ eggs. You have more kindness in your little finger than most have in their entire bodies.”
My shoulders slumped. How I wished it were true. “You don’t know me.”
“I see you, Evangeline.”
Tears fell thick and fast before I could catch myself. “I’m sorry. This is the first time…” I trailed off.
“You’re overwhelmed. It’s okay. You are okay.”
His words grounded me. I felt the dagger inside my robe, and it weighed heavier than ever. I swallowed hard, attempting to remove the lump in my throat. “I must leave for my chambers.”
“Wait.” He grabbed my arm, lightly. His touch felt like stars. “I need your help.” His eyebrows drew together, wrinkling his forehead. The light from the moon shone onto his face, paling his features. I could hear the ladies in the background, around the corner from us, too busy in their rowdiness to hear our conversation. “Can I trust you, Evangeline?”
I knew I could not lie to a faery. “You can trust me not to go to my father about what you say.”
He smiled. “Ah, you’d do well at our court, you know. Dancing around the truth.”
“What is it you need?” I questioned.
“My people are in the dungeons, being tortured.”
I shuddered. It was what I had feared. “How did you get past the guards?”
He tapped his pocket, and the sound of coins clashing together told me he had bribed them.
“Disloyalty,” I grumbled.
“They are tormenting them.”
“I know.” I hesitated, fumbling my fingers. “Who sent you here?”
“The king, or should I say your father, believes me to be the ambassador to aid in negotiations after his treaty with my people, but my king sent me to find out the truth. There were rumors about the sorcerer’s treatment of our people, and now it is confirmed. I must free them, then flee.”
“You’ve risked a lot by telling me this.”
He grabbed his hands in mine and squeezed slightly. “I have learned, over time, who to confide in and not. I do not understand why, but I feel a pull toward you.” He reached up and brushed his hand down my cheek, then my neck. “You are a princess, but one so carelessly thrown away. Help me take revenge against those who would suppress not only me, not just my people, but you too.”
“You saw a kindred spirit,” I said slowly, uncertain in his trust.
“I tend to look for these traits.”
I looked down at my feet. It was growing colder, not for anyone else, just me. My master was at the end of his patience, freezing me from the inside, forcing my hand until I took another’s life. I needed to get away and kill before I was the one murdered. “No,” I said, hoping it was enough to excuse myself, that he would let me leave. “Understand I will not tell my father, but I cannot aid you. My loyalty is to Berovia.”
He let go of his grip on me and stepped back. “What has Berovia ever done for you?”
CHAPTER SIX
Lingering smoke from the fires was complemented by strong spices and charcoal. I’d never been to the kitchens before tonight. I peeled my eyes away from the doorway, which led out into the black of night, and turned my focus to the girl who lay dead at my feet.
I couldn’t hear anything besides the insects in the gardens. I turned her head to the side with the sole of my shoe and pressed my lips together when I saw the poppy-colored bruise from when I’d hit her on the side of her head with a rock. It hadn’t gone as smoothly as I’d planned. I could still hear her pleas from the last seconds of her life before I cut her throat.
She’d fought me when I’d come up behind her. The servant girl had been preparing pastries for breakfast. Some nobles had awakened early and demanded their food no matter the hour. She tried to stab me, but that’s when I grabbed the stone. I’d thought the blunt trauma to the head would stop her, but she was a fighter until the very end.
Regret seeped into the corners of my cold heart, then I reminded myself why I had chosen this woman. Unlike us, the lowborn were not permitted to use magic, by the king’s law. They labored with their hands and by the sweat of their brow. It was a difficult life for a servant, even one who served in the castle, but it did not excuse her actions. She climbed the ranks by any means necessary. She was cruel to children, and she was rumored to have poisoned a man, but then, I’d always found rumors to be revealing. She had a darkness in her that mine recognized, and I had chosen her. If I had to take a life, it wouldn’t be an innocent’s.
“You wanted youth,” I said, hoping she would be enough. “She is no older than nineteen.” I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of what I had done in my stomach. Blood was splattered over the uneven ground. Crumbs and flour had mixed with the blood, and I hoped it would pass as a wine stain once I scrubbed the ground. Crimson veined out over stone and pieces of hay, reaching my feet. First, I’d need to dispose of the body, and the moat was the best place I could think of. It was not too far to drag a body without being seen but was deep enough she wouldn’t surface straight away.
“Finally, Evangeline, you are strong. One of mine.”
Relief squashed my residual guilt. What I desired was in reach, power unmatched by any mortal.
The servant’s soul twinkled out from her chest, rising in a glorious ball of light. I ran my hands down my face, sweat beading on my forehead. The light was enraptured by darkness, swallowed whole.