I let out a long sigh and explained about the bracelet the prince had clasped around Farrah’s wrist and what happened when she tried leaving. Then I told them about the Daleigh and the other frost fae.
“Prince Lark went back on his word,” I continued. “He imprisoned Daleigh and the others in the fae realm. They are back in the fae realm, but they aren’t free.”
Ariella cursed under her breath. “So, what? We’re going to rescue them?”
“That’s what Farrah asked,” I said. “She thinks Daleigh and the frost fae can help us. With their numbers, we can invade the fortress and defeat the shadow prince and his soldiers.”
Kayden started pacing in the middle of the living room. “That wasn’t what I signed up for. The agreement was to come here and deal with the shadow prince right away.”
“I know, but unfortunately, things changed.” I looked at her, hoping she saw how fucking desperate I was. “Please, take us to the fae realm and help us free the frost fae.”
Kayden stopped facing and closed her eyes tight. She groaned, then returned her eyes to me. “All right.”
It wasn’t hard to find the frost fae and their prison camp. By now, the entire fae realm had heard about the camp, since it was used as an example, showing all fae what would happen to them if they didn’t behave as they were expected to.
We hid behind the top of a hill and spied out the clearing ahead, where a large prison held out the frost fae. The cages were probably eight to nine feet high, and hundreds of feet wide, divided into sections I couldn’t make out yet. From here, all I could see was that the frost fae was separated into three groups, all in the west corner of the cages, while shadow fae patrolled the inside and the outside of the prison.
“How many shadow fae?” Ariella asked.
“Too many,” Kayden said.
“Anyone have a good plan?” I asked.
“There won’t be a good plan, but I have a half-assed one,” Kayden said. “Ariella and I will go to the west side of the prison and create a distraction. Most of the guards should go our way. Then you sneak into the prison and free the frost fae.”
I frowned. “How will I sneak into the prison?”
She grabbed a small rock from the ground and wrapped her hand around it. An orange shine peeked from in between her fingers. After, she ripped a corner of her tunic, wrapped the stone in it, and offered it to me. “Press it against a lock, or even a metal bar. It’ll melt and you’ll be able to get in.”
I got the stone from her.
After a quick nod of agreement, Kayden and Ariella ran out, rounding the hill and going to the other side of the camp.
Keeping myself hidden behind tall blades of grass and bushes, I approached the prison as much as could and waited.
I was starting to think both women had been caught when I finally heard it.
An explosion coming from the other side of the prison.
19
Farrah
All I could do was pace around my bedroom and hope for a miracle. Despite knowing better, I stopped every few minutes and tried pulling the damn bracelet off my wrist. And each time, it remained intact.
I scoffed. Why did I even bother trying? I knew it wouldn’t come off so easily. If only I could go to the library and research some books.
The cat meowed, giving me a fright. Sometimes, I forgot he was even here, the damn animal. All he did was slumber on the armchair in the corner of the bedroom, or over my own pillow. At least, he was easy to care for.
Suddenly, the doors opened and Jennie entered my chambers, her head low. “Good afternoon, your highness,” she said in a meek voice, her eyes to the floor.
I frowned. “Jennie, look at me.” She flinched but lifted her head. I gasped at the new purple bruise on her temple and neck. I clenched my fists. “Did Prince Lark do this to you?” Jennie remained quiet. “You don’t need to defend him, you know. If he hurt you, tell me.”
She blinked, tears appearing at the corner of her eyes. “I shouldn’t talk like that about him, your highness. It’s wrong.”
Why the hell was she still afraid of talking shit about him? He beat her up. She had to hate him. How could I make her see just how wrong he was and get her to help me without actually telling her the truth?
There was a way she could help me.
“Jennie, I would like to go to the library,” I said, my voice firm.
“But the prince said—“
“I know the prince ordered me to stay in my room, but I would like you to go to him and tell him I’m bored out of my mind. I want new reading material and I would like a couple of hours at the library to choose a few books for myself.” I gestured to the closed doors. “What’s the worst that could happen if the guards will follow me there?”
Jennie hesitated, but she lowered her head. “Yes, my princess.”
She left the room, and I started pacing again.
Either the prince was more gullible than he seemed, or Jennie had been very convincing when telling him about my boredom. I didn’t really care about how she persuaded him to let me come to the library, all that mattered was that I was here now, surrounded by the tall shelves and thousands of books.
The four guards had entered the library with me, but they stayed by the entranced, their eyes following every one of my movements.
I started browsing the fiction section, trying to throw my guards off. I picked two books from there, as decoy. Slowly, I made my way deeper into the library, to the back shelves where the books in magical objects were.
My heartbeat sped up as I searched through the books as fast as I could, always maintaining the fiction books on top, so if I was caught, I could hide the others. I skimmed through the books, searching for anything in this damn bracelet. I needed to find a way to get this shit off my wrist.
One hour passed and dozens of books had been searched, and I hadn’t found anything about the bracelet. My nerves started to flare up in the second hour of my search. What if I didn’t find anything? What if I could never take this bracelet off? Even if Wyatt came back with Daleigh, they wouldn’t be able to rescue me.
My despair only grew with every minute.
Until I found something I didn’t expect to.
As I was skimming a thick book about magical jewels, I stumbled on a smooth blue stone pendant. Frowning, I fished the blue stone Wyatt had given me from my pocket. I had asked him why he was giving me that, and he said he didn’t know. I was given no other explanation before his time was tight and he had to sneak out of the fortress. Though I had no idea what the stone was for, I kept it close to me, just because it had been something Wyatt had given me.
But here it was, a drawing of the stone staring back at me on the pages of this book.
This stone was called the Frost Pendant and it gave the wearer exceptional frost powers that could overpower almost any other type of magic.
I dropped the book on the floor and held on to the pendant. Closing my eyes, I invoked my powers and an avalanche rushed into my veins, making me gasp. Whoa, this pendant wasn’t a trick.
I opened my eyes and stared at the bracelet around my wrist. I touched the pendant to it and willed it open.