Filip spoke out of the side of his mouth. “Costel, you should go. Now.”
“I will never leave your side.”
“This isn’t an army. This is my parents.” Much worse. When they were like this, anything could happen. “Remember Marius’s donkey?”
Their friend Marius had been caught sneaking a ride on Sorina’s best mare. When Sorina had found out, he’d been forced to ride a donkey to his own wedding.
“Oh, the donkey. Gods in the sky, that bray—”
“If you don’t mind!” Sorina’s voice pounded across the stone floor, and Filip and Costel clapped their mouths shut.
“Son,” Mihai started, “we need to discuss your wife.”
Despite the roaring fires blazing from the two hearths, Filip’s skin went cold. “I don’t have a wife.”
Sorina sat on her throne, her silver crown catching the candlelight and her hands folded in her lap. “You do now.”
Chapter 3
Stomach twisting with worry, Aury let the human king and queen lead her past the giant map on the wall with its colored landscapes and illustrated dragons. The painted cerulean and emerald scales reflected the candlelight beautifully.
The main part of the map showed the verdant kingdom of Lore and the mountain kingdom of Balaur, the elven realm. The humans ruled Lore, including the fae court that lived inside the kingdom’s Forest of Illumahrah. Witches had abodes in both Lore and Balaur, wild creatures that they were. Sadly, dragons no longer lived among the other races, nor did they shift into human form as the goddess Nix once had. Dragons were rare, and Aury had only seen one in her entire life.
In the gardens beside the great hall, the Frostlight moon shone down through the canopy of skeletal tree limbs and snow-dusted pines. Dark ivy curled around the ruins of the original palace, leaves grasping well-worn stone pillars where the winter jasmine slept in the falling snow. A tidy labyrinth paved with small, round stones looped a still pool.
Aury had seen a face in the washing water. Would she see something else if she got too close now?
The human queen stared, and Aury picked at her gown, nervous under the human ruler’s expectant look.
Dropping Aury’s arm, the king faced her, his crown shimmering in the broken moonlight as his gaze flicked to her ear. Strange man. “Aurora Rose, you are not half fae as you have been led to believe.”
She couldn’t understand what he was saying. The sounds formed words, but they made no sense.
He cocked his head and watched her like a scar wolf eyeing a hare. “You are fully human and most likely a water mage.”
“No,” she said, touching the pointed ear he’d been focusing on.
“Here. I can help with that,” the Fae Queen’s voice murmured from the door behind Aury. A tingling spread over her head, and the tips on her ears smoothed into soft curves.
Her heart stuttered. “But… Why would I be human? I’m the queen’s niece. Her sister was my mother. The queen didn’t love me, but—”
The king tucked his lips inside his stained beard and shook his head. “I’m afraid you have it all wrong.”
The human queen gripped Aury’s arms, then spun her around. Those wide eyes looked ready to swallow her. “You are our daughter and the heir to the throne.”
The garden spun, and Aury let the human queen hold her upright. She shook off the dizziness. “You’re my parents.”
“We are,” the queen said, smiling.
“And that’s not all.” The king spun his water mage staff. “You most likely hold a fraction of my power.”
“I’m a water mage?”
“Most likely. You showed a few signs even as an infant.”
“Why did you give me to the fae?”
“That’s a long story,” the queen said.
The king tucked his staff under an arm. “When you were born, we betrothed you to a prince. The Matchweaver wasn’t pleased that we chose without her advice.”
“You did what?”
The queen sniffed. “The witch grows too haughty. She must remember who rules this kingdom.”
“She cursed you, Aurora,” the king said. “We had to hide you here in the fae court where you would be safe.”
“This is too much. Who has wine?” Aury looked around, but there was no help in sight. Water mage. Royal heir. Curses. Her fingers dug into her gown, and she tried to slow her breathing and stop the world from spinning.
“The Matchweaver’s curse… Well, she said that because we betrothed you without consulting her and her magic loom, you would prick your finger on a spinning wheel and die.”
“Why didn’t she just kill me herself?”
The Fae Queen piped up. “Because she is a witch. They adore dramatics.”
And the fae didn’t? Ha. More likely the Matchweaver couldn’t get direct access to Aury without ending up dead herself.
“Why are you telling me all of this now?” Aury’s blood began to simmer. She’d been kept in the dark about everything for her entire life. “You could have at least told me. I haven’t been a child in years. Why lie?”
“I never lied,” the Fae Queen said.
After clearing his throat, the king said, “Look, Aurora. We couldn’t risk someone finding out who you were and telling the witch where you were hiding. The fewer who knew, the better. I don’t want to have to slay a woman that my people believe is nigh on being a goddess. The Matchweaver didn’t find you. You’re old enough now to avoid spinning wheels. Enough arguing. You will train at Darkfleot to receive your staff and hone your water magic. But before any of that, you will marry Prince Filip of the Mountain Kingdom. We have waited your entire life for this marriage alliance.”
Her lungs collapsed. Werian appeared with a small stool and helped her sit without falling over. Once seated, she looked up at him. Her chest burned with the splinters of a broken heart. “Liar,” she hissed.
Werian winced but didn’t argue his case like the others.
“Wait.” She held up a finger. “Do you mean the prince of the mountain elves?” Surely not.
“Indeed,” the human queen said, looking pale. “The second-born of King Mihai and Queen Sorina.”
A mountain elf. A being who knew nothing of kindness or learned discussion or anything besides war and breeding. Aury’s simmering blood heated to a full boil. She stood and pointed a finger in the king’s face. “You expect me to wed a vicious, bloodthirsty, filthy mountain elf? Well, let me tell you something, Father,” she said, pushing her hurt and anger into the word. He was not a father to her in any way. “You have another thing coming. You are a liar, and you didn’t care a whit about how I was treated here, how I was mocked for all my days. If my life depended on it, I wouldn’t marry someone you picked!” She’d backed him against the palace’s wall.
“Calm down, Daughter. There’s no reason to be afraid and angry.”
He didn’t believe her about how she’d been treated. Of course he didn’t. They were strangers. “Just try to make me marry him and you’ll see what real anger looks like.”