Page 22 of The Heir the Fae Forgot
Higher and higher I rose, waiting for the tree to split and Icarus to rise up from its middle, ready to swoop down and confront me. It may have been smarter to godown, but I couldn’t bring myself to go anywhere near that market a second time. I doubted any of the fae there would dare go near me again, but that wasn’t what I feared.
I dreaded to see the look on the faces of those left behind, to see the empty shop and the stalls nearby where the fae who’d had the chance to intervene had not. I didn’t want to look and see what my own foolishness had bred. Sure, the fae female had tried to kill me, but could I really blame her?
All fae were out to get something. All fae were out to use each other.
Even the fae who were supposed to protect me.
Eventually, however, my footsteps did finally begin to slow—and with it, so did the winding, twisting mess of my thoughts.
Why had I run?I shouldn’t have shown my fear. I’d shown my hand all too soon, and now I cursed myself for it.
How quickly I’d forgotten that this was all a game.
At least, for them, it was. For me, it was all too real—and that was what had scared me so much that I couldn’t hide it. I’d known they planned to use me, all of them, but I hadn’t considered justhowthey planned to do that.
Not until I saw what Icarus could do.
What kind of magic did I possess that even Icarus, with his horrible brand of glamour, would be so desperate to possess it?
It all made sense now, why Shiel and the others were so careful to avoid telling me anything about my birthright. They didn’t want to scare me, but more than that, they probably wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be able to access this power of mine before they were sure they could control how I used it.
They wouldn’t help me until they were sure I wouldn’t use it againstthem.
It was more than court politics. It was more than the political leverage they could use if they had my favor.
For the first time, as my footsteps finally slowed and that deep shiver once again overtook me, I hoped that the fae were wrong. I hoped I wasn’t this lost princess. I prayed to whatever powers were at work, to fate, to destiny, to the glamour itself that Shiel and the others were wrong.
I didn’t want this. I didn’t want whatever power was so great that multiple lords were willing to risk all to possess or suppress it. I’d just wanted a better life, and maybe a parent who actually cared about me. I didn’t need to be the heir to a kingdom. I didn’t even need to be fae.
Was that really too much to ask?
As if they’d sensed that I’d started to calm, I took a step further up the stairs, and suddenly I wasn’t on the stairs anymore. Somewhere between the moment my foot lifted from the step below and when it landed on the next, one of those demon servants appeared at my side, took hold of my arm, and transported me to somewhere else.
It took me a second to realize where I was, and a second longer to see who stood before me.
I was not surprised to find the figures of Icarus, Shiel, Zev, and Finch standing before me. I was, however, a little surprised to find all of them standing in my bedroom.
“Aurra, My Storm,” Icarus said, stepping forward the moment recognition registered on my face. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Stop!” I said, holding out my arms before me. The ground was unsteady beneath my feet as my mind struggled to process so much sudden change. I held up one hand and pressed it to my pounding temple. “What are we doing here? What areyoudoing here?”
A beat of silence passed before it was Shiel who answered, his voice surprisingly calm. “We thought it best to meet on your territory, in a place where you felt safe.”
A laugh bubbled out of me, unbidden.
“Safe?” I finally opened my eyes again, ignoring that pounding headache as I took in the sight of them standing there, before me, in an awkward semi-circle. “Whatever made you think I felt unsafe?”
I shook my head a couple of times, the motion spreading into my shoulders as I tried to break free of the crawling sensation spreading across my skin. I took a few careful steps of my own so I could sit down on the edge of my bed.
“Was it the dead shriveled arm, seeing my sister, or the fact that you all were about two seconds from cutting each other’s throats out again?”
Several of them looked about to answer, but I cut them off before they could.
“Or was it that, in that moment, I finally figured out what it is you’ve all really been keeping from me?”
Thatshut them up.
My voice was quiet, the words barely spoken above a soft whisper, but they heard every one.
