Page 8 of Veil of Shadows

“Simple. He doesn’t want to wed, especially sincewhohe can wed is decided by his parents, but the king and queen are growing impatient and insist that he start courting his potential betroths. He’ll be a hundred summers soon, so it’s time for him to make a match. As you probably know, it’s expected of crown princes at that age.”

Another flutter of nerves coiled my stomach. “So he’s to court other females while keeping me a prisoner.” I strode to the unlit fireplace and crouched beside it. Rough bark met my fingertips when I tossed a few pieces of firewood into the hearth. I wasn’t cold, but I suddenly needed something to do.

Saramel released a long sigh, then joined me, her slim body kneeling on the carpet beside me. “I’m sorry, Elowen, about what’s been done to you. I know you haven’t done anything that warrants being locked up, but the prince never intended for this to happen. You don’t understand. He’s been so distraught since—” She licked her lips and shook her head.

I again got the feeling she was referring to what she’d stopped herself from saying earlier. “What? Tell me.”

But she just shook her head again. “It’s not my story to tell, but please believe me that Jax didn’t take your abduction lightly. He only became aware of you the other month, and he immediately set out to learn what he could of you and to find a way to use your magic.”

Nostrils flaring, I went back to arranging wood in the fire. “I know. He told me. He’s been stalking me for weeks and decided it was more moral to abduct me than to pay a slave guardian for my services, yet how Jax doesn’t want to admit that he’s now mynewguardian is entirely ironic.”

Her eyes dimmed, and something about the energy strumming in her aura made me pause. I stopped arranging the kindling and faced her.

Misery pulsed around her like a sad friend who never smiled. “Please just believe me, Elowen, when I tell you that Jax wouldneverhave taken you if he’d had another way.”

My brow furrowed, and I thought again of the male he’d wanted me to find. The half-breed with antlers permanently curving from his temples. “Who’s the male he asked me to seek? Why is he so important?”

Saramel shook her head. “Again, it’s not my story to share.”

I gripped her hand, my fingertips digging into her skin. “Please, Saramel. Someone needs to tell me, and Jax’s never going to, from the sounds of it. But please, will you? Help me understand why I’m here.Please. I’m going crazy being trapped within these walls, but maybe if I could understand it, even support it...” I raised my shoulders. “Maybe then this wouldn’t feel so awful.”

She sucked in a sharp breath and looked over her shoulder toward the door. A moment ticked by, but all remained still. It was only her and me in this quiet chambers in the dead of night.

Facing me again, she lowered her voice. “If I tell you...”

“I won’t tell a soul. I promise.”

Another heartbeat of silence passed until finally, she nodded gravely. “All right, but only because I agree that your treatment is unfair. But you must agree to a bargain ensuring your silence. What I’m about to tell you can never leave this room.”

CHAPTER 3

Saramel took another deep breath. “Do you agree to make a bargain, sealing us before the gods and goddesses?”

My brow furrowed.A bargain.They weren’t to be taken lightly. Saramel and I would be bound by the gods, and if I broke the terms of our agreement, I would suffer their wrath. It was why Jax had refused to do a bargain with me, even though I’d begged for one so he would release me. His reasoning had been that if a Mistvale fairy commanded me to speak, despite my promise to remain silent, my life would become unbearable because of the gods’ punishment. The gods, after all, wouldn’t carewhyI’d spoken, only that I had.

But while Jax’s logic wasn’t wrong, if I truly wanted to know who the half-breed was that Jax sought, which would also explain what had brought me here, and this was the only way anyone would tell me, then so be it. I would risk it.

I squared my shoulders. “I’ll agree to a bargain.”

She held out her arm. “What’s your full name?”

“Elowen Emerson. It’s the name given to me by my guardian. And yours?”

“Saramel Highcrest.” She clasped my forearm, and I gripped hers in return. She sat up straighter and took a deep breath.“Elowen Emerson, siltenite and lorafin of Faewood Kingdom, I hereby agree to a bargain that ensures I tell you the truth of the male half-breed who Prince Adarian, the crown prince of Stonewild Kingdom, used your lorafin powers to seek. In exchange for this information, you hereby promise never to reveal the information I’m about to tell you to any fae, creature, or entity of our realm or any other realm in any capacity unless Prince Adarian gives you permission to do so. However, if a fairy, creature, or entity already knows of the male half-breed who Prince Adarian seeks, then you may speak freely of him. And at any time, Prince Adarian has the ability to null this bargain between us if he chooses to do so, rendering it obsolete. Elowen Emerson, do you accept this bargain?”

Heart pounding, I licked my lips. The bargain seemed relatively simple. I wasn’t to tell anyone about who Jax sought in any capacity, unless they already knew about the male. That meant I could speak of him to Jax and his friends. Saramel had left that loophole open for me. She’d also given me the loophole that if Jax gave me permission to speak of the male half-breed to others, then I was free to do so, or he could obliterate this bargain completely making neither of us subject to the gods’ wrath. It was kind of her to give me that flexibility while also maintaining Jax’s secret.

“Saramel Highcrest, siltenite of Stonewild Kingdom, I hereby accept your bargain.”

A clang of magic shimmered around us, like an invisible drum banging, and I sucked in my breath when the bargain’s mark seared into my skin like a hot brand.

I turned my wrist upward. A wintercrisp fern glowed brightly on my wrist’s inner skin before it disappeared. Saramel rolled up her own sleeve. The same mark shone on her wrist before it vanished.

A wintercrisp fern.How fitting. It was the plant on Stonewild’s crest and was a leaf that symbolized trust and strength. The gods and goddesses always loved their bargain marks to have greater meanings, so I wasn’t surprised they’d chosen such a mark to seal me to this female in our promise.

Once the mark vanished and our skin was smooth once more, Saramel settled on the floor into a comfortable position. “Now that that’s done...” She licked her lips. “The male the prince is looking for is his brother, hisonlysibling. His name is Bastian, and he went missing several months ago. Prince Adarian has been beside himself trying to find him. That’s why he took you. His brother is the only family member who’s never sought to use him or hurt him. He loves Bastian fiercely, and without him, the prince feels so lost. He was willing to go to any lengths to find him, even if that meant abducting you.”

His brother?Stunned, I just sat there.He has abrother? Who’s a half-breed?

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