Page 197 of The Fae Girl 1

And she was right. In that moment she’d never been more right.

Gods I’d been a fool, to keep it from her, to hide it, to believe that I could somehow continue this happiness we had as if I hadn’t marred it from the beginning.

I’d tried to follow. Tried to race after her but her magic had held me back. Had kept my back.

And when it finally released me it was too late. She was gone.

I’d run through the halls, thrown myself down stairwells to try to find her but there was no sign. Nothing.

I sent guards to her rooms and they came back empty. I snarled with frustration slamming my fist into a wall. I just needed to know where she was, to know she was safe.

And then I’d felt it, not her anger, not her rage, but her fear. I called out to her but was met with nothing. A complete block. Somehow I knew it wasn’t of her making, that she hadn’t created it.

And that she was in danger.

I called for guards. I shouted out, bellowed for them.

I raced further into the bowels of the castle and then I’d seen her. Nela, lying, half dead, her blood covering the flagstones around her.

As I looked I could see the footprints leading away. I could see the trail of where they’d disappeared to.

Ridley told me to wait, to make sure Nela was taken care of but I couldn’t. Not when Alice was in danger, not when she needed me.

I ran on, knowing the healers would save her, would save Nela.

As I reached the outer walls I realised where they were going. They’d taken her up the mountains, which in itself told me something. That this wasn’t a Lesser King. This wasn’t a Lord making a play for power.

This was worse. Much worse.

Because they people who had her had no intention of keeping her safe, of keeping her alive.

And as I felt her fear continue to spike I knew I was running out of time.

* * *

We trackedthem right up to the cave. They hadn’t even tried to hide their movements and I guess I was grateful for that.

A few were standing outside. Keeping guard. Ridley and I silenced them before they even knew we were there.

We crept inside. A sound of chanting filled our ears the further in we got.

I could still feel it, her pain, her fear, all of it and with every step it grew. Whatever the hell this was I was going to make them pay.

Ahead we could see something. I narrowed my eyes trying to make out what it was from all the smoke that seemed to fill the space and then with horror I realised.

It was a pyre.

They were burning her alive.

My anger took me. My rage too.

I didn’t give a shit about being stealthy now. I didn’t give a shit if they outnumbered us. I raised my sword and charged, slamming into the first man and gutting him where he stood.

A few turned. Most were transfixed as if watching Alice burning was the greatest moment of their lives.

I attacked another. And another.

Ridley moved beside me. As did all my men.

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