Page 2 of Marked By the Enemy
I caught glimpses of myself as I had been at ten, twelve, sixteen. Memory glass. Fae nonsense. I kept my eyes forward. As we walked, occasionally, drops of water collected at the hem of the Water Seat’s robes and glimmered as though they were actual droplets.
I remembered Mom kneeling at her shrine, dedicated to the Water Goddess and the Three-Faced Moon Goddess. As an adult, it confused me why she had, considering we lived nowhere near the Fae Realm in those days, and considering she was an unseeing. The tightness in my chest would not loosen. I regret never asking her.
The sweet, intoxicating scent of jasmine lingered in the air. Chants floated ethereally from a hidden chamber within the grand palace. Each note echoed off the marble walls, creating a haunting symphony through the corridors. Considering what I was about to do, everything outside of me was so serene.
The Water Seat led us into a chamber carved from green stone, wet to the touch and veined with something that shimmered like algae. The jasmine fragrance yielded to the scent of brine. A thin stream of water trickled through channels in the floor, circling a shallow basin in the center.
Around it stood two dozen fae, robes dark, heads lowered. They had gathered for the ritual. They hadn’t gathered for me. Mist rose from the basin. A single ripple moved across the surface and stopped. I didn’t know what it meant.
Jinth touched my arm. I gave a nod. They thought that as a high priestess of the Seluna coven, I could call down a blessing from Selvanna herself. But I didn’t believe in their gods. I believed in knives and exit routes. I believed in coin.
The basin stilled. All eyes turned to a young fae man, or at least he looked young. He was standing at its edge. It was him. Prince Darian. He looked tired from enduring something no vow could cleanse. It shook me. Why should that shake me? I hadn’t come for mercy. I came to carve his name into the end of ablade. He was taller than I expected. Fae-blooded, which meant the age in his pale eyes didn’t match his face.
His long black hair was pulled into a single knot. No crown. Just a dark coat with silver threads along the collar. He wasn’t armored. He didn’t need to be. He looked at me like he already knew I was here to kill him. I held my hands loosely behind my back and took easy breaths.
“You come to witness the Binding Moon Vow,” the Water Seat said to all gathered. She raised her arms. “In the presence of the court, the moon.”
I took my place beside a fae diplomat who smelled like winter berries and boredom. He gave me a polite nod. I didn’t return it. The pool shone white and then turned pitch black, like the new moon herself. The dark jade walls turned into sheets of reflective black water as well, only rippling occasionally.
Darian entered the circle, alone. He lifted his right hand, sliced his palm with a ceremonial dagger, and let three drops fall into the black pool. They plopped. Ripples travelled across the still surface, disappearing into the darkness below.
The air grew thick with a heavy, almost suffocating sense of hope as the anticipated moment inched closer. Darian recited an incantation. With each word spoken, energy sparked, building to a crescendo, which vibrated through my bones. And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the light glowed from the pool again.
My muscles tightened in readiness. And yet—something faltered. He looked calm, almost detached, like he’d already made peace with whatever price this vow would demand.
My breath hitched. I told myself it was only nerves. But deep down, I hated that I noticed howlonelyhe looked.
Now was the time. Now. My fingers slipped into my sleeve, found the hilt, and drew the knife in one motion. I lunged.
A wind slammed into my chest. I flew backward, landed hard, gasping. The knife was gone. My arm burned. A circle glowed white-hot on my left palm. I blinked rapidly, gazing at it. I couldn’t move. What is this thing inside me? I failed. My whole life was for this.
This wasn’t the magic Jinth had described. This wasn’t anything. My palm burned. My ribs ached like something had reached inside and taken root. She’d promised the prince would die. She never warned me about this. The fae gasped. Someone screamed.
Darian stood frozen to the spot, staring at his right palm. I couldn’t see the pattern on his palm, but his face reflected its glow. He was handsome.
I gritted my teeth, still wanting to kill the fae man responsible for enslaving the unseeing and taking away all their dreams.
After staring at his palm for a few beats of a heart, his pale grey gaze met mine across the pool. He was too calm. Too resigned. Like he’d already grieved me before we met.
My extremities tingled as I held his gaze.
“She broke the rite!” a noble shouted. “Kill her.”
“Guards!” another called out.
My skin felt wrong on me. I managed to stand, but my knees trembled with weakness. Guards surrounded me.
“Step back from her so I can see this intruder.” Prince Darian raised a hand. He had a shining white circle inscribed in his palm, like me. “The vow took her.” He squinted at his palm.
Priestess Jinth frowned as if confused, her gaze bouncing between me and the fae Prince of the Moon Court. She trailed fingers down her braid.
“That isn’t possible,” the Water Seat said. “She is a mere human. Look at her ears. The bond doesn’t choose!”
“It just did.” Prince Darian’s eyes were cold as he looked me up and down. He pivoted around to face the guards. “She belongs to me.”
Silver light from the pool shot upward and coiled around us both, trying to pull us together. We didn’t budge. Pain. Heat. Something digging behind my ribs.
He crossed to me and grabbed my wrist, even as silver light still squeezed around our individual forms, burning into our arms and corresponding arms. “The vow took you? It’s worse than I thought.” He gripped hischest and panted, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple and along his jawline. Despite the pain, he kept his voice low. “You tried to kill me. That was unwise.”
