Page 97 of To Wake a Kingdom

Other women stood with trays in their hands, not moving as Fae drifted past, depositing empty glasses and picking up new ones. I quailed at the sight of two women standing at the center of a group of onlookers. They were testing their magic, turning the women into various beasts, forcing them to sprout feathers and hair and hooves, rendering them into grotesque hybrids of woman and animal.

Horror wove a thick noose around my neck and tightened. The guards dragged me to a throne that sat against the back wall. Black and gleaming, it reminded me of a spider protecting its web. A nest of sharpened points rose up behind Mare as she lounged, her hand dangling over the side of the armrest, the other fisted under her chin. She perked up as we approached, sitting up and leaning forward.

“Ah, Princess Thorne. So nice of you to join us.” She scanned me from my wild, unbound hair to my red, freezing toes.“That was quite the performance today. I’ll have to make it harder on you next time.”

Next time.Of course, there would be a next time. Mare was far from done with me.

“How do you like my little home?” She gestured, purposely drawing my attention to the crowns hanging from the walls. Some were gold, some pewter, and some silver. Some were plain and severe, and some engraved and adorned with dozens of jewels of varying size and grandiosity.

“I see you are admiring my collection,” she said, a lilt to her lips. “I am rather proud of it.” An elbow braced on the arm of her throne, she leaned her chin on her fist.

“Have you figured out what you and the other girls all have in common?” She raised her eyebrows and flicked her eyes to the row of crowns directly to her left. When I saw my own pale crown hanging from a small wooden peg, I sucked in a breath.

Princesses.We were a collection of human princesses.

Mare’s lips stretched in the approximation of a smile. “That’s right. I’ve been collecting them for centuries. It’s my little hobby. Princesses are so delicate and breakable.”

The acidic contents of my stomach rose.

So many lives gone. So many girls and women taken from their homes. Mare was far worse than I’d ever given her credit for.

My attention snagged on two crowns close to mine. Dark silver, set with red and black stones. A memory kicked at my brain.Carissa and Madeline. The sixth and eighth princesses of our neighbouring kingdom. The reason Captain Andrick had taught me to protect myself.

Mare caught my stare. “I often have to settle for the younger princesses,” she said, her tone indicating how put out she was by that fact. “Heirs are more closely guarded, and their disappearance raises too much fuss. But the last ones born—no one cares much about them.”

“Is that why you wanted me? As the only heir?” I croaked, my vision turning gray.

“Oh no, you are far more special to me than that.” She stood and approached me, stepping down from the dais with care. Free of her metal claws, a red fingernail tracked down my cheek.

“Why? Why do you hate me so much?” My throat was so dry, the words burned like flames.

As she circled me slowly, the din of the party carried on, everyone oblivious to our interaction. The only people bearing witness were my two guards, who waited as still as statues.

“Let me tell you a story of a Fae who fell in love with a human king. He was handsome, with black hair and dark eyes that reminded her of the night sky. He promised love and eternal devotion to that Fae and, in return, she pledged to love and protect him for all of her eternal days. She even offered him the rarest gift a Fae can give a human—immortality. It would mean linking her life to his and giving up a piece of herself, but she was willing to make that sacrifice for him.”

Premonition shrieked at me, screaming at the top of its lungs in a never-ending circle. I swayed on my feet. Where was this going?

“Then one day, the handsome king met someone else. A fair and beautiful maiden, with hair like spun midnight and eyes as deep as the sea. Being a fickle and foolish human, he declared his love for the maiden and broke his promise to the Fae. She begged and pleaded for him to reconsider, to see the error of his ways, but he told her the love he had for the Fae wasn’t as pure. It wasn’ttrue love.” Her voice dropped dangerously low on the last two words. “He spurned the Fae’s gift of immortality, saying he would rather die a human than live forever with the Fae. Spurned her gift, like it was nothing but a worthless bauble.”Rage flashed in Mare’s eyes, so fierce it distorted her pupils until they were wide black holes, full of nothing.“The king and the maiden were married to much rejoicing in their kingdom. Of course, where comes marriage, must soon come an heir. And the king and his queen tried and tried to have a child, but the queen could not conceive.”

The blood in my veins froze, slowing to a glacial pace as my heart beat on in sluggish rhythm. Mare stopped circling, halting in front of me. Pinching my chin between her thumb and forefinger, she squeezed hard enough to make tears drain from my eyes.

“So, one day, the queen was sobbing on the riverbanks near her castle when the Fae just happened to walk by. And the kind and generous Fae told the queen she would grant her wish and deliver her a child. But of course, nothing is given without a price, and the queen would have to give up something too. The queen was understandably wary, but she agreed that after the birth, the Fae would return and demand a price. The queen was so blinded by her need to have a child that she asked no more questions and went on her stupid, foolish way. Of course, I don’t need to tell you what happened next.”

She bared her teeth, and I wrenched my face from her hand.

“No. My father couldn’t have loved you.”

“If it hadn’t been forthat woman, he would have loved me. We would have been happy. We would have been together forever.”

“So you did it to punish them?”

She shrugged her narrow shoulders. “They had to pay. So I gave them everything they wanted, and then I took it away. I wanted them to suffer. I wanted them to feel the sting of losing you over and over again. I wanted it to hurt.”

“But it wasn’t my fault. I haven’t done anything to you. And now they’re dead. Why are you doing this to me?”

Her eyes turned hard as she stared into me, peeling away layers as if she was tearing into an onion. “Because it wasn’t enough. Because they fell asleep and never had to go through the pain of actually losing you. Because my sister cast a curse she didn’t understand, and I was left unsatisfied for one hundred years.”

She was shaking now, wrath rolling off her in opaque sheets.

---