AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But you fear you will never know such happiness?”
How could he see right through me, straight into my mind and divine my thoughts?
“I’m the seer, Vallon,” was all I could say.
His hand on my chin coasted gently up my jaw until he was cupping my cheek. “I see you.” He swept a thumb across my cheekbone, stroking gently. “And you have nothing to fear.”
The door clicked and opened. Vallon dropped his hand as we both turned, but I noticed he moved his body slightly in front of me. It seemed he wasn’t entirely trustful of the king. He was preparing to defend me.
I’d only ever heard stories about King Gollaya, stories of the Butcher who had conquered Lumeria and taken the Princess of Issos into captivity, forcing her to become his concubine. Some said she was disgraced for allowing it, and she should’ve killed herself instead.
I never believed that. And how wrong they all were. For now, she ruled beside the greatest king in all the realms.
King Gollaya was formidable in size; all of the dark fae were. His four horns curled back in a regal swoop along his skull, his long black hair hanging loose past his shoulders. He wore a simple black shirt, unlaced at the top and dark deerskin trousers, no armor of any kind.
His casual appearance would’ve made me rest easier if it weren’t for his penetrating gaze assessing us as we walked closer. I’d heard he had the eyes of the dragon, and so he did. Silvery-blue with a core of gold around a serpentine pupil. When he stopped in front of us, facing the firelight, they glowed with magickal luster. It was unnerving.
His magick was potent, filling up the room, making me uncomfortable. He was a zephilim, a fire wielder. And I’d heard the stories of the enemies he’d slaughtered using his god-given gift. Of what he’d done to those who’d dared to harm his queen.
“Thank you for allowing us here,” Vallon said confidently.
“I must admit I was surprised when your sprite arrived with a message that you’d taken a light fae captive.” His dragon-eyed gaze slid to me. “She doesn’t seem too upset about her captivity.”
“I’m not a captive,” I blurted, growing angry at the idea of it. Then I glanced up at Vallon. “Not anymore.”
Vallon’s unwavering gaze melted me from the inside out. I suddenly wished the wraith king hadn’t come down to meet us so quickly.
“I see,” said the king.
“King Gollaya, this is Murgha. She is…with me.”
The king’s mouth quirked on one side. “I can see that.” Then his expression turned serious. “Have a seat.”
Vallon urged me into a chair closest to the fire. He sat in the one beside it, and the king took one across from us. King Gollaya eased back, lacing his clawed fingers over his abdomen, seeming casual, though I was well aware he was a deadly dark fae.
That was why Vallon wanted to come here, I realized. To seek the king’s protection, a king who could kill with a word and a flicker of his magick. And for some reason, he trusted the king.
“Why have you come to Windolek?” he asked coolly.
“I had thought to take Murgha to my home in Gadlizel, but—” Vallon shifted forward in his chair, which wasn’t built to accommodate wings—“circumstances have changed. I want only shelter for a few days, if you’ll allow it. Then, we’ll be on our way.”
King Goll stared at Vallon with that piercing gaze. “Why won’t she be welcome in Gadlizel? It’s not because she’s a light fae, or you’d not have thought to bring her there in the first place.”
Vallon stiffened in his chair, staring evenly at the king. “I can’t tell you.”
King Goll arched a brow. “But you expect me to house you under my roof.”
“I am asking it, yes. A favor.”
“And how would King Halvar feel about this? His high priest hiding away with a moon fae?”
It puzzled me that he considered me a moon fae rather than a wood fae. All my life, I’d been a wood fae, the odd duckling, of course, but no one had even voiced aloud the shame of my birth and that I was not one of them. Not even Tessa.
“This doesn’t concern my king.”
I stared at Vallon. That wasn’t entirely true. What I’d seen in my vision would affect his people. It would affect everyone if what the gods had spoken to me was true.
Vallon’s gaze shifted from the king to me, unblinking and confident. I smiled at him, to tell him I was with him. If he wanted to lie to the wraith king, I wouldn’t deny it. The tight brackets at his mouth softened.
