AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The crown of the room was a white marble mantle with a flourishing, feminine design framing a fireplace I could literally walk into had there not been a crackling fire kept burning a bright blue flame for me since I’d been put here.
I stepped toward the fire now to warm my hands, trying to grab hold of my emotions.
This was not at all what I expected when Pullo and the other one called Tierzel had escorted me here. While grateful not to be housed in the damp, fetid dungeon of my first visit to Näkt Mir, I hadn’t expected this. I wondered how long before I knew what my fate would be. I was well aware that I was a valuable prisoner.
Of course, I hadn’t seen my host since I was put here—assuming Gollaya was now in charge. No one would tell me anything.
I still couldn’t reconcile that the young-looking fae who’d saved me from that dungeon was the lost heir of King Xakiel. And that he’d cut off his own father’s head. Bile rose up my throat with the memory of it. Not that I mourned the king. He’d been battling and killing my people for years now. And it was obvious he’d had foul plans for me. Perhaps, Gollaya would be more open to a treaty and an end to this war.
I remembered the brightness of his eyes as he sliced through his father. It seemed more than revenge or wrath that lit his face. It was more like joy that had flickered across his expression.
I shivered and walked to the boarded window where, yet again, I could at least see through the crack to the outside. There had been comings and goings of troops of wraith fae on horseback the past few days. I’d been brought food and water by quiet, solemn soldiers who said nothing at all to me as they came and went.
When I asked the one called Pullo how long I’d be kept prisoner here, he seemed surprised I spoke their language. That was probably because I spoke it so well. When I’d returned home, I’d worked earnestly to learn and even practice it with one of our ambassadors who frequently had to travel to Northgall.
Perhaps the gods knew all along that I’d be brought back here. But for how long this time?
A soft knock came at the door, then it opened. Frowning, for no one had ever knocked before, I stepped closer to the hearth, watching as a dark fae female entered carrying several folded garments in her hands. She was unlike any fae I’d ever seen before.
She was tiny, by far the smallest dark fae I’d met. Her skin was dark gray, her two slender horns curled prettily back overfine black hair that was cut short and close to her dainty head, little wisps hanging over her forehead. Her pointed ears stuck up rather long, out of proportion with her delicate features. She also had black leathery wings stretching tall from her back, but thin and elegant.
Even petite, she had a fine hourglass figure with a tiny waist. She was dressed in black form-fitting trousers with a red overskirt and a black top that formed to her breasts and ribs, all with ornamental silver stitching. Her clothes appeared more like what a warrior might wear to a formal ceremony, the craftsmanship absolutely magnificent.
But the most wondrous thing about her was her beautiful, wide red eyes with dark, long lashes and her bright smile with tiny fangs. She visibly vibrated with excitement.
“Hello, Princess,” she said in demon tongue. “Can you understand me?”
I nodded.
“Pullo said you could speak our language. How wonderful, for I never learned high fae myself. I am Havallah. I have the great honor of being your lady’s maid here at Näkt Mir. You will have others to tend to you.” She gestured behind her where several wraith fae females entered the room, none of them with wings, their eyes downcast in supplication, hands clasping buckets of steaming water. “But I will tend to your daily personal needs.”
Another handmaiden walked in with a covered tray. Havallah pointed her toward the fireplace, and the female glided over to set it on a table.
I glanced toward the door, expecting a soldier to enter behind them, or even Gollaya, but the door closed and I heard the familiar click of it being locked from the outside.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Havallah.” I could keep my good manners, even if I was obviously still a prisoner.
Her eyes grew impossibly wider, then she laughed, a sweet, infectious sound as she hurried closer to me. “You may call me Hava, if you like. My friends call me Hava. I am so, so, so very happy to finally meet you.”
Hava made atskingsound and snapped her fingers. The other handmaidens instantly hurried toward the dressing screen and the golden tub behind it. For such a pleasant, small fae female, she seemed to carry weight in this palace.
“Let’s get you into a nice hot bath, shall we?”
A bath.A luxury I didn’t realize how badly I wanted until now.
She took my hand and led me behind the dressing screen. I found her familiarity endearing, rather than alarming. It reminded me of Min. I blinked away the tears that quickly stung my eyes. I still hadn’t mourned my dear friend properly.
“Hava,” I asked as I turned and let her unlace the dress from the back while the handmaidens poured their buckets of water and added spiced and floral-scented oils that smelled heavenly. “You are not from here, are you?”
“No, no.” She smiled sweetly. “I am from Gadlizael, the shadow fae kingdom.”
“You don’t look like the shadow fae my brother described. Except for the wings.” I’d never even met an ambassador of their kind, since they avoided us altogether. The shadow fae lived far outside Lumeria in the Solgavia Mountains. “I’m sorry. Is it rude of me to say so?”
“Not at all.”
She was working on the buttons of my sleeves now and helped to remove the dress I’d been wearing since the king had been beheaded a few days ago. There were dried dark spots of his blood on the white fabric. I didn’t mind since it reminded me that what I’d seen had actually happened, and that our enemy, the Demon King of Northgall, was actually dead.
“My father was a wraith fae,” Hava continued. “That’s where I get my gray skin. The wings I got from my mother who was a shadow fae. But apparently, there is naiad blood in our ancestry as well. That’s why I’m so small.”
