Page 4 of Fae Games

Mistress Ellyllon turned to the king. “Your Majesty, we can do nothing to save the duchess. It is time to exercise mercy.”

“No!” Lady Gala shot out of Prince August’s embrace, a sword of ice forming in her hand.

Prince Rory caught her around the middle and carried her into the stone garden with Prince August at his heels.

Bile rose to the back of my throat. Fuck. All this time, I thought the high faeries lived in unbridled luxury while we human grunts subsisted on handouts. At least we were anonymous. If a human kept their head down and stayed indoors the moment the sun started to dip toward the horizon, they could survive until old age.

“Don’t look.” Prince Caulden turned me around and held the back of my head.

I inhaled his pine scent and relaxed in his embrace. The crackle of his magic engulfed my body, giving me the safety I needed among the chaos.

My eyes fluttered closed. It no longer mattered that he had blown me off-course and landed me in a pond infested with knuckers or that he had imprisoned me in a sphere of ice. Right now, with Helen gone and suffering untold torment, Prince Caulden was my only means of support.

A pop of magic filled my ears, and the duchess’s screams became louder.

King Oberon said something, a ritual perhaps. I couldn’t hear it over the cries of the dying faerie. Then there was a swish of wind, and the duchess screamed no more.

Prince Caulden released my head. I drew back and stared into his steel eyes. “What happened?”

“His Majesty decapitated Gala’s mother,” he murmured.

“Did Lady Gala see it?”

He shook his head. “My brothers placed her behind the statues.” He brushed a lock of golden hair off my face and gave me a tight smile. “Allow me to escort you back to the remedial dormitory. With everything that’s happened, I won’t sleep until I know you’re safe.”

Chapter 2

The stars glowed in the cloudless sky, illuminating the statues, and casting their silvery light on Prince Caulden’s powder-blue hair. We strolled in silence through the stone gardens, our hands brushing with each swing of our arms. Grief swept over my senses like a breeze, shrouding my heart with cold.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“The next new moon is a month away,” I murmured. “Helen might not be able to survive that long.”

A muscle in his square jaw flexed, and his full lips tightened. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, but he remained silent.

I placed a hand on his bicep. “What are you thinking?”

“Your estimate is off.” Wrapping a hand around my wrist, he pulled me from a statue of a male slumbering on a rock. The figure’s stone beard spilled down his lap and curled around his feet, making me think of the human legend of Rip Van Winkle. Maybe this was the faerie equivalent.

Prince Caulden’s hand slid into mine, and our fingers intertwined. It would have been a magical moment. Me with a handsome faerie prince in the middle of a garden that was practically an outdoor museum, but worry gnawed at my gut. It twisted my insides into a series of knots that wound around my lungs and windpipe.

Anything could be happening to Helen, and there wasn’t a thing I could do to help her. And if Sicily had been dragged into the Dark Fae Prison, she was likely already dead.

I gulped. “You said my estimate was off. What do you mean?”

Prince Caulden sighed. “Poor Helen might not last the night. I’m not sure how much you know about Court history, but my grandfather died, and my father and his allies nearly lost their lives banishing Queen Maeve and her Dark Court to the Otherworld.”

“Oh.” My hopes of us retrieving Helen with her sanity intact dwindled.

“It’s already a realm where only the most horrific of creatures dwell but add disgruntled dark faeries to the mix, and there isn’t any hope for a light faerie.”

“Has anyone come out alive?” I asked.

“A few unsubstantiated rumors, but Helen is the daughter of one of the warriors who defeated Queen Maeve.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Unity.”

A sob caught in the back of my throat, but I pushed down the emotions threatening to erupt. Helen could sense destinies. Maybe she could ally with someone strong until it was time for her rescue.

Prince Caulden and I continued through the stone garden, over a series of stepping stones that meandered past a burbling fountain. Several feet ahead stood the main building with its irregular array of towers. Its white exterior twinkled in the starlight, creating the kind of magical atmosphere I used to dream about as a girl.