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“Maybe she went back home,” the male says.
“She’s in the court.”
The male nods and moves away.
I keep listening. The group is talking now, no longer quiet. In fact, they’re making a lot of noise in the room. I presume they’re tossing my bedroom. Are they looking for something? I have no riches of my own, and my jewelry arrives with the staff each morning from the royal treasury somewhere in the palace.
“We’re out of time,” the female says. “We must leave now.”
“What about the princess?” the male reminds her.
“I have an idea.”
Okay. Great. I’m all ears. But I wait and wait, then hear what I believe are the female’s heels clicking across the floor and disappearing outside. I wait awhile longer, and after the door closes and I’m sure the people have left my room, I carefully step out of the closet and enter the ransacked room.
They shoved the bed upright against the wall and destroyed my vanity table. Feathers from torn comforters and pillows float on the breeze coming from the open windows and stick to the ink spilled all over the floor.
Who could’ve done this?
Where are the guards?
Oh no. Oh no! The king. The queen. My poor prince.
I gather up my white nightgown, which is too long because it hasn’t been tailored yet, and curse as I nearly trip over my own feet running down the hallway and toward my prince’s chambers. The guards who should be standing at his door are sitting on the marble floor, their bodies propped up as if sleeping.
I pay them no mind and burst into the bedroom, then stop in my tracks.
My husband lies slain in his bed. As do his three female companions. I recognize them as the females the queen appointed as my ladies-in-waiting. One of them extends her hand toward me, and I approach her and hold her bloody hand while life slowly disappears from her eyes.
I would love to say I’m sorry or horrified or sad, but as I look at his flaccid cock and their breasts and private parts, I’m angry.
My magic tingles over my fingertips, reaching for the lights nearby, pulling them toward me. The flames in the fireplace start flickering violently, even though I’m not an elf or a dragon to wield elemental magic. Nevertheless, the fire provides light, and I like light.
Shouting comes from behind me.
Boots stomp over marble.
The guards arrive and, stunned, stop at the door. The captain of the guards whips out his sword and points at me. “Seize her.”
The light I gathered bursts in an explosion that shakes the ground under me, sending the guards flying across the marble floor. Though they cover their sensitive eyes, they’re temporarily blind, but they’ll recover soon, the way Jerden from third grade recovered after I flashed at him for yanking my braids.
I grab one of the three cloaks the females must’ve used when sneaking into my husband’s chamber and cover myself with it, then slip past the guards outside the palace, then the court.
Someone killed my husband, and the guards found me at the scene of the crime. The queen will apprehend me and might execute me. I can’t go home. That’s the first place they’ll look. I can’t hide anywhere in this court, for whoever harbors me would be at risk. My sisters are out of the question, and my father is long dead.
There’s only one person I can trust, one male who can protect me while I prove my innocence. D’Artaron.
5
D’ARTARON
The Summer king’s valet, a platinum-blond fairy wearing a tight blue suit with a yellow jacket, appears at the entrance to my office holding a stack of papers as tall as my sword. Octavia, the long, slender sword, and not Bernadette, the wide, short broadsword I fantasize about using on the Summer princess’s vampire boyfriend who guards her unconscious body.
The morning after the Unseelie wedding, the Summer princess fell into a deep sleep she can’t seem to awaken from. I think her boyfriend placed her under. He is an ancient, powerful voca, one I wish my king would order me to terminate for being a threat to our well-being. And Fleur’s, as far as I’m concerned.
But my king and prince disagree about the risk to their safety and make the job of guarding them harder by hanging out with said notturno over in the Winter Court while awaiting Fleur’s awakening.
Their absence means I’m left with the governance of the Summer Court. Which I would prefer to rule by placing everyone on my military rotation, but as fates would have it, the king ensures the highborns staying at the palace enjoy a life of leisure and indulgence. Party all night, sleep all span. Rinse and repeat.
