"Yes,I'mscared,"Iadmitted. "ButIbelieve we can get through this together.Willyou help me?"
Tomnodded seriously, and his brother gave a small, determined nod as well.Whenwe reached the panel at the other end,Iopened it just enough to peek out.Thehallway was clear, butIcould hear fighting just around the corner.Weneeded to hurry.Visionsof the dark warrior caused my heart to slam against my ribs.Imotioned for everyone to move, and we slipped into the kitchen withBlaineleading the way.OnceBriannahad passed,Iclosed the door as quietly asIcould manage.
Insidethe kitchen the oven’s fire still burned, the preparations for lunch left strewn about the wood table in the center.Thesmell of roast chicken smothered in herbs that would have been my lunch floated to me.IfIcouldn’t have heard the fighting outside—and smelled the fear—Imight have thought it was just a normal day of me sneaking into the kitchen to grab extra dessert.
Iripped aside a stack of barrels filled with flour and apples in the corner, probably less quietly thanIshould have. “Helpme,”Iwhispered, gesturing to the hutch filled with pots and pans.Wedidn’t have time to empty it and it was made of ancient oak and filled with cast iron.Butluckily, with a fae on one side and three of the servant men on the other, we were able to push it to where the barrels had been and revealed the small door in the wall behind.Ipulled on the handle, but it seemed to have rusted shut.Howmany decades had this gone unused?Ibraced my foot on the wall and gave a great heave.Thewhole door came loose along with some of the rock wall revealing a tunnel that sank down below the foundation of the castle.
Blainehesitated, soIshoved him in, unwilling to waste any more time.Ithought ofLyleand all the other bodiesIhad seen scattered on the way here; tears burned my eyes.I’dbe damned ifIlet one more of them be hurt.Iherded the other servants towards the tunnel using the doorIstill held in my hand.Briannacarried her babe, and as she ducked through the small door,Iheard another deafening crash from above.Shit.Ifelt the wall shaking soIgrabbedTomand his brother by the back ofTom’sshirt and threw them unceremoniously into the tunnel.Asthe wall started to crumble,Ithrew the door back in place to try and shield them while launching myself backwards.Theroof of the kitchen partially collapsed, bricks raining down, followed by the wood beams of the ceiling, and fine dust covering everything after that.
Myleg had been pinned in the fall, butIwas able to free myself before wiping the dust from my faceAsmall voice called to me from behind the rubble, “PrincessTori,PrincessTori, are you alright?”Tom’svoice.Ibreathed a small sigh of relief, he sounded unhurt.
“Tom,Ineed you to lead them out of the tunnel.Gonow.Don’twait.I’lldig my way through and join you alright?Go!”
“Yousaid we would go together!”
“Tom, be brave for me.I’llbe right behind.”
Iheard some shuffling, behind the door, and his voice faded as he called, “Alright, see you soon.”
Istarted shifting the rubble in front of the door, pulling bricks and beams away, but every few bitsImoved would cause more to fall in their place.Amoan of frustration passed my lips asIconsidered other ways out, whenIwas yanked back by an incredible force that flung me across the kitchen and smashed me into the stone floor, knocking the wind from my lungs.AsIregained my breath,Irolled to the side, using one hand to push up, looking for my assailant whenIheard the remainder of the roof and wall over the tunnel collapse.HadIbeen there moments longer,Isurely would have been crushed.Ipushed up with my other hand, my head still spinning.PerhapsIhad hit it as well.Thena deep voice called to me from the door of the kitchen.
“Thereyou are,Princess.Ihave been waiting for you.”Thelight from the hall obstructed my view of his face, butIknew it was the warriorIhad seen before.Iwas still on the floor but reached down for the dagger strapped to my thigh.Ifthis was to be my end, he would go down with me.
Beforewe could engage, a loud crunch sounded above me as the main beam of the building above me snapped.Therest went black.
Chapter2
Tori
Iawoke to my face pressed against the cold marble of my father’s throne room.Everyinch of me ached like a building had been thrown at me.Andin all reality, that’s precisely what had happened.Thecoppery tang of blood lingered in my mouth, andIcould barely move.Insteadof trying to see,Ilistened.Angryvoices came from the directionIthought would be the dais with my father’s ivory throne perched on top.Themetallic slide of a sword sounded to my right, andIcould hear a woman weeping.Thesound slid into the deep cracks of my memory, andIknew it was my mother, thoughIcould not recall the last timeIhad heard her weep.
Myhead was turned towards her, soIallowed my eyes to open ever so slightly.Onedid, but the other was swollen shut.Throughthe lashes of my good eye,Icould see my mother and father kneeling, swords pressed to their throats.Myfather looked dusty and battered, while a dribble of blood flowed from my mother’s mouth.Hercheek was swollen pink where she had been struck.Herlong dark hair had fallen out of the elaborate updo she wore daily.Normally, each hair was perfectly brushed and pinned, loops of hair trailing on each side of her face with a topknot held in place by ivory and gold combs on her crown.Buttoday it fell in front of her almond-shaped eyes and was twisted like a bird’s nest while tears streamed down her cheeks.
Onthe floor next to herIsaw a body approximately the size of my brother.Icouldn’t see his face;Icouldn’t even tell if he was alive.Aroundus,Isaw several of the nobles who had been in attendance today, all kneeling, heads bowed.
“Ah, it seems the princess has deemed us worthy of her presence.”Adeep, cold voice called to me from the dais.BeforeIcould move, a rough hand grabbed the hair at the crown of my head and lifted me to my knees.Painshot down my scalp and neck, radiating to the rest of my aching body.Asword came to lay at my throat, just as it did for my mother and father—theKingandQueen.
Myeyes fell upon our attacker.Abovehim fluttered the red herald of our kingdom, emblazoned with the white peacock that represented the royal family ofNiatawith his tail unfurled.Butthe flag had been burned and slashed, decapitating the image of the peacock.Hesat in my father’s white and gold throne, below the desecrated flag.Theskies seemed to grow darker as he sat there, one foot propped on the opposite knee.Heleaned back in the throne, all arrogance, asIstared at him.
Long, platinum silver hair spilled out as he removed his helmet.Itwas paired with dark eyebrows that framed his viridian green eyes and an aristocratic nose.Hislips drew into a wicked smirk, andIwas surprised to see the faintest hint of age there.
Thefae aged at the same rate as humans until they reached twenty-five, and then their aging drastically slowed.Somehumans still whispered that we were immortal, our lifespan so much longer than their own.Butthe truth was we did age, it was just uncommon to see a fae much older than eight hundred, especially since theWarofFlames.Myfather, the oldest fae in thePearlKingdomhad just passed six centuries, and my mother barely over three.Thisfae had just begun to lose that appearance of immortality.Thecreases around his eyes deeper, and the glow of youth faded from his face.Butit only seemed to add to the authoritative look of him.Hewas truly striking, but demons were always beautiful.Bymy guess, he must have lived for over a millennium.
Atfirst,Ithought he wore the black armor of the other soldiers, butIsaw now that his was much finer, made with exquisite craftsmanship.Theplates were much smaller, almost mimicking scales that moved with his body easily.Hewas tall, and while most fae males tended towards a lithe figure, his was clearly broader and more muscled.
Hestared down at me, that sneer growing.Icouldn’t do anything, held asIwas, soIdid my utmost to skewer him with my stare.
Heheld my gaze one more moment, then finally returned his attention to my father. “KingRahul, now that most of your family is conscious,Isuppose we can continue our discussion.”Ihad a feeling this discussion was very one-sided. “Didyou truly think you could get away with cheating theEmperoron theTithe?”
Myeyes shot to my father.Myfather was many things, but a fool he was not.Hewould never have done something so stupid as try to cheat the emperor of his payments of food and gold, especially after the great losses we had suffered rebelling at the end of theWarofFlames.
“YourHighness,” my father’s face grimaced in pain as he spoke, maybe he was more hurt thanIhad judged, “there have been droughts and famine throughout the kingdom.Theamount we have collected already taxes our people to the brink of starvation.Igave what was owed of what we could collect—"Hiswords were cut off as the soldier beside him kicked into his stomach, and he collapsed.
“Father!”Iscrambled to try and reach him, but the soldier behind me held my hair tight.Icould feel the small slice of pain where the sharp edge of the blade at my neck cut my skin.
Myfather pushed up on his hands, “YourHighness, it is the truth.”Itwas.Theearth beneath our feet seemed to be sick and growing more so by the year.Wehad all taken to rationing food, our household partaking in simple meals and reducing portions.ButIhad never gone hungry, not once.Toknow my father had kept the hunger of our people a secret roiled rage inside me along with the sicknessIfelt seeing him hunched over on the floor.Inow understood the rageIhad seen peeking through his expression this morning.
“Silence.”Theword wasn’t spoken loudly, but the command in it rippled through the hall unnaturally, every sound seeming to obey, even those beyond the walls of the throne room. “Heis owed what he is owed,Rahul, and the state of your sorry kingdom is no concern of his—or mine.Iwould have thought you would remember what happened the last timeIcame here.”
