Page 32 of Heart of the Raven Prince

“A word, princess—”

“Aoife,” I quickly cut him off. I make a mental note to remind the others of my new name with my deliberate lack of title. My heritage is a death sentence; a past I have to keep hidden if I want to survive.

“We need to be leaving for the shops,” Siobhán cuts in, coming to my rescue.

“I'll walk with you,” he says, undeterred.

Fucking great.

My headache pounds with each pulse in my aching temple, but I force a pleasant smile. I don’t want to spend the entire walk to the workhouse being berated by this man who clearly hates me, but I know he holds sway amongst my people. No matter how unfortunate it may be, I need Bryan on my side. Siobhán takes our empty bowls over to a sink where a young girl is standing up to her elbows in suds. Bryan devours his portion before depositing his bowl and hurrying after us. We exit the Barracks together and step into the early morning chaos of the streets.

The telltale scent of a coming storm is on the wind that whips into us. Glancing at the sky, I note the looming clouds that are edged in the red light of the constant moon. The tension from last night returns, palpable in the air as we walk in strained silence toward the Alley. Other humans scurry around us, and I find myself staring at the ones with rubies hanging from their ears.

“I did not intend to embarrass you last night, Aoife,” Bryan says, pulling me from my thoughts.

“You didn’t embarrass me,” I respond, looking up at him as he glances down at me, his arms clasped behind his back. “You merely told me what you truly think. Since I would prefer you not lie to me, I can’t very well hold that against you.”

“You need to let Gaelynn, and all thoughts of returning, go. Grieve the loss and move on. This life will be easier if you simply accept that,” he says, again giving me that pitying look that is this side of patronizing.

Oh good, I love it when men give me unsolicited advice.

We’re passing by the blacksmiths, with red-eyed fae standing around inspecting a stash of weapons, but I ignore them as I narrow my gaze, giving Bryan a thin smile.

“Then it’s a good thing you're not the one in charge, since you don’t seem determined to fight,” I say coolly. Bryan’s eyebrows shoot up, indignation and embarrassment coloring his cheeks. He’s going to have to try harder than that to cow me. But I don’t even get a moment to celebrate putting this man in his place. I should have paid attention to the fae, to how close they are. Close enough to overhear us. Before Bryan can answer me, a fae is stalking toward us with a wide grin cracking across his face.

Oh, gods and fucking demons.

He is one of the fae guards from yesterday, the ones that howled in laughter when I called myself a warrior. Quick as lightning, he lashes out and grabs my upper arm harshly.

“Talking about fighting again, girlie?” he drawls. I have no time to react before he is dragging me back toward his friends. He’s got a small group of red-eyed fae, all watching with mild interest as he hauls me easily toward them, no matter how I plant my feet firmly in the ground and try to resist. “This is the one I was telling you about. Our fierce new warrior. She wants to be in the prince’s army so bad, why don’t we give her a preview of what she can expect?”

Laughter, loud and grating, erupts from the men as he launches me toward the group. I stop myself before I can stumble into any of them. Whirling around, I start to leave but they are already forming a circle around me. I’m sure they expect me to bolt; to try and make a run for it all so they can snatch me and toss me back to the center like some sick game of cat and mouse. I don’t give them the satisfaction, as I rigidly stand in the middle of the slowly shrinking circle.

“Have you ever even held a sword before?” a man behind me scoffs.

“I’ve got a sword she can hold,” the one who gripped my arm says.

The severe lack of sleep is making it impossible to cage that burning anger in me. It’s beyond stupid to bait these fae but my fucking temper is in control now, goading me on. I give him a bored once over before letting out a sharp and sarcastic burst of laughter. “Anything you’re armed with isn’t worth the fucking trouble of getting it out of the sheath. Not exactly a weapon worth bragging about.”

“Watch it," he sneers, grabbing me again. “When I want your mouth open, it won’t be for your opinion. You’re nothing but a human piece of filth.”

“And even this piece of filth doesn’t want to fuck you, what does that say about you and your weapons?” This is so fucking foolish, but gods it feels good to actually fight. His friends are cackling at the exchange, and with each peal of laughter his grip tightens on my arm. I’m sure he’s going to break it, but I don’t back down. Leaning in, I feign surprise and say, “Oh no, did I hit a nerve?”

A blade is at my throat, slicing into my skin, and I know I pushed him too far. The fae is going to kill me, but I think maybe I wanted this. Maybe some ruined part of my soul wanted an easy way out of this nightmare.

“What the fuck is going on here?”

Even if I hadn’t instantly recognized his voice, I would know him by the crackling trace of his magic prickling over my skin. The general is stalking toward us. Fuck, he’s almost as intimidating as Caden. My eyes dart around him, but I see no sign of the prince. Still, the fae stiffen as Doran approaches, a few of them breaking off and instantly making themselves scarce. The knife remains at my throat. Doran stops in front of us, crossing his arms as he leans back and quirks a brow at me. The fae jerks his head toward me and says, “This one was trying to gain a weapon.”

“Is that so?”

“She’s clearly trying to escape.”

“Clearly.” Doran sounds so bored, and for some reason it makes me snort out a laugh.

“Mutiny is punishable by death, so I’m executing—"

“And who the fuck gave you the authority to do that?” Ice hangs off his every word as Doran continues to steadily watch me, before slowly turning his black gaze to the fae holding me. He may be stubborn, but I see him beginning to sweat under Doran's unrelenting gaze. “If I am to understand this correctly, you were about to slaughter one of the queen’s possessions?”