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2
TAVEON
Taveon was out of his mind with worry. As he paced the empty Great Hall, chandeliers flickering overhead with their dim flames, he tried to still his racing heart. The panic curled in his gut like a vicious thing, tugging the skin on his back, the hidden horns on his head. If he did not calm his fear, his body would revolt against him.
And if anyone saw the truth about his wings…
They would know exactly where he’d truly come from. The court would descend into madness. The lords and ladies who had been against his reign from the start would do their best to destroy him—they wouldn’t succeed, of course. He was indestructible.
But they could take his throne from him. And he shuddered to think who they’d choose to replace him.
And so he took deep breaths in through his flared nostrils, hissing it out through clenched teeth.
“Taveon?” Rafferty, his oldest and dearest friend, rushed into the room, his silver hair all askew, as if he’d just rolled out of bed. “What’s going on? Lord Dagen came to my room, acting like someone had taken a beating to his favorite bookshelf. He was asking about Bree.”
Concern lined his friend’s face. Rafferty loved Bree. Fiercely. Almost as fiercely as Taveon did.
Taveon’s hands fisted as he came to a stop in the center of the Great Hall. “She’s gone. No one can find her.”
All the blood drained out of Rafferty’s face. “What do you mean, she’sgone?”
“She’s not in her room. And as far as I can tell, she’s nowhere inside this castle.” He sagged, and his voice broke. “Someone took her, Rafe.”
Rafe shook his head. “No. They couldn’t have. For one, they never would have gotten her out without someone seeing. And two, well…this is Bree we’re talking about. She would have screamed bloody murder. She probably would have shifted and tried to fight back. There’d be blood on the floor somewhere.” He nodded to himself, as if he’d convinced them both of every word he said. “She must be somewhere you didn’t think to look. The tower? She likes it up there.”
“I looked there. It was one of the first places I checked.”
Rafe swallowed hard, his neck bobbing. “Alright. Let’s not panic yet. Maybe she wanted to take a walk outside, and this is all some ridiculous misunderstanding. I’ll go search for her.”
Taveon nodded. It was exactly what he’d hoped to do himself. But he couldn’t. His hands were effectively tied. If he spread his silver wings and soared through the Underworld skies, someone would no doubt spot him. And then the entire court would know the truth about his heritage.
He ground his teeth. It felt as if his wings had been clipped, torn free from his back.
Rafe’s eyes softened when he saw the look on Taveon’s face. “Come with me. You can take a horse.”
A horse was not a pair of wings, but it was better than nothing.
Outside, the moon poured brilliant light across the swaying, luminescent grass. Leaping onto his horse’s back, Taveon charged away from the castle, following Rafe as he soared through the skies on midnight wings. Taveon tipped back his head to watch his friend, who had transformed into his raven form. A twinge of jealousy went through his gut. Rafe was so free, something Taveon would never be.
He was glad to be the king. It was all he’d wanted, all he’d fought for.
But sometimes he could not help but wonder what his life would be if he didn’t have the weight of the crown atop his head.
Jaw clenching, he focused on the land ahead of him instead of the endless skies above. He needed to keep his eyes on the ground. He charged toward the Forest of Fireflies, but just before he turned to search the dangerous woods for any sign of Bree, shapes solidified in the distance.
Near the Faerie Ring.
His heart thundered as he turned his steed in the direction of the large army that was growing larger by the moment. He fisted his hands around the reins, hoping Rafferty had spotted them as well. His friend needed to get out of the skies. If the enemy spotted him…they’d shoot him down.
Why had the outposters decided to turn around and fight? Had they killed Eurig? Had they replaced him with someone else? Something wrenched his heart at the thought. They weren’t as close as they’d once been, but he would always consider Eurig a friend.
Taveon pulled on the reins, coming to a stop far from the army. His gaze scanned the faces of the unfamiliar fae. There were hundreds of them. Perhaps thousands. Far more than the outposters.
Rafe thundered to the ground beside him, transforming into his fae form in the last split second before he fell. His gaze went hard. “You’re not going to believe this.”
“There’s some new army. A new enemy.” Taveon shook his head. He knew he should feel fear in his heart, but his bewilderment pushed that down. “Where did they come from? Most of the dark fae live in villages nearby. Other than the outposters.”
At some point, groups of fae must have bound together in secrecy. Hid themselves over decades so that no one would ever find out.
