AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Bring the drudge. We have things to do before midnight.”
Two giant Fae grab my arms, yanking me up off the ground and pulling my hand away from my chest. They drag me behind them, my feet scrambling to keep up as I leave a trail of blood in my wake. The crowd around us is getting worked into a frenzy, skipping gleefully along, revealing the rotten core normally hidden by their beauty.
Footmen slide the glass doors apart as the Duke approaches, opening the ballroom straight out into the manicured grounds. The Queen and Duke lead the way. It’s a rowdy processional. We pass by the perfectly tended gardens, with bubbling fountains, and stone benches placed with calculated design under the drooping limbs of silver leafed trees. The moon is high and full in the night sky, casting a glow down upon us. It would be magical if this were any other scenario.
I don’t know where they’re taking me, but this can only end one way for me. Very badly.
My entire body is shaking, but the Fae holding me up just yank and tug at me to hurry me along. I bite down on the inside of my cheek until I taste blood, trying to hold back the scream that wants to come out. Partially from my terror, but more because of the injustice of this all.
I’ve spent my entire life as a drudge, cleaning up after the Fae, being told I was less than nothing. A human, a changeling, scum on the bottom of their shoes. All I’ve ever known is keeping to the shadows, serving their every fickle whim, living a ghost of an existence because my life doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the Duke. To any of the Court that may come upon me. Is this all my life is meant to be?
The party romps and dances over the grounds until we reach the woods. The crowd is making so much noise it takes me a moment to realize the musicians have brought their instruments out with them. This is just an extension of the party. Clothing is pulled off here and there and we lose a few of the guests who find a different game more to their liking.
“Put her there.” The Duke’s voice reignites my fear as I’m shoved into the middle of a clearing.
A circle forms around me, but everyone is far enough back that I’m completely exposed. I tuck my injured hand against my chest again, my eyes darting around to figure out why we’re out here. There’s nothing but an empty clearing, surrounded by enormous trees that are older than many of the Fae here.
“My Queen. My Ostara offering.” The Duke bows with a flourish and laughs. It’s broken chimes and the scrape of a knife hitting a plate the wrong way. My teeth ache from the sound.
My eyes drop down, not wanting to look at the sneers and mocking faces. Cold sweat breaks out over my body when I see a symbol formed by rocks pressed into the ground. It’s an ancient rune, one I’m not familiar with, but it can’t mean anything good.
“Yes, well, let’s hope this pitiful human is enough of an offering to open the veil.” The Queen’s voice drips with impatience.
I lift my head to look at her, but I’m not worth her gaze. She wouldn’t condescend to give a human her attention. The Duke is holding a book, giving a haughty smile to the crowd. I wipe my uninjured palm over my pants, searching for any clue about what’s going to happen. The Queen talked about opening the veil. Are they really going to attempt that? It takes an immense amount of power to do that. Even then, I’ve only ever heard of the veil coming down for a brief moment before it snaps back up. There’s only one time in the history of the Fae where it was down for a longer period of time, but that was a consequence of magic being thrown around in a war.
The veil between Fairy and the human world is always thinner on certain days. At midnight, it will officially be Ostara. It’s possible they could bring the veil down, but there would need to be a large payment for that magic to work. My heart seizes in my chest and my hands curl into fists. My short, chipped nails dig into my palms, forcing more blood out of my cut. It escapes between my fingers and drops to the ground, another wasted part of my life.
My life is to be the payment. I know it. Just as I know other things that I shouldn’t. That sense I get to avoid a certain hallway, to wait an extra minute before entering one of the Court’s chambers. I know instinct has saved my life on more than one occasion, but why has it failed me now? Have I used up all the luck that was allotted to me in this life?
I’d laugh if I weren’t in such a horrible situation. I’m certain I was born without luck.
The crowd is getting restless as the Duke and Queen talk in low tones. They are hungry for blood. As if he senses the shift in the air, the Duke looks up, scanning the crowd before his gaze lands on me. The smile that lifts the edges of his mouth is lethal, predatory.
“On to the entertainment portion of our evening.”
Laughter rollicks around the clearing. My chest heaves with rapid breaths as I search for anything to defend myself. I know it’s pointless. Even if I was able to get away from the Duke, I’d never get through the mass of bodies surrounding me. That doesn’t mean I’m going to stand here and be a willing sacrifice. For once in my life, I will fight back.
Look.
My instinct flares to life, so visceral it’s almost as if someone is whispering in my ear. Look for what?
Escape.
I want nothing more than to get out of this, but I don’t see any way I can run. The Duke takes a step closer to me, and everyone circling me leans in, waiting with giddy excitement. The book is still open in the Duke’s hand, but his other hand moves to his hip, where he unsheathes a wickedly sharp dagger.
Look.
That insistent voice is back, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking for. What am I supposed to do?
The Duke’s grin is sickeningly wide, his eyes nearly feral as he studies me like he can’t wait to slice me up. The air behind him shimmers and I take a small step back, blinking a few times to make sure I’m not imagining things. It does it again, a wavering in the air, as if it’s made of water. Did they already open the veil? Is it the rune, anticipating the upcoming sacrifice? Or the dash of my blood on the ground?
“Be a good little drudge and kneel before your better. You should be grateful that your death will amount to so much more than your life.”
His words explode in my mind, setting off an anger so severe I can feel it heating my skin. The air flickers again and I don’t stop to think. I act. I surge forward so unexpectedly that it takes the Duke a second to respond, but he’s too late. Without thinking, I reach for the book in his hands, grabbing hold of the page and yanking it out. Then I close my eyes and send up a prayer to the sun and the moon, hoping that for once in my life, things go my way.
I leap at the shimmer, diving through the space where I hope the veil has thinned. Furious shouting roars at my back. Pain scrapes over my leg. My body hits the ground with a jarring impact, and a bright light explodes behind my closed lids.
Then it’s quiet.
The smell of damp ashes is the first thing I notice, followed quickly by the hiss of a fire that’s been smothered. I open my eyes and move to sit up. Pain shoots up from my hand when I press it into the ground. Shifting too fast, I wince at the sharp throb that aches near my ankle. Under the light of the moon, I look down at my feet. Part of my pants have been burned away and my skin sports a brutal burn.
That’s not all I notice. There’s a large circle, burned into the grass, and I’m sitting in the middle of it. I’m in another clearing in the woods, just like outside of the Duke’s manor, but this is some place altogether different.
For the first time in a very long time, I smile.
Maybe the lifetime of luck I’ve never used is finally paying off.
