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Hawthorn was a stone in her boot—she could remove it at any time and hurl it away from her. Lucinda was an infection she could not expunge.
And Hawthorn adored her.
Although he was only twelve, he found himself ensnared by her flattery, devoted to her whims. Before long, there were talks of a betrothal. Lucinda could be escorted out of Faerie prior to his eighteenth birthday and escorted back again under every protection to break the curse not long after it came to pass.
“They already seem to adore one another,” Lucinda’s mother would croon whenever she came to visit. “They make such a beautiful couple. How lucky to have found each other so young!”
Lucky for you,thought Juliana.
One day, she caught Lucinda talking to her mother. Juliana was hidden in the vines, playing her own private game with them. The minute the two entered the room, the vines cocooned around her, shielding her further from view.
Lucinda’s mother’s eyes darted around the room, checking for eavesdroppers, but she did not see Juliana, suspended in the space above them.
“Have you secured his word yet?” the mother asked.
Lucinda shook her head. “He is mindful of giving it to me.”
Even a foolish, lovestruck boy was more careful than that when he was fae, when a vow could not be broken.
“You need to act quickly,” Lucinda’s mother urged her. “I’ve heard there are other houses vying for his favour. It’s a shame he’s not a little older. Perhaps too young for you to seduce him—“
“He won't be tooyoung for much longer.”
Juliana’s insides twisted uncomfortably at the horrid smile on Lucinda’s face, at the thought of seducing someone so young. The was no exact law in Faerie regarding the age someone was allowed to bed—only very strict laws regarding consent, including manipulation. And this—this was that. She had noted how the Lucinda’s flattery tended to fall on Hawthorn’s features and skills, never praising who he was or what she liked about him. Not that Juliana thought there was much to like, but she never for one moment suspected the girl was quitethisunfeeling towards him.
For days after, Juliana wondered what to do with the information. She didn’t like Hawthorn, after all. What was it to her if he married someone who hated him?
But it didn’t sit right in her gut, like she’d swallowed a needle.
She’ll be queen one day, if she marries him,Juliana realised.Do you really want her as your queen?
She told herself that was all that she was protecting when she went to speak to Queen Maytree. It was for the good of Faerie, nothing more.
Plus she really, really hated Lucinda.
Juliana trembled as she stood before the Queen, her courage already failing her. Maytree had always been kind to her—at least in the way that faeries could be—but that didn’t make what she was about to do any less terrifying.
Especially as Lucinda’s mother was standing right beside her.
“Well?” Maytree prompted. “Go on, child.”
So Juliana told. She said that Lucinda only wanted Hawthorn’s crown, that she didn’t care for him at all, that her mother had put her up to it and she was planning to seduce him.
“How dare you!” screamed the Lady of Autumn. “Mortals are liars! Filthy, disgusting worm. How dare you spread such vile accusations in front of your betters!”
There was no way to prove she was telling the truth, of course, and no one dared question such a noble lady, even when the Queen’s eyes shone darkly.
The next day, Hawthorn and his friends attacked Juliana for her lies, pushing her to the ground and driving her face into the mud. Hawthorn’s eyes were far darker than his mother’s, his face twisted.
“Filthy mortal,” he hissed. “Never speak of my lady that way again.”
“What reason have I to lie?” she hissed back. “Idespiseyou. I don’t care if you marry someone who hates you. I told the truth because…”
Hawthorn’s eyes flickered. “Becausewhat?”
“Who cares,” she said, “since I can lie? But why don’t you ask her? Ask her if I am lying. Ask her if she cares for you.”
Hawthorn turned to face Lucinda, who was standing far away from all this. Her smile immediately dropped.
