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I try to push the fear inside of me down at the thought of losing my head, and dooming my father and grandmother at the same time, but the fear lingers. “I’m going to find a way out of this.”
He sighs, “you can try, but it’s going to get you killed.”
I look up at him; the expression on his face tells me he believes it. Unfortunately for him, he has no idea how resourceful I can be. Afraid or not, I just need a little more time. Time that I don’t have to spend worrying about where my family’s next meal will come from.
I can do this.
THIRTEEN
Cassia
I’m jolted out of my sleep, staring around me in confusion, wondering what the heck woke me up. But after a minute, I hear loud noises right outside my room. Noises loud enough that I have a moment where fear and adrenaline give me the urge to run. Then, logic kicks in and I realize that grandmother and father must be getting into some kind of trouble in the house. Probably fixing something that broke the best they can, given all the noise.
Okay, so that’s one question answered.
Groaning, I roll over, glance out my window, and see bright light streaming through it.Shit! I’m late!Sitting up, heart racing, I’m mentally walking through the excuses I’ll tell Alexi for why I’m late for work… when everything comes flooding back at me.
Last night.
The four princes.
Am I even a maid any longer?I feel the color drain from my face.Am I really engaged to four men?
Maybe I’d been dreaming last night. Maybe the ball and the princes never really happened. It certainly seems crazy enough to be a figment of my imagination.Has losing my job pushed me over the edge?
I try to remember if I fell asleep instead of actually putting on that gorgeous golden dress and going to the ball. It’s possible.Isn’t it?I scan my room, then freeze when I spot the dress in a pile on the floor looking very much worn. The heels rest beside them, along with the very expensive jewelry Prince Sulien gifted me. Jewelry too fine for me to ever be able to sell. No one would touch it with a ten- foot pole.
Shit, yesterday really happened.
I was fired. I made an insane deal with Prince Sulien. I went to a ball, and the spell went wrong, matching me with the four princes instead of just one.
How’d I even sleep after everything that happened?The race home and the way I’d torn off the dress flashes through my mind. I guess I’d just been hoping everything would make more sense in the morning.
Unfortunately, it does not.
I crawl out of bed and go to my dresser to pick something to wear. Everything looks plain and ugly compared to the golden dress, but at the same time, better suited to me, and not the me I was pretending to be. It’s a bit of a relief to not have to play the role of a woman betrothed to four fae princes, at least for a little longer.
My house dress is the most comfortable, so I reach for it. The dress is soft as I slip it on, sliding against my skin in a way that’s comforting. I don’t remember what color it was originally, but now it’s off-white with a hint of blue.
I give myself a once over in the mirror hanging on my wall. The dress is a little low-cut in front with short sleeves. It reaches nearly to my ankles and fits me perhaps a little more snuggly than it was meant to, but only because I’ve had it for so many years.
Running a brush through my hair, I study myself. The dark circles under my eyes tell the world that I didn’t have a restful night’s sleep, which is absolutely true. My dreams were filled with the four fae princes. With secrets and lies. With them, discovering who I am.
In my dreams, they chased me. Sometimes with lust. Sometimes with anger. But other times it was with sadness and disgust. All because they learned that some little human woman had made fools of them.
I set the brush down and glance in the mirror one more time, wondering what I got ready for. If I can manage it, I’ll spend the next few days hiding out from the princes and deciding when to tell my grandmother and father, and how to. And yet, there’s no food here. I have no job. And chances are there are enough rumors going around that I’ll need to tell my family the truth before they learn it from somewhere else.
So, I don’t havedaysto get my head on straight. The first thing I probably have to do is tell my grandmother and father, answer their questions, and figure out how much a “betrothed” makes, so I can get food into this house.
How does one go about asking her husband-to-be, or is it husbands-to-be, for money, for food?I shrug and open the door to my bedroom, fully expecting to walk in on one of my family’s “projects.” But more than that, to figure out how to explain the mess I’m in to my family.
Taking a step down the hall, I freeze at the scene unfolding before me. Several fae walk past my door, holding boxes filled with Granny’s pots and pans. Another walks by with a stack of quilts. I walk out of the hall and stare in shock. A whole line of fae are carrying our household items out the door and into a wagon sitting right outside our home.
What the hell?I walk further down the short hallway into the kitchen. It’s nearly empty.
Taking another step forward, the living room comes fully into view, and I see my grandmother in the center of the nearly empty room. She has her hands on her hips, and fae, all dressed in the colors of the Summer Court, are carrying everything we own out the door.
My jaw drops.What the hell is this?
