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I gazed up at the craggy mass looming over us, blotting out a portion of the dark sky. Its snowy peak was ringed in mist that made the distant stars seem even colder and harsher.My eyes sought something familiar out of habit, scanning the patches of velvet sky visible through the clouds until I foundaeveld. Though my heart ached at the sight, I also found a crumb of comfort in studying those stars and remembering the closeness Garrick and I had shared while stargazing. That easy camaraderie, his bright smiles...
As if sensing the turn of my thoughts, Garrick leaned forward. King Preston and Queen Nerissa rode a fair distance ahead, winding out of the city and into the shadow of the mountain. “Do you know what the Silverfrosts said aboutaeveld,the star of hope?” he murmured, his lips tickling my ear.
Afraid to turn back and meet his gold eyes when I was all-too conscious of the other fae trailing behind us, I forced myself to stare rigidly ahead. “What do they say?” I whispered.
“According totheirstories, it represents their powerful line of fae, always able to banish the demons and creatures of the underworld to the darkness where they belong. It is a symbol of the light they carry, their crucial responsibility.” His arms pulled me against his chest so I could feel the beating of his heart. “Youcarry that light and power, Starlight. It’s in your blood. In your soul. No demon can defeat you.”
“I wish I had your confidence.” I paused, breathing deeply enough I could feel the edges of the hunting knife’s leather sheath digging into my skin beneath my bodice. A steadying reminder. “Will you stand by and watch if...if the worst happens?” I couldn’t help the note of accusation creeping into my voice.
Garrick’s fingers tightened, digging into my fur coat. “When I am under...” He hesitated, his voice strained. “Not even my words are my own. My body is not my own.” I sensed the way he trembled, either from fury or grief. Horror seeped into me at the idea of being a prisoner not only in their fortress, but also in my own body. Subject to the royals’ every whim and cruel order.
“How?”I demanded. I’d never heard of such powerful glamour.
“I cannot speak of it. They won’t... I cannot,” Garrick finished. His body tensed, his grasp on me loosening. Our horse trotted up closer to the royal siblings, and it seemed that the nearer we drew to them, the less Garrick was himself.
I wondered if it was out of a desire to not draw their attention, or if his proximity increased their level of control over him.
My heart throbbed in my ears at this information. In a way, it bolstered my hope and eased my pain to have this proof that Garrick cared, that he didn’t betray or entrap me willingly. But in another, it was far worse to know Garrick was as much a captive as I was. If I died facing this demon tonight, he would be forced to watch.
I would be forced to see his expressionless face in the crowd and know he could do nothing to spare either of us.
Time lost all meaning as we rode on in silence, the cold breeze unable to permeate my heavy fur coat or the warmth Garrick’s body heat surrounded me in, but the chill growing in my blood making me shiver anyway. Garrick spared no more comforting words as we ascended a rocky path leading up the mountainside. He didn’t tighten his grasp on me in quiet reassurance as our horses wound the final bend to face an imposing fortress set upon a cliffside partway up the mountain.
Clearly under the siblings’ control again, he was lost to me once more.
As King Preston and Queen Nerissa led us through the gates, already open and awaiting our arrival, my skin prickled, and I swore I could sense something unearthly. Attendants scurried forward to take the reins as we dismounted in the courtyard. My boots slipped on the icy cobblestones, but King Preston stepped forward in that moment, catching my elbow.
“Mortals are clumsy creatures,” he said, shaking his head and drawing me forward, away from Garrick and the rest of our company.
Queen Nerissa fell into step beside us, tossing me a smirk. “Citizens have already gathered in the arena, awaiting your test.”
My head was light with fear, the world turning hazy. I wasn’t sure if I would have been able to keep my feet but for Preston’s iron grip on my arm, tugging me relentlessly toward the fortress.
Two guards swung open the double doors, allowing us to step over the threshold into inky darkness punctuated only by pinpricks of light from flickering torches. The orange light cast by the flames painted the chiseled stonework of the floor and walls in eerie shades. Overhead, the ceiling was swallowed in shadows, giving the impression that there was nothing but emptiness above us. Despite the airy feel, it was somehow stifling and oppressive, like the darkness itself held weight and invisible eyes boring down upon me. The scent of smoke and earth and iron permeated my every breath.
Again, a sense of foreboding swept over me as our footsteps echoed in the empty space. Evil resided here.
And I had nothing to defend against it but the knife digging into my ribcage, a feeble weapon against undead creatures that could not be killed.
As Preston turned and half-dragged me down another hall, Nerissa and Garrick on our heels, I practically begged my magic to come back to me, like it was a living thing that could hear me. There was nothing but a hollow ache where that sense of power had once resided.
The air grew thicker, its scent turning stale as the hall ended in two sets of staircases. On the left, stone steps spiraled upward, lined with flickering candles. To the right, a few steps descended toward a heavy iron door, padlocked and guarded by two well-muscled ogres, each dripping with every manner of weapon I’dever seen. An uneasy feeling settled in my gut as I stared at that door, until the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
Preston paused, noticing the way the door drew my attention. His smile was sharp, his blood-red eyes piercing in the flickering light. “That is the door to the dungeons where we secure all the pesky creatures that escape at night.”
Somehow, I found my voice despite the way my throat seemed to be slowly closing up. “You don’t secure them in the castle?”
Preston scoffed. “Is that what you mortals would do? Invite an enemy to one of your civilized tea parties? Keep a monster in your bedchamber? Why would you hold that which could destroy you near at hand?” He shook his head. “No, we secure them here, in this mountain, away from the citizens of Northelm and the inhabitants of our castle. We will not have another massacre.”
I swallowed. “How many...of those creatures do you have here?”
“At first, we only saw one or two creatures slip through each month,” Queen Nerissa said, striding forward to dip her head in acknowledgement toward the guards. I thought I heard a sound like claws scraping against stone, but that was impossible. The door was too thick. “But as the years passed, and what Silverfrost blood was left to mark the entrance to the underworld faded away, the veil thinned. More and more skulked into our world at night, forcing us to erect this fortress to secure them all. Only a Silverfrost can banish a creature—and even then, only on a winter solstice, when the veil is the weakest of all. Now we see demons creep out nearly every night, haunting our castle halls or sneaking down to the city to feed.”
I ground my teeth at the thought.
“We have hundreds secured here now.”
My head whirled.Hundreds.An army from the underworld, contained by steel and might but never banished. Ever a threat to the people of this kingdom, and constantly increasing.
