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My heart throbbed in my temples. “They don’t use it often, do they?”
Aspen shook her head, mouth tightening into a firm line. “They prefer to slowly torment the ones they want to punish rather than give them swift deaths.” She gestured to me. “It’s why they’ll taunt you, play mind games with you, treat you like their plaything, and use others to hurt you long before they’d ever use their own magic against you.”
I swallowed thickly. “And yet, you’re here—serving them?”
Aspen glanced down at her swinging legs. “At first, I thought they were the heroes everyone claimed they were. But as the years passed, I saw their cruelty against humans and fae alike. They’re bloodthirsty and selfish, but you already know that. I’ve stayed as a spy, trying to help the mortals enslaved here like your father once did, and hoping to gather information to use against them. To condemn them so even the Silverfrost citizens would agree the siblings must be dethroned. But Preston and Nerissa have also mistreated the fae here, and a growing number of citizens are becoming more and more dissatisfied. It’s made my mission of gathering rebels together quite simple over the years. We have amassed numbers in your absence, biding our time in hopes we can organize a coup.” She studied me, eyes piercing. “I was also waiting for you.”
“Waiting for me? When we first met, you said I was a weak human you didn’t think could be a Silverfrost.”
Aspen shook her head. “I said thatsomepeople thought that, for Isolde’s benefit. I didn’t want anyone to know my allegiancewas with you and not King Preston and Queen Nerissa. Anyway, I tried to search for you on my own, but I can’t remain in any form but my natural one for very long. And a tiny pixie can’t travel far distances in secret all that well. Instead, I started to send Garrick out to nearby human towns to search for you. Not to tell you who you were or bring you to Silverfrost, but more to ensure you were all right, safely away from the fae...at least until we rebels were ready to talk to you about your origins.”
I recalled the way Garrick’s eyes had latched onto me that first night across the ballroom, the way he’d seemed enthralled by my unusual hair. He’d known. He’d known who I was all along.
“He didn’t tell me,” I said. “Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Well, he wouldn’t have been sure who you were, not right away. And then everything went wrong,” Aspen said, wringing her hands. “We’d hoped to eventually share information with you while you remained safely in the human world, but the night Garrick met you, when your brother gave you to the king and queen...”
I cringed. “I was brought to Silverfrost before I was ready.”
“Garrick did what I would have wanted him to do—tried to take you to the sanctuary of another, kinder fae kingdom. You could have hidden in Ashwood for years, if needed, until we had a solid plan and were ready to reveal you to Silverfrost as our true queen. But unfortunately, the royal siblings control him. Because of this, Garrick was never supposed to travel with you...only to find you, simply because he’s our best hunter. We’d agreed that when the time came for you to leave the mortal world, we would send someone who couldn’t be controlled to bring you to our kingdom.”
“How did that happen? Preston and Nerissa’s ability to control Garrick, I mean?”
“In those early days, Garrick—like me—thought Preston and Nerissa were heroes. Garrick’s entire family had been visiting the castle the night of the slaughter. They died alongside the Silverfrosts. Garrick was only a boy, and he felt it was his duty to his family to pledge himself to our new king and queen, as if serving them was the best way to avenge his family’s deaths, since the demons can’t ever be killed, and can only be banished back to the underworld without Silverfrost blood.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s why they can control him without glamour.”
Aspen nodded slowly. “It is a blood oath, the most powerful oath one fae can make to another. He gave them his life—quite literally. Whenever he’s in close enough proximity to either of them, they can control his body, even his words. His vow to them can only be broken in death.”
My mind whirled. No wonder Garrick had said I couldn’t save him, that he was doomed to serve them forever. “There’s no other way out?”
She shook her head sadly. Regretfully.
“There’s something else you should know,” the pixie added, casting a glance across the room, toward my bed where my tray of food rested. “In food, forget-me-nots don’t affect you the same way. You can consume a small amount of the flowers without feeling pain, but once digested, they destroy your ability to access your magic, the same way they do if they touch your skin. Preston and Nerissa have been drugging you.”
My eyes widened. “How do you know this?”
“I tasted a bite of your food when I was in your room back when Isolde healed you. I couldn’t shift for hours. Unfortunately, I don’t always have access to your rooms, and the king and queen only allow certain servants to bring your food. I can try to sneak some food to you from the kitchens, but when I can’t, you’ll still need to keep up your strength.”
I frowned contemplatively. “I’ve managed to access my magic sometimes even while eating their food.”
Aspen nodded. “We’ll find a way to overcome them. I think—”
A sharp knock interrupted us, and Aspen scowled.
“It’s time,” the muffled voice of a guard said from the other side of the door. “The king and queen are returning to the castle, and they’ve summoned you to leave immediately with them.”
