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All those times I’d rolled my eyes at celebrities whining about the paparazzi and fans—I took it all back. I’d thought they were being dramatic and ungrateful, but they weren’t. This whole situation was terrifying.
Stan’s voice rang in my head. When you’re panicking, remember to breathe. Panic makes things worse. No one here is trying to hurt you. We’re trying to teach you how to protect yourself, to ensure you’re equipped to handle whatever is thrown at you and survive.
He’d said those words to me when I was sixteen and began attending classes at his community MMA gym. I’d been determined to learn to defend myself and others. The start had been rough, and I’d had a few meltdowns any time an adult came near to spar with me. It had triggered something dark within me. I thought I’d overcome the trauma.
I took deep breaths to center myself. Ignoring the way people were clinging to me, I focused on putting one foot in front of the other. These people weren’t trying to hurt me; they were excited to see me.
“Princess Alina!” a woman shouted from close by. “We’re so glad you’re alive and back with us!”
A man several feet back shouted, “It’s time to crown the real queen.”
I lifted my chin and forged on, refusing to cower. I had to overcome this debilitating feeling and face my fears.
The cheers were deafening, and as Maeve and I made headway toward the tower’s entrance, I started nodding and acknowledging the people around me. Each person was full of excitement.
The crowd, with people of varying complexions and features, including hair colors I’d never seen before, intrigued me. I detected a mixture of scents with lemongrass, sandalwood, and apples, reminding me of summer. And vanilla, grass, and blossoms, reminding me of spring. I didn’t detect any notes of fall or winter.
That was strange.
Though it had been minutes at most, the journey felt like it took hours. I thought I was imagining things when the faint creak of huge doors opening echoed over the crowd, followed by shouts of, “Clear a way for Princess Alina!”
That had to be the guards Maeve had left behind earlier.
I smiled but kept my chest pressed to Maeve’s back. The two of us moved in tandem, and the energy of the crowd shifted. People shouted my name like before, but boos blended with the cheers.
My stomach churned as panic sank in again.
The scents shifted, changing to amber, cinnamon, pumpkin and cloves.
Smells I associated with fall and winter.
As they became dominant, the heckling grew louder. Then something wet landed on my chest.
I flinched and looked down.
Someone had spat on me!
What kind of person did that?
“You’re going to die,” a woman with the coldest voice I’d ever heard hissed in my ear. My pulse thundered as the magnitude of the situation settled over me.
I gritted my teeth, hating that a stranger had any impact on me. But damn … no one had ever wished death on me before.
“All hail King Kieran!” another person shouted. “Let the Summer Fae die and the Winter fae bow before his greatness!”
“Frozen summer,” Maeve snarled, spinning and jabbing the edge of her sword into the stomach of a fae about to hawk more spit at me.
Blue blood spilled from the man’s guts, but his sinister pale-gray eyes remained locked on me. “Long live the true fae king!”
The people closest to me cheered thunderously, the ground quaking under my feet. Walking in heels over the stone was hard enough, but add in the rolling ground, and sitting on the ground and scooting on my ass might’ve been the safest way to get to the front door.
“Alina is the true queen who will unite the lands,” a Summer Fae yelled from behind us. Then I felt the crowd shift.
Fights broke out as the two sides clashed, and Maeve grabbed my hand and pulled me to her side. We’d been moving slow and steady, but now Maeve swung her sword at the people in front of us, and we pushed forward.
My chest heaved as I struggled to get enough oxygen, or whatever the hell I breathed now, my lungs straining against the tight dress that might as well have been a corset.
Bodies slammed into me, and I twisted my ankle, unable to stay upright in these stiletto heels. The guards hadn’t reached us, and despite Maeve slicing at fae with her sword, more came through and blocked the way.
