AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nodded, but I feared what lay ahead—pain and bloodshed and the high possibility of one or both of us not surviving the night. Just then, Hector popped his head back into the room.
“Look lively now!” he said, rushing in. “Sinsorias reported to the palace, and our brother just loosed his dragons.”
I raced from the room holding Rafael’s hand. A single word replayed in my mind. Love. How could it be that I’d stumbled into a marriage to a breathtakingly handsome fae, who also happened to be a wealthy horse trainer who loved me? It sounded wonderful, but in reality, we were fleeing into danger and my body was starting to tear at the seams. So much for a happy marriage.
The house seemed to wave and wobble around us as we fled, amplifying my dizziness. The magic of this place weighed on me. Or maybe it was the curse I was pulling into my body. A shooting pain in my leg tripped me and I went down.
Rafael’s arms caught my shoulders before my body hit the tiles. Faster than I’d ever seen a man move, he scooped me into his arms and carried me outside. Once we were beside the horses, he breathed deeply and set me down.
He squeezed my hand. “Ride with me.”
Before I could protest, he grabbed my waist and lifted me onto Lily’s saddle. A second later, he settled directly behind me. It was different this time, sitting on a horse with him, and when he leaned around for the reins, my heart rate tripled.
A spasm shot through my back, and I slammed into him. One arm held me tightly across the middle, the other held the reins. I linked my fingers with his.
Love shouldn’t have to hurt like this. It wasn’t fair.
As we took off down the cobblestone road toward the massive, gleaming palace, I yelled over the sound of the hooves. “I’m glad I could set you free.” I just wished I could be free with him.
As we raced past a tall pillar made of rocks, I noticed with a grimace of horror that the rocks were skulls. Tucked amid the beauty of this place were reminders of death. These fae were not all rainbow fields and sparkling walls.
The sound of massive beating wings stole a small yelp from my lips. Above us, the emerging stars flickered as something large flew across the sky.
“Dragons!” Hector yelled from behind us.
We leaned into a gallop.
Around the next corner, the sprawling palace popped into view. Reddish stone walls rose high atop a lone hill surrounded by the white city. Though it was awe-inspiring in its grandeur, there was something sinister about its pale, windowless outer walls. The tall parapets caught the last of the fading sunlight, like tiny, bloodstained teeth along an open jaw.
We thundered up the slope toward the palace as the bone-chilling sound of barking dogs pierced the night. The hounds burst around the edge of a building, their red eyes alight again with a thirst for blood.
Rafael whispered to his horse, and she picked up speed. She wasn’t lighting the ground on fire with her hooves, but we moved so fast I could barely breathe from the thrill. Even the pain dimmed in comparison.
The solid stone wall of the palace rose before us.
“How do we—?”
My question died out as a tunnel appeared at the base of the enormous outer wall right as we charged through it.
The hooves made a riotous clatter in the tunnel. Behind us, snarls and feral hisses sent shivers down my spine, then we exploded out into a broad courtyard.
In parallel lines, tall, burning torches ran through the center of the courtyard, lighting our way. Rafael tugged on the reins, and Lily pranced to a stop. He spun the horse around, breath heaving, and we peered back at the tunnel’s dark entrance. I couldn’t see the other side.
Everence and Hector did not emerge, and the sounds of the dogs had disappeared. All I could hear was the small snapping fires of the torches, and the distant music of an orchestra. Above us, two great, winged shadows circled.
“Are you here for the ball?” a voice said behind us.
Rafael tugged the horse around again, and I stared down at a pointy-eared man with a bald head and an elaborate jeweled headpiece that draped over his forehead and down to his shoulders. He wore a red and gold robe that spilled out far behind him. He had only the tip of a beard at his chin and was at once both startlingly beautiful and terrifying. He reminded me of Sinsorias, but darker, and his smile, somehow, more sinister.
“You cannot expect the king to allow you entrance in those clothes.” He clicked his tongue.
“He’s not king yet.”
“Ah.” The man tapped his fingertips together. “So you are the brother. In that case, we’ve been expecting you. Follow me. Leave the horse.” He spun around, his liquid movement unnerving as he slid down the courtyard’s lit path toward a wide stairwell leading to a domed entrance.
My heart hammered so fast I worried my body might collapse from my racing pulse. Wafting scents of cinnamon and cloves eased my tension a little, but Rafael caught my eye and gave a small shake of his head.
“The air is bewitched to draw you in to my brother’s whims, as is everything here. Be on your guard.”
