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“You kill each other for fun?”
The dark-haired woman clicked her tongue. “It isn’t death you will see here tonight. It’s much more fun.”
When the courtiers stopped moving, I noticed they all stood in a large circle. I was part of that circle. I smiled at the wonder of it all, a little sad that my hands looked so strange and my back ached, but also unsure what I could do about it. My head felt like it was floating in water.
Across the huge circle, a commotion started. Several courtiers stepped aside, and a pair of winged women dragged a man forward. He had a bag on his head, and his legs appeared to be limp.
A spasm of pain rocked my body, and I fell to my knees. Instantly, the woman beside me yanked me up, lifting something toward my mouth.
My vision cleared, and I swatted away her hand and the berry it held. “Rafael!”
His head shot up, but he didn’t fight his captors.
Then, a column of light pierced the night, and at once, every fae hit their knees. Rafael crashed to the shining tile as his two captors knelt. He scrambled to his feet and jerked the black bag from his head. For a breath, we were the only two standing.
From the sky, a figure descended, dressed in white and holding a sword, point down.
“Ah, brother, this is how you greet me, after so much time has passed?”
The voice sounded eerily like Rafael’s. His face was also similar, although his hair was shorter. Rafael tucked into a sprint, his eyes locked on me. My heart seized with a tangle of joy and fear.
“You run like a bear,” teased the man in white. He wore a thin golden crown of twisting vines.
My body lurched and my feet lifted from the tile. I screamed and twitched as I rose higher and higher over the circle of courtiers. Rafael stopped and stared up at me. In his eyes glowed a blazing golden inferno.
“You don’t think this will be simple, do you?” Fabian asked, twirling his hand in the air. As he did, I spun, my skirts twisting around my legs.
Rafael straightened and finally looked at his brother. In a loud voice, he called out, “I am Rafael Vasquez del Sol, firstborn of the slain king, and rightful heir of the Sun Crown.”
Collective gasps issued from the crowd now rising to their feet.
“I challenge my brother for the throne.”
Silence fell but was quickly shattered by a deep, cackling laugh. Fabian laced his fingers over his stomach and grinned. “Oh, how quaint. A challenge. We haven’t seen one of those in a while. It would be delightful to destroy you, brother, but it’s my wish to see you live out your pathetic life in continual misery.” He sighed dramatically, appearing less like Rafael the more he spoke. I wanted to spit on his shining white suit. “I accept your challenge on one condition.” The crowd inhaled dramatically. “I will fight you only if she”—he pointed at me with his naked sword—“receives an injury every time I do.”
That was the stupidest rule I’d ever heard. Rafael clenched fists at his sides, but before he could speak, a slender, pale woman emerged from the crowd. A delighted shout burst from my lips. Everence shone in a blue-tinted glamour that made her look like she was standing in her own private snowstorm. Beside her stood Hector, his hand on his sword hilt.
Fabian pointed at them. “How did they get in?” He twirled in a complete circle. “Who do I need to kill for this oversight?”
“You cannot deny his challenge in so cowardly a way,” Everence said to the courtier’s horror. “Fight him or don’t, but you reveal your lack of honor—and your weakness—if you do not.”
Fabian snorted and turned away from her. “This woman thinks me weak. Weak.” A chorus of disgusted remarks rose from the crowd. “I think I shall teach these three traitors a lesson. What say you, shall we also invite the mortal to our dance?” He lifted both hands in dramatic fashion. Cheers rose from the courtiers. “You know my rules. I toss out power like confections to those I like, and I strip it from those I hate. My lovely enchantresses”—he swept a hand at the winged women— “are hungry to spill the curses we’ve concocted together this week. Let us try them on these traitors. Whoever traps them will be rewarded. Kill the mortal.”
He flicked his wrist, and the courtiers sprang forward.
But instead of drawing weapons, they paired off, as if about to dance. The magic holding me aloft dissipated, and I crashed to the terrace.
The music began again, and Rafael was at my side, scooping me up.
“Are you all right?” he asked, concern pinching his brow.
He plucked the flower from my hair and tossed it aside. Clarity again dawned on me, and I shook my head of the fuzzy confusion.
“We must dance.” He lifted me and swung me around. I wobbled on unsteady feet, but his strength steadied me. “If you stop, if you miss a single step, they will hurt you.” His fury bubbled under the surface.
“But I don’t even know this dance.”
“You need only follow my lead.” He kept his eyes pinned to mine.
