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And I led him deeper into the Palace, holding the Princess protectively close to my chest. If we could get her to the Cavern of Lolth, she should be safe from assassins, but until then she was vulnerable. Especially since she was, at this point, more human than Fae.
I just hoped we could change that and help her realize her full potential before it was too late and Mordren found a way to get to her.
5
Lily
The Fae Palace was so amazing all I could do was stare around me in awe as Krynn carried me over the Medieval looking drawbridge and into the main structure.
The whole thing was made of some kind of white marble that glowed softly in the night like a giant nightlight. It looked like that castle in Germany—you know, the one Sleeping Beauty’s castle in Disneyland is based on? It had a romantic, fairytale feeling to it that made me expect to see a knight in armor riding up at any moment.
But if the outside was impressive, the inside completely blew me away. There was a vast entry area, at least four stories high, with a mosaic worked into the white marble tiles of the floor. The stones used in the mosaic shimmered—black with reddish undertones. Bloodstone, whispered a voice in my head that seemed like a long forgotten memory or dream. They formed the shape of an enormous spider web, as big as a baseball diamond, with a spider in the center that was ten feet across. It looked like a giant version of the tiny birthmark on my forehead.
The web and spider were also the same shape as the tattoos that both Krynn and Seldarin wore on their necks and both of their tattoos seemed to be glowing. Was that because of me? But no—surely not. I couldn’t really be this Lost Princess they kept talking about…could I?
I was aware that the two Dark Fae were having a conversation as Krynn carried me swiftly through the main hall and deeper into the Fae Palace, but I was too busy looking around to pay much attention.
Whoever had designed and built this place must have had expensive tastes and unlimited money, I decided. Everywhere I looked I saw golden mirrored ceilings and silver filigree trimmed doors. There were priceless tapestries and statues everywhere as well as portraits of gorgeous Dark Fae all staring down at me with glowing eyes that seemed to follow our progress through the marble halls.
We went through a large empty room that looked kind of like a ballroom hung with gold and crystal chandeliers and another, even larger room which looked even more enormous because the walls and ceiling were all mirrors.
“What is this place?” I breathed as Krynn carried me to the back of the room. I thought about protesting that I could walk now that we were out of the forest, but I wasn’t sure I could keep up with their long legs.
And besides, the big Fae with the golden streaks in his hair smelled nice—he had a kind of warm, spicy scent almost like cinnamon with a masculine undertone. Seldarin had a wilder aroma—like the smell of the air when lightning is about to strike, though I had barely had time to notice it while he carried me.
“This is the Throne Room,” Seldarin said shortly, gesturing around the vast, mirrored room with his uninjured arm. “We need to get through it quickly before Mordren and his people get back. They’ll be moving the Silver Throne back in, now that the Investment Ceremony has been postponed.”
“Meaning…the crowning of your new ruler?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Mordren has been angling for the throne of the Midnight Court for years now—centuries. You came back just in time, Princess.”
I thought about telling him not to call me that again…but it didn’t seem to matter what I said, the big Fae warrior was going to call me what he wanted.
“My Lady, we are about to enter a small, tight corridor,” Krynn said to me. “Would you feel more comfortable walking? I don’t want to bump your head,” he added.
“Oh, of course!” I exclaimed, feeling abruptly foolish. Here I was, a grown woman, being carried like a baby. “Yes, please—put me down.”
“As you wish,” Krynn murmured and set me carefully on my feet.
I immediately felt like a little kid standing between two adults—both their heads were far above my own due to their immense height. I wished I was taller, though at five-foot-six, I had always felt myself to be a normal height for a woman.
But I didn’t have much time to worry about my short stature because Krynn was leading us forward to the corner intersection of two of the vast, mirrored walls. He tapped the corner seam three times and murmured a word in a language I didn’t know…yet somehow it sounded familiar.
“Hurry!” Seldarin muttered. “I can hear someone coming!”
I couldn’t hear anything myself, but just at that moment, a tall, narrow door which had been completely invisible before popped open in the mirrored wall. It seemed to lead into a long, dark corridor with no end in sight.
“You go first,” Seldarin told Krynn. “Then the Princess. I’ll bring up the rear in case of trouble.”
Krynn nodded and turned to me.
“Follow me, my Lady,” he murmured and ducked into the narrow doorway.
I did as he said, following right behind him and I could feel Seldarin’s muscular frame at my back. Then the big Fae shut the door behind him and the three of us were alone in the darkness.
6
