Page 29 of Golden Star

I stare up at him in shock, waiting for him to take it back.

He doesn’t.

“No.” I shake my head, begging him to listen. “It wasn’t like that.”

“You used water magic in liquid form,” he says coldly. “Summer magic. Which means you’re a summer fae on my lands.”

With that, he turns away from me and faces the knights.

Well, I suppose they’re technicallyhisknights.

“Blindfold the intruders,” he commands. “We’ll bring them back to the palace, so they can face my father, the king.”

Sapphire

“Wait—Riven—”I start, hoping to catch a glimmer of warmth, some hint of the man I met at the bar last night. The one who explained this realm to me, who made that deal with me to help me get home, and of course, who kissed me.

“You’ll be silent,” he orders, his silver eyes ice as they meet mine. “You’re lucky you haven’t been killed already. And you’ll address me by my title—PrinceRiven.”

With that, the knight closest to me steps forward, places a makeshift blindfold over my eyes, and ties it securely.

The world plunges into darkness, and panic rises in my chest.

“Please, don’t,” Zoey begs, although she’s quickly silenced.

“Zoey?” I ask, praying the knight didn’t hurt her.

“Your companion currently has a blade to her throat,” Riven—PrinceRiven—tells me. “One step out of line—from either of you—and she’ll be killed in a heartbeat.”

I freeze, as if I’m the one with a dagger to my throat instead of Zoey.

“Understood,” I say, ready to do anything they ask if it means keeping my best friend safe.

“You will not speak,” Riven says. “Either of you.”

I say nothing.

After all, that’s what he just told me to do.

“Good,” he says after a few painfully long seconds. “Now, we’ll begin our walk back to the palace.”

A heavy hand grips my arm, and I’m forced to move forward, stumbling over rocks and roots, my steps clumsy without my sight. I can hear Zoey being led somewhere close by, her breathing terrified and ragged.

We walk for what feels like hours. Each step disorients me further, and the hand gripping my arm never loosens, not even when I trip over root after root.

My heart pounds with every step. Not just from the physical exertion of using so much magic earlier, but with the overwhelming sense of betrayal and confusion.

Riven told me there wereothersin the Winter Court who would kill me for what I am.

He failed to inform me that he was included in those “others.”

He also failed to inform me he was a prince.

But the one thing giving me hope is that if he wanted to kill me and Zoey, he easily could have back in that clearing. He didn’t. I’m not sure what will happen when we talk to the king—I’m guessing nothing good—but at least we’re alive.

For now.

Eventually, the scent of the forest fades, and we’re walking on stone instead of the uneven earth.

---