Page 21 of Blood and Roses

"You mean to make a prisoner of me, Unseelie? I could burn these bonds with a thought," she mocked.

"I would never want to imprison you, my queen. My power is no match for yours," he said as he ran his long body along hers, making her shudder with anticipation. He gripped her hair in his hands, lifting her pale white neck up toward him.

"Do you want to know the secret magic of the Unseelie, my queen?" he whispered against her skin.

"Yes...yes, my prince, tell me," she whispered, her eyes gleaming.

"Then you shall have it." Bleddyn watched her face change in fear as his teeth lengthened. Before she could cry out, he bit hard into her exposed throat, sucking the scream from it.

In her blood, he saw all the wards, the guards, and the ways to escape their underground prison. He saw the spells she hadcast, felt her magic in every drop. He saw memories and drew the one of the night of his father's death to him. He saw how Ryn Eurion had killed his mother and delivered the heart to the queen. He watched as she ate it, stealing all of his mother's magic into her.

He bit harder, his urge to kill more potent than anything he felt before, but he saw the magical ties she had within the palace itself. If she died, it would turn against them, and he and his brothers would never escape.

He drained her until all the youth shriveled out of her, and her true age was revealed. Red hair turned to white, her plump lips and body shriveling underneath him. A single drop of blood he left in her before he let the body go.

Upon the wall hung the sword of this dead father, and Bleddyn held out his hands, whispered a word, andWidows Furyflew from its bonds and into his hand. He heard it call out to him for Seelie blood, but he silenced it and placed a glamor spell upon it so none of his enemies could see it. He did not spare the queen a glance as he left her chambers.

"The queen asked not to be disturbed for the rest of the evening," he instructed her guards, and they shared a knowing smile.

Under the gaze of the Seelie courtiers and warriors, Bleddyn walked through the halls of the court, and he and his brothers escaped through the supply tunnels. Using the queen's magic, he passed through the wards until they ran out into the crystal night. They were so overwhelmed to see the sky and stars again that they stood in awe.

"Come, my brothers, our new world awaits," Bleddyn said, and they ran through forests to a doorway between the worlds. Not knowing where they were going or what lay before them, the three brothers took each other's hands and walked through thespaces of the world until they found the land of the creatures called Man.

They were free from the rule of the Autumn Queen, but she did not die as Bleddyn had hoped. She recovered her strength and sent warriors in between the worlds to hunt and kill the Unseelie that evaded her and the prince that tricked her.

She hunts them to this day in her relentless pursuit to try to reclaim what was stolen from her: her pride, her dignity, and her heart.

It was latewhen Rosa finished reading, her eyes burning and her throat dry. She touched the final page, an illustration of Prince Bleddyn holding a large black sword high, before shutting the book.

"Well, that's certainly a story I've never heard before," she whispered as she clutched it to her and carried it upstairs. She climbed into bed, the story twisting about inside of her, its roots hooking into her heart and soul and mind.

That night, she did not dream of the woman calling out to her, but of the Autumn Queen deep underground, surrounded by her vicious faerie warriors, her demented tinkling laughter haunting her.

Prince Bleddyn moved through her dreams, his eyes looking down at her, reminding her of someone as he took her in his arms and whispered, "He's dead, Rosa. I'm sorry, he's dead."

CHAPTER SEVEN

Rosa spent the next day in a blur. She had barely slept in the past two nights, and she found herself bumping into doors and hearing voices in the walls. She cleaned rooms alone, trying to get her mind together, but she ended up staring blankly out of the windows, wondering about faerie princes and whether or not the Autumn Queen was still angry.

You are going crazy, Rosa. It was just a story, no matter how real the dream seemed.

Upon waking, she had remembered the last time she had heard the words from her dream. She was a little girl, and Eli had picked her up to carry her away from her father's body.

"He's dead, Rosa. I'm sorry, he's dead," he had whispered as he had held her tightly. How could she have forgotten that?This crazy house is getting to you, Rosa.

Being back in Gwaed Lyn was making the long-buried feelings and memories rise, forcing her to remember.

You can't run from them forever, Rosa. It's time to grow up and know the truth.

She knew she had to ask Eli about what had happened with her father's death. Something wasn't right. She didn't end up seeing either Eli or Balthasar that day, and she felt strangelygrateful about it. She needed a decent night's sleep before she talked to either one of them.

That night, Rosa went up to the attic to put the letters away. In the chests, she found two small portraits of Balthasar and Jane. She took them downstairs and placed them on her bedside table.

"Don't worry, guys. I will find out what really happened to you and stop getting distracted by messed up fairy tales," she said feeling emotional and a little foolish. The paintings were beautiful works like much of the art in the Vane mansion. Rosa climbed back into bed and picked up the portrait frames. One side was of dark-haired Jane with her pale blue eyes. She had a sweet look on her face and a soft mouth. The other one was a familiar serious face with high cheekbones—Balthasar Senior. She stared at it for a moment longer before she propped it up under the lamp and grew frustrated when it wouldn't sit up straight. She flipped the portrait over and spotted something sticking out the back of Jane's picture.

Rosa took out her nail file and gently pried the back apart. A sealed letter dropped out from behind it and onto her lap. It had been tied with a black ribbon and sealed in wax. Rosa opened it, and a clipping of a small obituary fell out. She read that Jane Louise Rutherford had died by drowning while visiting the Lake District with family.

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