Page 65 of Blood and Roses

The company was in an old, twisted forest. Tall stone monoliths stood all around them, glowing softly in the night and charged with power. The Seelie hurtled wildly through the forest until they came to a mound. The stone rolled away, and they were plunging into earth tunnels, the Seelie singing with one another. The holly vines kept Rosa on the horse as she was swallowed once again by darkness.

Rosa woke to the sound of dripping water. The vines were gone, her arms bruised with long stinging stripes. She was in a cell, surrounded by wet rock walls. Her hands and feet were covered with mud and blood, her dress reduced to a shredded mess of fabric. She sat up slowly, her whole body burning, and pulled her knees protectively to her chest. Tears spilled down her cheeks as helplessness overwhelmed her.

You are a prisoner in Faerie, Rosa Wylt, all because of your name. You don't know what they want from you yet, so it's best if you don't panic unless you have something to panic about.

Her hands were tingling and burning the way they did when Eli removed Celyn's hex. She put them on the ground to cool them, and she felt something move out of her skin and into the rock.

Another spell of Eli's?Rosa dismissed it, cradling her hands back to her chest.

"I see that you are finally awake, little rose," Celyn said through the bars. "Tell me how you like your fine chambers and lavish furnishings."

"Are you glamored or am I? I'm in a cell when I've done nothing wrong. So much for the hospitality of the fae." Rosa got to her feet, her anger drowning out her fear. "All I did was help you when you asked, Celyn. I was an innocent bystander. What gives you the right to take me? I'm not part of your stupid war with the Gwaed Gam. I am their goddamn servant!"

Celyn shrugged. "You are a Wylt. You say you're only a servant, but I know how upset Bleddyn and his bastard became when I asked about you. There's a connection between you. Worse, there is love. You are a prize, spoils of battle with the Unseelie Prince. It will be like an arrow tip lodged in his ribs forever to know that we have you."

"So I'm just stuck in this prison until I die?"

"If that is what the queen wishes," Celyn replied, inspecting his dirty hands. "She might decide to send your pieces back to Bleddyn. I'm hoping she gives you to me as a pet. What fun we could have together."

"I doubt it."

"I would be a better master than many she could throw you to."

"I don't know why she would wish to throw me anywhere."

"You are a slave. You have no voice or rights. I don't know what magic of Bleddyn is helping you see through the glamor, but we will?—"

"The queen wants to see the prisoner," a guard stated, appearing at the edge of her cell. He was very tall and wore elaborately designed plate armor. He carried a shield and a lance and looked ready to use both.

"I can escort her," Celyn said as he straightened.

"But the queen asked me to do so. She is concerned that you have become too attached to what is not yet yours." The guard ignored Celyn's loud complaining as he opened the cell and waved his lance at her. "Come, human girl."

Rosa got up to follow him, ignoring Celyn's hungry gaze. Maybe she could convince the Queen of her plight, and she would send her back to Gwaed Lyn? She remembered the fairy tale and doubted it. Eli had embarrassed the queen, and over a thousand years later, she was still angry.

The guard led her through the cells, and she tried her best to block out the sights and smells around her. She could feel Celyn's eyes burning into her with a hunger that made her want to gag. He no longer smelled like her favorite things. He smelled of blood and death. She pushed Celyn from her mind and thought about Balthasar.

Would he be worried about her? Would he even know that she had been taken?She thought about the way his face had changed, the way he had fought with such skill and ease. She knew what his reputation was, but now she had seen first-hand why he had earned the name Leiddiad.

Where did the Balthasar she knew go in the heat of the fight?The lover, the writer, the painter had vanished. In its place was a vicious creature wearing one of his perfect suits. He had torn Seelie apart with his bare hands, but they had still managed to capture her.

Was he still alive?Rosa shut the thought down at once. Balthasarwouldbe alive. He would know what to do.

Rosa remembered the night she was attacked by the wolves and of Balthasar telling her about the portals. Her ribs tightened painfully. Even if he did know she had been abducted, there was no way he could come after her. Celyn was right. She was a slave, and there was no escaping the Aos Si without the help of one of the fae.

The guard opened a large door, and cool fresh air washed over them. Rosa's eyes burned from the sudden light of thousands of candles and lamps. The hundreds of fae crowded in the magnificent hall cleared a path so that Rosa and her escort could make their way through.

A large party was being held, and everyone was drinking, eating, and having a good time.Too good of a time, Rosa thought as she spotted two fae having sex on one of the many couches.

There were magical creatures of all shapes and sizes amongst the normal fae. Rosa spotted a Minotaur in the crowd and heard animals talking to one another in growling whispers. Above her, a griffon sat on a gilded perch, watching her as if she was a rat to be hunted and consumed.

The crowd parted, and Rosa found herself standing in front of a raised podium. Ryn sat on a low chair beside a throne of gold. Sitting on the throne was the most heartbreakingly beautiful woman Rosa had ever seen. The queen had porcelain skin without a single mark or blemish. Her vibrant flame hair hung around her milky shoulders in perfectly coiffed waves.

Cerulean eyes sized Rosa up. Her delicate rosebud mouth looked plump and moist, begging to be kissed. She wore a red dress that showed off the ample curves of her body before falling around her like the folded petals of a scarlet rose. On her head, she wore a crown of gold, magenta, and purple flowers. Just tobe in her presence made Rosa feel like she was a filthy maggot, a poor, dirty serving girl, a fat ugly failure.

"Kneel before the Autumn Queen," the guard demanded.

Rosa's knees buckled, and she obeyed, almost too afraid to look up. Ryn was watching her with amused interest.He is not a king after all, Rosa observed with a touch of stolen satisfaction,merely a consort, still desperate for a crown.

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