Page 5 of On Wings of Blood

I bit my lip to keep the hysterical rise of laughter inside. Would this man trulywhipme? I, who had until recently, been a princess of Camelot and a royal fae.

I might as well reply, I thought. Not with the truth though, of course.

“I don’t know,” I lied.

I wasn’t about to tell him I’d dropped in from another world after destroying my own grandfather, who may or may not have been the closest thing my world had to a god. And besides, whatever I’d used to accomplish that feat, I was pretty sure hadn’t managed to come along with me.

I hadn’t wanted to fully acknowledge it before, but the truth was... I felt weaker. Oddly empty. Dare I say it? Mortal.

Still, there was obviously something about me that had drawn these soldiers’ attention. They had said I was different. What was it that marked me out?

“Why are you taking me with you? Do you always accost innocent women you find on the road?”

He was silent for a moment. “You speak as if you don’t know who I am. What were you doing in that place?”

“I got lost,” I said blithely. “And I don’t. Know who you are, I mean. Should I? Know you? I mean, besides knowing you’re an asshole?”

He grunted as if annoyed, but didn’t raise the whip.

“It’s unbelievable to me that you can truly be so ignorant. But then, I suppose you’ll find out everything you need to know soon enough,” he said cryptically. Then, “Oh, fuck,” I heard him mutter.

I looked up to see a soldier jogging towards us. He was of a small, frail build and wore round wire frames lined with glass on his face. Spectacles. I had seen some of the nobles back home wearthem before. I gazed at him with curiosity and he stared right back at me, as if completely agog.

“My prince,” he gasped. “I was told you had found...” He eyed me. “Found a woman of interest.”

“I suppose you could say that,” the prince drawled. “She’s not that interesting, Lucius. Quite dull, in fact.”

I ignored the jab.

“But... her hair,” the soldier called Lucius wheezed. “The color. It’s incredible. Absolutely incredible, my lord.”

That again? So itwasmy hair. I touched a hand to my head. I’d been told my fae mother had vibrant purple tresses. Not that I’d ever seen her hair. She had died giving birth to me.

In comparison, my hair seemed to have settled into a dull, rusty red.

More than once I’d thought of carrots when I looked at myself in the mirror at night. Right now, the curls were tangled and bushy. My fingers tugged at them but it was pointless. I needed a brush, a comb. And a hot bath. At the thought of being clean and warm, a slight moan escaped my lips.

“Prince Drakharrow, do you have any idea what this means?” Lucius whispered loudly. I had begun to think of him as a kind of secretary. He was certainly toadying up enough to be one. “You must take her before the court. Why, she might even be...”

“We’ll wait to speak of it,” the prince-commander interrupted. “I’ve already sent a messenger ahead of us,” he admitted, almost begrudgingly.

There was a tension in his voice that told me he knew very well what the other man meant. He just didn’t want to acknowledge it. Not yet. Why? What was it about me?

“Excellent news, my lord. Excellent. I knew I could count upon your wisdom.” I felt the toadying little secretary’s eyes drilling into me. “I can only imagine the stir this will cause. Just look at her, my prince–her hair is truly... well,red.”

“Yes, I can see that, Lucius,” Prince Drakharrow snapped. “I have eyes. Red hair. It is indeed red. Well, we’re bringing her back with us. The court will investigate the meaning of her appearance and settle the matter. It’s all very tedious. Now we must return early without finishing our investigation into the matter of the village. But what can we do? I live to serve.” I could almost hear his eyes rolling in annoyance.

“Pardon me. Am I boring you?” I hissed, turning to look back at him. I yanked on my chains. “I suppose this is just an ordinary day for you. Leading people around in chains.”

He ignored me.

“Very well. As you say, my lord,” the secretary-soldier said hastily, also ignoring my outburst but shooting me a shocked glance. “It is a true honor to be in your company as you return with such a very prestigious captive.”

“I’m not a fuckingcaptive,” I snarled, spinning about to face the man.

The secretary gasped and backed away, tripping on a rock and nearly toppling over in the process.

Behind me, Drakharrow snickered. The first sign he might be something resembling a human that I’d seen. I looked back at him and glared.

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