Page 87 of Crown of Slumber

We were out of time.

Aurelia was pulling the dark hood over her face when I burst into the room. Her face was still sticky with blood and tears, but she looked more resolute and determined, and her eyes were clear. She nodded once, and we hurried through the hall and down another smaller set of stairs. Something banged loudly behind us—a door crashing open perhaps—and we quickened our pace.

At the bottom of the stairs were two doors, and I faltered. I had never been this way before.

But Aurelia had. She shoved past me. “This way.” She threw open the door on the left, and we hurried through. It opened to small patch of grass facing a sloping hill. In the distance, I recognized the royal stables.

That was when the warning bell sounded. The chime rang out through the kingdom, blaring against my ears.

Nausea churned in my gut, but I couldn’t dwell on it. I couldn’t think of how I was now an enemy to this kingdom. Mother would be so furious.

We had almost reached the stables when Aurelia suddenly stopped short.

It took me a few steps to discover she wasn’t beside me. I turned to her, my eyes wide with panic. “What are you doing? We have to move!”

“I need to speak with Callan.”

I stared at her. “Are you insane? He’ll have you imprisoned on the spot!”

“He won’t. I know him. I need to speak with him.”

I swore, turning away from her and running a hand through my hair. “Aurelia, you areimpossible.If we linger here, we will be caught and tried for assassinating the king. You know this.”

“If we flee, we will only look more guilty!” she argued. “And the Autumn Court will invademy kingdom. My kingdom which currently has no defense, no armies, not even a royal family. Fenn, if we leave, we are sentencing my court to death.”

I drew closer to her, placing my hands firmly on her shoulders. “Aurelia, listen to me. Even if they did attack your court, you have your dragons to protect it. But I don’t believe Callan will let that happen. That foolish prince is in love with you. He won’t seeclearly, and he will direct his rage to me and my kingdom. He will attack the Star Court first. I am sure of it.”

She blinked at me. Clearly, she hadn’t considered this. “But… Tyrone was inmychambers.”

“Did you hear me? Callan doesn’t think clearly when it comes to you. And he knew his brother was paranoid, claiming someone was after him. Heknowsit wasn’t you. But it would be easy for him to believe it was me. Or someone working for me. He will convince himself that I’ve poisoned you, turning you against him, brainwashing you into believing you are in love with me.”

Clarity sparked in her gaze, her eyebrows lifting. I could tell I was convincing her.

Shouts echoed nearby. Alarm raced through me, and I took her hand. We sprinted for the stables, rounding the corner and nearly colliding with the stable hand.

He was a boy, likely no older than sixteen. He yelped in fright, staggering backward, the bales of hay dropping from his arms.

I stepped forward, but Aurelia grabbed my arm and hissed, “Don’t kill him!”

“I’m not going to kill him,” I said, shooting her an incredulous look before turning to the trembling boy. “You didn’t see us.” My voice turned low and ethereal, with an echo from my fae magic pulsing around us. “You fled from the stables when you heard a strange noise.”

The air thrummed with power, making the hairs on my arms stand up. I sensed Aurelia staring at me in horror, but I couldn’t meet her gaze.

“Leave now,” I said, layering more magic onto my voice.

The boy stared at me with wide, unseeing eyes. After a moment, he turned on his heel and stalked off, leaving the hay strewn all over the ground.

I rolled my shoulders back with a loud exhale, and the thrumming in the air stopped, replaced only by the chill of night and the clanging of the warning bell.

“What the hell was that?” Aurelia demanded. I finally turned to look at her. Her eyes blazed with anger and the hint of betrayal.

My stomach dropped at that look. I knew she was re-evaluatingour every encounter, wondering if I had used my powers on her before.

Whatever trust we had established was now broken.

“I’ll explain later.” I ducked into one of the stables and retrieved a large white stallion. “Come on, he’s already saddled. Probably belongs to one of the courtiers from the ball.”

I swung atop the horse, but Aurelia hesitated, still visibly shaken by what I’d done to the stable hand.

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