Page 1 of Until the Stars Fall

Prologue

Lieke

I was still holding the bloody knife when they found me.

I didn’t know what they were yelling, because my attacker’s last words echoed in my ears.

I didn’t fight them when they grabbed me, because I couldn’t look away from the male at my feet.

I was no stranger to death, but facing my own was a different story altogether.

I still had hope, though, because I had a friend in the royal family.

He could save me. He could protect me.

But he didn’t.

His father flicked his fingers in the air and ordered the guards to take me to the dungeons, where I’d wait for the gallows. My friend didn’t speak, didn’t move except to look away from my desperate eyes, pretending not to hear my pleas for help.

He was a coward, and I told him that, screaming it across the crowded room.

This couldn’t be happening.

This couldn’t be how it ended.

A voice cut through the air, yelling, “Stop!” but it wasn’t the voice I had expected, wasn’t the one I wanted.

I might have been saved from the gallows, but how would I survive what came next?

CHAPTER 1

Lieke

Love killed my mother. I wouldn’t let it hurt me.

My mother died shortly after my father when I was barely old enough to understand. The healers said her heart had broken, weakened by the loss of her husband, and my young heart scrambled to protect me from the same fate. I promised myself I would never be one of those lovesick fools. I would never give my heart over to another or let my entire life revolve around someone else’s affections.

I held fast to that vow as I focused on learning my mother’s craft, taking her place in the palace kitchen, until the day the fae prince waltzed by. My heart never stood a chance with him, not when his smile rivaled the sunrise and his green eyes outshone the damned stars. We might have only been friends, but when he looked at me, I forgot my promise, and I nearly forgot I was a lowly human and a servant. I almost believed he would one day love me in return.

Then the queen died, and everything changed.

The nation lost their queen.

He lost his mother.

I lost my best friend to his own grief.

I tried to forget him and let him go. I might have succeeded too, if I hadn’t been stuck working as a cook in the palace. Unfortunately, it was one of the only safe places for humans in Emeryn, and it was the only home I’d ever known. So I stayed and tortured myself in the process.

“Where is your mind off to now?”

I looked up from the dough I was kneading—or was supposed to be kneading—to find Mrs. Bishop peering at me from under her long lashes. The tips of her pointed ears poked through her graying hair that was trying to escape the pins she’d attempted to tame it with.

“What?” I asked, trying to buy myself some time to find an excuse by pretending not to have heard her question. The head of the kitchen staff was kind enough, but I wasn’t particularly in the mood for her teasing today.

“You’re neglecting that dough as much as Prince Brennan neglects his duties, Lieke,” she said, pointing her finger at the pale lump under my hands.

“Oh, right,” I stammered. Why did she have to mention him? I shook my head—as if I could shake his name from my thoughts—and threw myself back into my task, slamming the heels of my hands into the dough before turning and folding it and repeating the movement.

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