Page 165 of Bride of the Fae Prince

It’s time to bring an end to the High King’s reign once and for all.

And bring down all of Faerieland with him.

Chapter 63

The Princess

I refuse to cry.Somehow, I knew this was going to happen. I knew last night was our last together. My heart is a conflicted storm of hating myself for being so petty as to not want Ash to see my gray skin after being poisoned, for not asking for the one thing we had deprived ourselves of since our marriage—while simultaneously being glad to be spared the multiplied pain that I would have suffered if I had.

At some point, I give up screaming for my husband. I give up fighting Edvear. He’s not as strong as Ash, but he is still far stronger than I am.

This is how things are unfolding, apparently.

Edvear is taking me to the servant’s exit in the gardens where Ash and I were dancing. I’m leaving Faerieland. The Ivy Mask will take me . . . somewhere. Probably not to the human worlds, if they’re to be razed tomorrow. But if I am taken back there, perhaps I can warn my family in time to help them escape?

I need to be careful about this and not lose my senses, even if I want to just curl into a ball and cry over my broken heart. SoI keep my eyes and ears alert, my glamours ready at a second’s notice.

I want to take Ash by the shoulders and give him a ferocious shake.

Instead, Edvear is quickly navigating through the palace corridors, taking the quietest routes with the least traffic. Still, when we come upon a split in the hallway and Edvear takes me toward the right, I frown.

“Shouldn’t we be going left?” I ask, glad I always paid attention when Ash walked me places.

“There’s a short-cut in this direction,” Edvear replies.

And my nose instantly fills with iron-stink.

It’s so shocking, I almost give into a coughing fit. Instead, my face contorts—and would have given me away, if Edvear was looking at me.

Shock hits me, followed by such a profound certainty, it almost makes me freeze in my tracks.

Edvear lied to me.

He isn’t taking me to the Ivy Mask.

Hewas the one who betrayed us. Not one of the human servants Ash and Oleria hired from the Small Cities.

I know why he did it, too. His words from yesterday ring through my head.

“Surely there has been enough death!How much more can we endure? How much more until we admit the High King is the High King and we cannot gainsay him?”

Dread fills me to the brim. I need to get out of here. I need to somehow escape Edvear, and I cannot let him realize that I know he betrayed me. First, however, I need to find out the truth of his betrayal.

“Did you see what happened to Oleria?” I manage to ask. “Through your mirror?”

“Yes. Milton was there, spying for us again. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was horrifying.”

All of it rings true.

Which means . . . it’s possible he didn’t betray us of his own will. Perhaps he was forced to.

But perhaps the knowledge about Oleria wasn’t the first thing he leaked.

His grip doesn’t slacken on my arm as we reach a spiral staircase that opens into the night air. Surely, he doesn’t think me so stupid as to believe climbing a staircase will get us closer to the garden on the ground level?

I need to get out of this.

Think, Stella. Think, think!

---