Page 19 of Prince of Never

‘I didn’t realise you were so interested in my thoughts.’

I shot a look to the stars and inhaled slowly.Let it out.‘Speak, Imogen.’

‘Why do you do it?’she blurted out finally.

‘Do what?’

‘Take children from the human world.’

I cut a glace to her face, saw her frowning at the castle ahead of us, at the sharp spires piercing the night sky.‘There are lots of reasons.Fae children aren’t born often,’ I said, though I wasn’t sure why I felt like justifying this custom to her.I owed her no explanations.‘And they’re especially vulnerable.More so than human children.Sometimes, when a babe struggles to cope in this realm, with all the magic wreaking havoc on their bodies, their parents will take them to the human realm because they have a better chance of survival.’

‘Oh,’ she said quietly, almost an exhale.‘That’s terrible.Surely there’s another way you could solve that problem.You’re stealing children away from their parents.’

‘Iam doing no such thing.I have no children.I’ve never needed to place one with a human family.’

‘But your servants are human changelings.’

‘We have to do something with them when they’re swapped for the faelings.’

‘So you enslave them?’The accusation in her tone was needle-sharp and I bristled at the prick of it.

‘They are fed and clothed and given something to do.The ones who serve at Dreadhold should feel lucky that they aren’t at the Unseelie Palace.Their duties there would be far more unsavoury than scrubbing floors.’

‘That’s hardly an excuse.You can’t claim they’re treated well here just by comparison with elsewhere.’

‘I didn’t claim they’re treated well,’ I growled, turning on her.‘And why do you need to know?This has nothing to do with you.’

‘Oh, that’s right, because you’re going to kill me, so why do I need to know anything?’She stood her ground, glaring up at me with eyes that gleamed with starlight, her hair silvery in the dark.

‘I don’t think I’ll need to if you keep climbing down vines and sneaking beyond the walls,’ I retaliated.‘I could just wait for your own stupidity to get you killed.’

‘Then why don’t you?’

I didn’t have an answer for that.I didn’t want to highlight that instinct to protect her again.It felt strange and vulnerable and something to be ashamed of.Instead, I started walking.‘Hurry up or you can stay out here.’

After a pause, she followed, which meant I didn’t have to throw her over my shoulder and carry her back to Dreadhold.I would have appreciated a little giddy dust, though, if it meant she would stop talking.

‘What happens to the children left in the human realm?Do they ever come back?’she said after a few moments of nothing but the crunch of footsteps on the road.

‘Their parents go and retrieve them when they’ve matured.’

‘And the humans, what, just remain slaves?’

‘Cared for.’

‘Being forced to be a servant is no life compared to the one they should have had.’

I stopped dead at the foot of Dreadhold’s gate.‘If you’re hoping to appeal to some sense of guilt in me, then you weren’t paying attention at that tavern,’ I growled.‘They’re afraid of me for good reason, Imogen.Don’t confuse the fact that you’re still alive with any moral conviction on my part.And once we step foot inside these walls, I expect you not to leave again or I will show you just how afraid of me youshouldbe.’Her stare turned livid, drawing her brows down, setting her jaw.Good.It meant she was paying attention.

The sound of the gate creaking open broke the heated standoff, and I took a hasty step back.I didn’t know when we’d drawn so close to each other.I didn’t know why I was suddenly so aware of the fact that we had.But I was glad of the way the guard’s voice pierced the strange tension in the air, his overly bright greeting making me suspect it was his fault Imogen was on the wrong side of the gate in the first place.

‘After you,’ Imogen said, gesturing with a flair of what I could only have termedsarcasm.

I snorted at her nerve.‘Not likely.’I wouldn’t put it past her to try to make a run for it.

She rolled her eyes and walked in ahead of me.When we were through the gates, they closed behind us with a satisfying clang.I lingered by the gatehouse, ready to make it crystal clear that this particular girl wasn’t to be allowed anywhere near the walls, let alone beyond them, and Imogen didn’t wait for me.My gaze followed her as she marched up the stairs of the castle, clinging to the swing of her hips even as I derided myself for watching her.She was insolent and confounding and had a tongue too sharp for her own good.

But she wasn’t afraid of me.That much was becoming perfectly clear.

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