Page 3 of Royal Captive
The ceiling stretched on and on above me, painted with fantastical scenes of things I’d only ever read about in storybooks–unicorns, mermaids, and streaks of purple magick. I nearly ran into the guard because I was so busy taking everything in. The ceilings were so high! Lola would havetons of room to practice flying! How did craftsmen even build something so high?
My boots were soft on the polished, shiny surface of the floor, but the fae’s boots had a hard, metallic piece on his heel that left a satisfying clacking noise with each footfall. The stark difference between this and the silent footsteps of the other fae sent a clear message: that this fae was a master of his domain; this was someone who, despite the massive sword at his side, didn’t need to fight or hunt. He wanted everyone to know he was coming.
Whowasthis fae?
“Your Highness! I was just looking for you. We brought—”
A fae with bright blond hair rounded the corner, his face breaking at seeing the fae and then utter confusion at seeing me. He cut himself off soundly. I stared at the gold tunic, the gold eyes, and the gold jewels that winked at me, embedded in his fabrics.
Wait. ‘Your Highness?’
“Continue. Ignore her,” my Ellis-look-alike fae commanded. Because it was a command, and not a request. Oh shit, who was this guy? Why was I in his castle? Maybe I was just in one of the other realms, and not all the royal family members had been murdered? That had to be it. I desperately hoped that was it.
“Have the prisoners brought to the throne room to be dealt with,” my fae ordered, and the blond bowed. His long hair fell forward over his face in a pale curtain, the two front pieces braided and clipped back away from his face. It stressed his pointed ears.
“Yes, of course.”
The fae turned on his heel and fled down a side corridor. My fae made an impatient hand gesture at me.
“Come along. The show is about to start.”
I opened my mouth to argue that I wasn’t particularly up to being ‘dealt with,’ but then I remember he’d said I wasn’t a prisoner. Then who was? Was it a lie? Or a trap? It would be best to keep my mouth shut until I had a better lay of the land.
Two armed guards opened massive oak doors that were as tall as five men. The fae confidently strode into the massive hall, but I stumbled as the guards glared at me with such hatred that I wondered if I had mud on my face. My fae walked up the long walkway to a raised dais that was eerily similar to the one in Ellis’s castle. He sat down on a throne, crossing his ankle over his knee as if he had all the time in the world.
Shit. King Fae.
I tried to follow, since that was what he’d told me to do.
“Don’t you dare approach the dais, human filth!”
I’d had enough experience being shoved around by fae that I twisted around in time as I saw a guard moving out of the corner of my eye. He only caught part of my side as I writhed away, but I still lost my balance and tripped into a group of three fae standing in front of the throne. They all screamed like I was a leper and fell over. The guards near the door grasped the hilt of their swords and moved forward.
“Stop.”
Everyone froze as the king held up a hand, his silver eyes boring into mine. A smile broke out across his face, but it wasn’t warm or comforting. It was as cold as the winter lands Ellis and I had crossed together.
“Leave the human. We have bigger priorities.”
As if on cue, the massive doors opened again, and a dozen guards marched through with three figures between them. Cassus and Ferar looked worse for wear, both sporting bruises and dried blood up and down their soiled clothes. Ferar looked much less intimidating without the arsenal of weapons around his chest and waist, but his scathing glare could curdle milk.
It was the third figure I was worried about.
“Ellis!”
I tried to rush toward him, but the guards pushed me away, raising their weapons threateningly, but not drawing them. My hands balled into fists. Calm. I needed to be calm.
With determination, Ellis stared ahead of him, but he looked relatively unharmed. His face twisted through a dozen emotions when he saw me–shock, disbelief, anger, sadness, then resignation. Though compared to Cassus and Ferar, he looked practically pristine. His clothes weren’t dirty and dingy like mine were from my little stay in the dungeon, and he didn’t have any injuries that I could see. His eyes flashed and his head turned the slightest bit toward me when I called out, but the next second a scowl stretched his mouth and he glared ahead.
Ignoring me.
What, did he think pretending not to know me would do either of us some kind of favor?
Ooh, that son of a—
The guards pushed Cassus and Ferar to their knees in front of the king, their hands tied roughly behind their backs. Two more continued to guard Ellis. I stayed where I was, standing awkwardly between both groups. The guards and other fae were trying their best to ignore me after their king’s command, but their wrinkled noses and looks of disgust were enough to tell me how they really felt about my presence. Never had I felt more self-conscious. Not even when the other girls at home had made fun of my old clothes and my thicker figure.
The king smiled, fangs bared. “Bring the new one.”
