Page 45 of The Forgotten Princess

He starts to pull his hand away, but I hold onto it tighter.

“One time, after I forced my emotions on you, you told me that if I was going to feel it, so were you. You wouldn’t let me manipulate your emotions to make it better.” I give him a pointed look. “I feel the same way, Devin. I want to feel what you are. How else can I make it better?”

“But what if I have emotions so strong that you accidentally lose control of your elemental powers?” he asks.

“I won’t lose control,” I promise him. “I know that I haven’t been training with Winter for very long, but I’ve got good control over it.”

He studies me like he’s not sure if he believes me or not. And I get it. It wasn’t that long ago that I lost control of my powers and caused an earthquake.

When we arrive at the castle, we don’t go through the front entrance like I expect. Instead, we take a side entrance. My stomach is in knots as I realize we’re going into the same room where the court session was held last month.

Is King Hastings back? Is he trying something through the Alpha Council again?

Damian leads us inside. Devin holds tightly onto my hand and I can feel that he’s anxious, but he’s also determined. Whatever this is, I know he’s going to protect me. I equally want to do the same for him. No matter what this is about, Devin and I are in this together.

Inside, the room isn’t set up the same way as before. Instead, there is a large table in the middle of the room and lots of chairs surround it. The power that I feel the moment we walk in makes my legs shake.

There are alotof alphas in this room, including King Basilicus, who is crazy powerful. I nearly stop in my tracks when I notice King Sanguis sitting among the alphas.

King Sanguis is the leader of the vampires. They’ve historically not interacted with other supernaturals and have kept to themselves. They don’t want to fight with anybody or ally with anybody. The fact that he’s here means something big must be going down.

Devin and I sit down, me between him and Damian. King Basilicus sits across from us. He smiles warmly when he sees me, which calms my nerves.

Nobody in this room has negative emotions. In fact, they seem excited about something, which is contagious. I feel my body relax. Even Devin’s shoulders seem to loosen a bit. He must be able to feel their emotions through me, or he can at least feel that I’m less anxious.

King Basilicus stands from his chair as he addresses the room. “Today is an exciting day, not just for the Alpha Council, but for all supernaturals, especially the dark fae.”

My heart thumps a little faster.

Is he going to announce that King Hastings is dead? Because that would be a relief.

No, there is no way. Damian would’ve told us that. This is about something else.

King Basilicus looks at me. “In the history of dark fae, a female heir has never been born. But over five hundred years ago, an oracle told of a female who would take the throne. She would be the one to free the dark fae from their harsh rulers.”

An oracle? Why have I never heard about this before?

Then again, if there was a prophecy like that, my father would want to hide it. It must be why he kills every single daughter that is born.

Looking back on the royal bloodline, there has not been a girl born to a dark fae king for hundreds of years. I was the first. It makes me wonder if all the kings did what my father does. They must be trying to prevent the prophecy from coming true.

“King Hastings has ruled for far too long. We should’ve stepped in long ago, but we will not allow what is happening to continue. That is why, from this point forward, King Hastings is considered a wanted criminal. The council no longer acknowledges him as king of the dark fae,” King Basilicus announces.

I look at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to think.

Is he serious? He must be. He wouldn’t just say this.

But what does that mean for the dark fae? And what does it mean for me?

King Basilicus focuses his gaze on me. “We would like to officially invite you, Tori Hastings, to join the Alpha Council as Queen.”

My heart pounds faster and my ears begin to ring. “Are you serious?”

He nods. “We’ve never given a seat to the dark fae. But you are going to change everything—you already have. The dark fae have started to fight back against King Hastings, even when he threats to punish them. They are wanting a change and you are the one who will bring change to them.”

I glance over at Devin. He’s got a huge smile on his face and I can feel the pride coming from him.

He’sproudof me.

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