I slammed my fist against his door, thudding four times before he answered. He pulled the door open, and I slumped down the wall. My eyes were heavy, bloodshot, and tearing up from the arrowed sunlight through a small window. This part of the castle was nicer than the west wing. It was close to the front, still far away from the rest of the royal family, and kept for visitors. Caspian would have been one of the first fae guests who hadn’t been dragged to be tortured.
“You look like hell!” Caspian exclaimed, his eyes wild. When he extended his hand, I gripped it and he pulled me to my feet.
“Yes,” I admitted. I’d only had a chance to change and hide the blood-stained dress before heading out. Not that it mattered, I always looked like hell, as he’d so eloquently put it.
“Have you changed your mind?” He tugged at the collar of his white shirt and looked me up and down. “Love?”
“Yes.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “I am so happy to hear it.”
“Wait.”
His eyes widened. “Yes?”
“Please understand that although I agree to help you, I cannot let you take Berovia from us or start a war.” I looked around the emptying corridor. “But I can do more. Please.” I gestured behind him. “Invite me in.”
He moved out of my way. “Please, Princess, come in.”
His pants had been thrown on in haste. They were unbuttoned and wrinkled. Averting my eyes, I looked around as he closed the wooden door. A rug stretched out to the corners of the room, which was much smaller than mine. A window, reaching from the ceiling to the floor, looked out to the gardens. A dressing table, white, marked and scratched, sat across from his bed. A mirror hung above the table, reminding me of why I had come.
“You were right. I am cursed.”
He grinned. “I knew it.”
“Careful.” My expression darkened. “That smile could cost me a nation.”
“Was that flirtation?” He feigned shock. “I didn’t know you to be capable of such a thing.”
I exhaled slowly. “Neither did I.”
He sat on the end of his bed. “You’re a natural.”
I held my hands behind my back, fumbling my fingers. “The curse was confirmed.”
“By whom?”
“No one important. All that matters is I’d been made to look like a beast to the world, and until you, I had no idea.” I inhaled sharply. “Every time I’ve seen my reflection, I’ve hated myself. I am the embodiment of a monster.”
“Oh, Evangeline.”
“Don’t pity me.”
“But I want to.” He had kind eyes, the type that made a small part of me want to let him.
“Tell me. How do I remove it? You’re a faery. You must know.”
He looked up at a gold lamp that hung between two pictures, one of boats on the sea by the castle, the other a wood, with knights riding through the trees. I wondered where his mind had gone as he stared away blankly. “A curse can only be undone by the one who cast it,” he explained. “To rid you of it, we first must find who placed it on you.”
I tapped my finger against my chin. “The only ones I can think of who would do such a horrid thing to me are my family, my father in particular. He hates me.”
“No man can hate his own child that much.”
I swallowed hard. “You have met my father, correct?”
He chuckled. “I see your point, but, wait.” He stood, then pulled out a chair for me to sit on.
I took my seat and he took my hand in his. Kneeling in front of me, our gazes locked, and I’d never felt so vulnerable.
“I’m sorry, Evangeline, that you have had such a lonely life and have been betrayed by your own blood. Nobody deserves what you have had done to you.”
I touched the side of my neck. “I deserve it.”
“I do not believe it.”
He had such light in his eyes, and he had been the first to see it in me. I couldn’t tell him the truth; I was a murderer. I may not have been ugly on the outside as was perceived, but on the inside, I was the wretched thing I’d been cursed to be.
“Help me,” he said, breaking me from my dark thoughts. “If not to start a war, then to release my people from the dungeons. Take the Sword of Impervius from your father. You know it is the right thing to do.”
“The only weapon that can kill a fae,” I stated.
He shook his head, then stood. “Not the only thing, but one of two. There is a dagger that exists too, but it is under our protection.” He paced in a circle, holding his hands behind his back. “Kai created the five objects to being balance to the world. Immortality cannot truly exist. It is against nature. When we were created, so were the weapons that could end our lives.” He looked down at his hands and the rings that shone from his fingers. “It is a mercy. No one should be made to live forever.”
“He has three of the five. There have been whispers that he has been searching for the other two. Don’t you understand what will happen if he finds them? He will become invincible.” Caspian looked manic, even with the shadow over his face. His back faced the window, the sunlight surrounding him like a bright aura. “He is an unjust man—cruel, as it shows by what he did to you, his own daughter. He will hunt us. Bring the fae to our knees.”
I pressed my hands together, then rested my chin on the tips of my fingers and let out a long, weary breath. “I am not an advocate for how the king rules. In fact, I oppose his means. However, I cannot condone your people’s weakness. One sword can’t slay you all. With a little organization, you could fight back. You have the numbers and the ability to heal yourselves, and you can’t die. Don’t you realize the army you hold? The numbers we have, the vast armies, are nothing but a delusion. We are mortal.”
His lips parted, then his jaw slacked. He stared over the top of my head for a good minute before blinking. “You’re right.”
A part of me wished I hadn’t enlightened him. I could have started a revolution, although their fatal flaw wouldn’t allow it. They were the definition of chaos. Starting a war wasn’t in their blood nor was violence.
“We do not wish to engage in battle unless absolutely necessary,” Caspian said quickly, solidifying my thoughts. “You do, however, hold truth. All we wish to do is keep our land and take our people back from where they have been mercilessly held.”
“How did you know?”
“You think my king does not have spies here at court? Not all sorcerers hate us.”
I curled my lips together, behind my teeth. “I will help you get them away and remove the sword from my father’s possession.” I held a finger up, pausing him. “But I will not hand it over to your king. I will keep it, lock it away…”
He stopped pacing and sighed relief. “I am in your debt, Evangeline.”
“Can you do something for me, in return?” I asked, itching the back of my neck.
“Anything for you, love.”
His words sent tingles down my spine. I couldn’t help but smile. “Tell me what I look like. I’ve not seen myself without the curse.”
“Oh.” His cheeks reddened.
“Did I embarrass a faery? Surely, it’s not possible.”
He gestured me to the bed and sat beside me. Looking deeply into my eyes, he blew out a long breath and pulled his lips into a smile. I wanted to touch the golden strands that looked like silk on his head, but I restrained myself.
“Why do you wear a tiara now but did not in the gardens when we met?”
“Oh. I don’t wear it when I think I could be seen by the king. It would just anger him.”
“Yet they let you keep one.”
“Discreetly. I think it’s just to keep me quiet. Appease me.”
He puffed his cheeks out and ran his hand through his hair. “When this is done, you can wear your tiara all day long and in front of anyone.”
I laughed, then flushed red. “Please. Would you?”
“Yes.” He regarded me carefully, pausing on each feature. “Your eyes.” His gaze softened. “They remind me of winter. The middles are the color of evergreens from our region, and the circle of black inside them embody the early night that comes with the season. Surrounding them is the most vibrant white, like freshly fallen snow. I feel like I am looking out upon frosty forests and tall mountains from my travels to the north of Magaelor. I could lose myself in them.” His eyes flitted back and forth from each iris. “Beautiful and framed with midnight-black lashes.”
My heart skipped a beat. “I was going to say yours reminded me of the sea.” I let out a tense breath. “Now I fear I must go write a poem or sonnet about them as I cannot do justice to what you said about mine.”
He laughed, and the sound tinkered around us. “We are known for our words.”
“What about my skin?” I asked, picturing the abrasions, puss-filled spots, warts, craters, and scars that greeted me in the mirror every morning.
He ran his hand down my cheek. I flinched, and he moved his fingers away. “Soft, dewy, with a few freckles around your petite nose.”
“Petite?” I asked, trying to envision it.
“Yes. Then there are your lips.” The way he looked at them made my heart pound. “Your top lip is pointed into two small peaks and is a little thinner than the bottom.” He ran his finger over the thin skin, sending shockwaves through my body. “This one is plush and the color of the roses that grow in the gardens.” His gaze trickled back to look at me. He leaned in closer. “Your hair is golden, like sand on the beaches. It’s woven like silk, falling straight around your shoulders with only a touch of waves between the strands.”
My breath hitched. I could have drowned in his words. They rolled off his tongue, melting like chocolate. “Anything else?”
He grinned. “Alas, I am a gentleman, and I will not comment on, um…” He looked at my figure, then shot his eyes back to meet mine.
I laughed. “How considerate.”
“I can be much more than considerate.” His expression hardened, his words losing their mischievous edge. “For a girl like you, I could be your freedom if you allowed it.”
My stomach dipped, and my chest sank. Dizziness fuzzed my thoughts. I was unable to focus on one for more than a second before I lost it.
“Don’t think,” he whispered. “Please.”
He brushed his lips against mine, sending tingles through me. Flickers of touch ran between us. We waited on the edge of anticipation, drowning in each other’s eyes. The urge of the kiss took over, and we clashed together. He deepened the kiss, running his hand through my hair. I felt lightheaded. He ran his hand down my back and pulled me against him, tangling us both in a lust all-encompassing. He rested his forehead on mine once we pulled apart. “That was the best kiss,” he said, catching his breath, “I’ve ever had.”
I bit my bottom lip, still tasting him. “It’s the only kiss I’ve had.”
His eyes shone, more so from the sunlight pouring into the room. “I have searched for the longest time to find someone with whom I could share my heart.”
“Wouldn’t we get in trouble for this? Sorcerers are not allowed to be with a faery. It is prohibited.” Questions tainted my tongue, but I was still lightheaded from the kiss. It dizzied me. I felt like I had drunk several glasses of Abarini.
“I didn’t take you for the type of girl who would care.”
“I don’t.”
“Then let’s run away together,” he begged, tangling his fingers between mine. “Help me free the others and take the sword. As far as I am concerned, I will have fulfilled my promise to the crown, and you would have got revenge for what they did to you. Then we can flee.”
I couldn’t think straight. It felt like I’d been sucked into a whirlwind with no chance to breathe.
“Come with me,” he said pleadingly. “There are so many uninhabited islands we can live on. I know we haven’t known each other for long, but the moment I saw you, I knew you were the one for me. There is a light in you, and it lures me like a moth to a flame. You are my flame.”
Never had I seen someone bare their heart so openly. His stare burned with a desire that frightened me. I didn’t know love or even flirtation before him, and now I had it all. It made me vulnerable, for he was wrong. I was nothing but darkness. I was afraid what would happen if I went with him.
“Are you playing me? Manipulating my heart?” I whispered.
“You don’t trust me.”
“It’s hard for me to trust—”
He squeezed my hands. “Take a chance on us. You can trust me. I know all you’ve had is hurt, but not me. I would never.” A small smile tugged his lips. “I never thought I would find love either, yet here you are. We can find peace, together.” He seemed so happy. I couldn’t bear to say no, and truly everything in me wanted to take him up on his offer. I wanted deeply to believe him and trust him, but there were so many obstacles in the way.
“Love?”
His eyes rounded. “Love.”
My breaths quickened. “You are immortal,” I stated. “I am not. I will age, and yet time for you will pass slowly.”
His eyes widened. “Then let us take the ring from the king. You could live forever with me.”
“I don’t want to live forever.”
He squeezed my hands. “The sword means we can die when we are ready. Don’t you see, Evangeline?” His voice went up a whole octave. “It is as if destiny has laid out everything for us. It was meant to be. I grow surer by the minute.”
My master’s voice sounded in my mind, jolting me. Pain pinched in my head, screeching through my skull. “Do not throw away everything for fleeting desire. Tell him no.”
I closed my eyes, forcing him out with every ounce of strength I had. When I opened them again, tears had hazed my vision. “You have been so kind.”
His eyebrows drew together. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“But I can’t leave here.”
“It makes little sense to me either, but this feels right.” He placed his hand on my chest, over where my heart was racing beneath. “Tell me you don’t feel what is between us.”
My thoughts flickered to the murdered girl, then the necromancer and my father. I had too much baggage. To find love and be happy was a fairytale I could not fall prey to. It didn’t happen to girls like me.
“I will help you free the others from the dungeon,” I said. “Then disarm my father.”
He smiled, dimpling his cheeks. “If that is all you will offer, then I agree, but…” He leaned in, placing his hands on my shoulders. He smelled like rain. It was so evocative. “I must do this.” He leaned in again and brushed his lips against mine. “I will not relent in my feelings for you. You are afraid because you have been hidden your whole life, but you deserve joy, and I know you care for me as I do you.”
“I do.”
“Then give us a chance. We don’t get the pleasure of courting first because of who we are, but I promise I will treat you well.”
“I believe you will,” I said slowly, fumbling my thumbs. I wanted to be happy, to enjoy the moment. I felt my heart weakening to him. “I have not allowed myself a second of joy in my life. Perhaps just a day.”
His expression softened. “Kiss me again.”
I squeaked when he grabbed me and pulled me into his arms. “I’m going to show you the world.”
My cheeks burned. “I have been so blessed to have you come into my life, now.” As the words left my lips, uneasiness settled in me. What if the necromancer hurt him because of me?
“Don’t think.” He grinned. “I know that face. I’ve seen it on others when trying to talk themselves out of something.”
I placed my hand on his chest. “I’m not.”
“So, how will we get the sword from the king?” he questioned.
“Simple.” I twirled my fingers, and my magic smoked black, waving up through the air.
His eyes widened. “I’m confused.”
“It’s a different type of magic, one that cannot be bound by the elements or channeled using relics. It is not one that cannot be used to harm. It is unlimited, and with it, I can bring the guards of the dungeons to their feet. With it, I can force my father’s hand and win. I cannot hold off a kingdom, but I can do enough to get you what you need.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Beautiful, powerful, humble, and kind. How did I deserve this?” He smirked. “Let us get to work then. Let us bring freedom and justice to a corrupt kingdom, if only for a day.”