CHAPTER FIVE
ARABELLA
The Queen was younger than I thought she would be, with raven-colored hair and flawless skin. Everything about her was unblemished, from her perfectly coiffed head to the last layer of her red gown. Matching the hue of her guards’ ensembles, the Queen’s skirts weren’t made of plain fabric. Each layer was a slightly different shade of crimson and boasted a different pattern—stripes, spots, vines. Some were embroidered so their patterns stood out. Others glittered.
The bottom of the gown was so wide, the seat of her throne could barely contain it, but her waist was tiny and she sat perfectly upright, like she had a rod in her spine preventing her from slouching. Her hair was a glossy dark brown that was pinned elegantly at her neck. The crown she wore was golden, but also not plain. There were tiny engravings in the metal. Words, if I was right. I wished I could read them. When I tried, they disappeared.
When I looked down, her eyes were waiting.
They were hawkish, scanning me from the tip of my head to the soles of my boots. A cold chill worked its way up my spine as the silence thickened between us. The man next to me was quiet, so I heeded his cues and kept my mouth shut.
When my fingers trailed to the still-stinging wound on my neck, the vibrations coming from the rabbit man became violent. My eyes trailed from him to the Queen. If I could feel it, so could she. My eyes flicked to the white-haired man.
What the hell is happening?
He rattled violently beside me, whimpering and panting as if he was in pain. By the time she finally opened her lips to speak, the man beside me was breathing so hard, I thought he might faint. She finally tore her gaze from me and turned it on him instead.
Slowly, she eloquently proclaimed, “You’re late.”
“She was slower than I expected, my queen,” he blubbered, jabbing an admonishing finger in my direction.
He’s blaming this on me?
“You set the pace, rabbit,” I snapped. If this was a life or death trial, I wouldn’t allow him to throw me into the fire. My blood wouldn’t smear the tile if I could help it. I was as keen on saving my skin as he was.
The Queen smiled cruelly. “You led her through the woods.”
He answered shakily, “The storm you sent was more violent than I anticipated, my queen. Lightning struck a tree just outside, and we would have been here earlier if it wasn’t for that. It destroyed the hedge and she lost sight of me for a few moments. She, a frail human, had to recover from such a frightening event, Majesty, and I didn’t dare reveal my form until we were closer to the castle. She is as untrusting a human as I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t my fault. I’ve only ever been your faithful servant,” he groveled.
“Was it your fault, girl?” the Queen sneered.
The hair on my arms raised and a tense energy filled the air. “No, it wasn’t,” I affirmed, turning to the coward beside me. “If you were truly trying to lure me here, why couldn’t you turn back into a man and throw me over your back? You looked like a human in Brookhaven.”
The man tensed.
“Brookhaven?” the Queen queried with an eerie lilt. “When were you in Brookhaven without my permission, Glenlyn O’Hare?”
“O’Hare?” The name slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. O’Hare raised his chin a notch, but kept his beady eyes on his queen. The Queen didn’t acknowledge my presence at all, too focused on the man beside me.
His nostrils flared rapidly as he tugged at his collar. “I was on leave and simply ventured out to visit the tavern, my Queen. I enjoy taking trips to observe the humans. It was completely harmless.”
“You’re a liar!” I exploded. “You sold my brother some sort of glittery faery dust. I don’t know what he gave you in return, but Oryn bought it from you. I know that much. I watched you give it to him when you met him in the tavern.”
The Queen became very still and the entire room and everything in it felt as if it was collectively holding its breath. Slowly, she asked a single question. “You’ve been selling faery dust to humans?”
O’Hare began to blubber, and beads of sweat sprang out across his forehead. “I would never…”
“Glenlyn O’Hare, choose your words wisely, for they may be your last. Lie to me, and I’ll eat your tongue.”
He wringed his hands on his fine coat, crinkling the cobalt fabric. “Only this one time, my queen. The human and I got to talking, and he explained that he was a hunter and wished for something to keep him safe while in the woods. So, I gave him a little faery dust. Just a touch, mind you.”
“Dust you stole from me,” she elaborated.
“Stealing is such a harsh word,” he simpered. “And I did not take from your stores, Majesty, but rather from my own allotment.”
“It wasn’t the first time you’d met my brother,” I interjected.
“How do you know this?” the Queen demanded, somehow managing to sit up even straighter.
“Because my brother drew a rabbit in the earth outside the tavern. That was some sort of signal for you, wasn’t it?”
O’Hare’s cry echoed across the ceiling as he lunged for me, but right before he reached me, an invisible wall appeared between us. One he couldn’t claw his way through or find a way around.
“You know the rules, and you know the punishment for treason, Glenlyn O’Hare.” The Queen flicked her wrist and the guards began marching toward him. Like the coward he was, O’Hare tried to run for it. He was fast, able to jump out of reach before the nearest guards could catch him, but he wasn’t fast enough to outrun them all. He was apprehended before he reached the door and dragged back in front of the Queen. She scolded him for his cowardice before bellowing her order: “Remove his head!”
My mouth hung open as two guards pulled me away from O’Hare’s side. A golden sword appeared in the hand of one of her men, and with one fell swoop, O’Hare’s head was chopped from his body. It landed with a dull thud on the floor as golden fae blood sprayed and gurgled out of the stump that used to be his neck. The guards who had been holding his body upright released it and let him fall carelessly to the ground.
My heart thundered.
If I would have known that selling faery dust was punishable by death, I would’ve kept my mouth shut.
“Your heart is troubled,” the Queen remarked casually. “Why do you feel guilt when he was clearly trying to blame you for his tardiness? He would have been glad to see your head on the floor in place of his.”
“Why is tardiness such a crime?”
“Because my time is precious, girl.”
I could see O’Hare’s head in my periphery. The tang of his blood filled the air, and I could taste it on my tongue. Fae blood wasn’t metallic like human blood, but sickly sweet like honey mixed with sugar, so saccharine it turned my stomach.
Closing my eyes, I tried to wake myself up. This had to be a dream, a nightmare.
The Queen clapped her hands loudly and my eyes opened. She stood and straightened her piles of skirts before carefully descending the golden steps that led to the dais. Crossing the tile with a click, click, click, click, she stopped before me. “Would you like to join Mr. O’Hare?”
“Are you asking me if I want to die?”
“That’s exactly what I’m asking.”
“No,” I choked out. “I don’t want to die.”
“You were chasing my hare,” she accused. “You were going to kill him, to skin and eat him. Were you not?”
“I didn’t know he was yours. I didn’t know he was fae.”
“Things are rarely what they seem,” she responded casually before pursing her heart-shaped lips together. “I sent him to you, you know. I knew what your needs were, and I sent him to tempt you. But you are to blame. You chose to be tempted. You chose to follow him.”
“Why would you do that, and why would you be angry with me for doing exactly what you wanted me to?”
“Anger doesn’t need reason, girl. It just is. And to answer your question, I found you because your presence is needed here. I was going to ask you to participate, but now you must play if you want to live.”
“Play what?” I scoffed.
“A game, of course,” she answered ominously. “You will have a teammate. You must work together to solve the clues I give you every day for five days. If you die during the course of the game, your partner will be put to death. Conversely, if your partner dies and you manage to somehow survive, you will be executed. Survive together until sundown on the fifth day, and I will give you what your heart desires.” She closed her eyes for a brief moment and then opened them, a smirk forming on her lips. “I see trunks filled with riches. Is that all it would take to fulfill you? Gold and gems?”
“It would help,” I rasped. “Do I get to choose my partner?”
One side of her mouth curled up. “You do not. I have already chosen him. More correctly, his heart chose you. And yours chose him as well.”
“His heart chose me? Who is he?”
She motioned to one of her guards. “Bring in the human prince.”
Prince? I turned to the massive doors through which I’d entered the room and watched them part. Two guards dragged in a man whose feet limply pushed at the ground as he tried to work them. His head hung down, but I knew those clothes. I knew his shape and knew that when he raised his head, his obsidian and gold eyes would be looking at me. Glenlyn O’Hare had pretended to be him. I should’ve known it wasn’t.
I did know it wasn’t. Deep down, I knew it wasn’t him.
“Why did you hurt him?” I whispered.
“Do you even know his name?” the Queen asked.
“No,” I breathed, but my heart ached to see him like this, broken. When he managed to raise his head, one eye was swollen shut and his cheek had been sliced open. Bruises marred every inch of exposed skin. Even on his hands and feet.
“Hearts are beastly things,” the Queen inserted. “Fae and human alike are capable of feeling love, and every heart is tethered to a select few others. There are tethers that bind parents to children, and the hearts of siblings and friends. But one tether is stronger than the rest. Humans speak of soul mates, and so the strongest tether would be exactly that. He and you share this strongest of tethers. Your hearts are bound. It’s why you feel something for him, though you know very little about him.”
There was truth in her words. I didn’t know why or what was happening, but the wind was knocked out of me when I saw him being dragged into the room. And it wasn’t just because of the shape he was in; it was because it was him in that shape.
“What if I don’t want to play your game?” I questioned.
“You will be executed,” she announced with no emotion, gesturing toward O’Hare’s head. “You are guilty of tardiness and have wasted enough of my time. Besides, our prince needs to be taught an important lesson.”
“And what lesson is that?” I asked.
The Queen locked eyes with me. “You will see soon enough.”
“And you’ll provide me with riches if we manage to win?” My stomach churned. This could change everything. Father would stop obsessing with finding Mother. He could move on and stop drinking, and Oryn and I could stop hating him and move on. This could fix everything. This could mend us all.
“I will give you what your heart desires above all things,” she replied mystically.
“And you’ll let us both go if we survive five days?”
She smiled. “Of course.”
The young man shook his head, speaking for the first time since he was dragged in. “Tell her you won’t play.”
“I can’t do that.” My head would roll and bounce against O’Hare’s if I didn’t. Besides that, I couldn’t watch him die. I’d never be able to live with myself if I let that happen.
“Just let me play alone, Coeur. Please, let her go.” The young man struggled against his captors, panting. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. I knew the Queen had no intention of letting me out of the castle alive. If I declined her invitation, she would kill me. My only option was to play her game. To play, I had to survive.
I’d never seen a faery before, even though Oryn told stories to warn me out of the woods. But I remember what he told me: don’t trust them, be careful how you word things, never eat their food or drink their wine, and never, ever play games with them. The Fae were legendary tricksters.
“You promise to let us go and not kill us if we win your game?” I asked her again to be sure.
She rolled her eyes. “That’s what I said, human. If you win and survive together until sunset on the fifth human day, you will be set free and I will reward you with the thing your heart most desires.”
I looked at my partner. “What’s your name?”
“Carden,” he rasped, his voice quivering uncontrollably. “And I’m telling you to run, Arabella.”
My name on his lips was like a plea and a prayer all at once. I knew playing was our only way out of here, if it was even possible in the first place. But if I was doomed to die, I’d proudly die at his side fighting for a better life.
He groaned as an invisible force tightened around his ribs. I heard the cracks, one by one, as they strained beneath the pressure. The sound was like the snapping of dry twigs.
I reached out to him, only to be held back by a similar force. “Your answer,” the Queen demanded.
“I’ll play! Just stop hurting him!” I yelled angrily, desperate to stop his pain.
The force, controlled by the Queen, released Carden and he collapsed bonelessly to the ground.