We followed him from the horses and through the tight-knit arrangement of tents and huddled soldiers warming themselves around fires with embers that sparked and crackled in the air.

As we walked by, the soldiers bowed their heads to the prince and cast their curious stares my way.

While intimidated, I knew that this was just the beginning. Even dressed in traveler’s clothes, I stood out amongst them. A dark faerie hadn’t been welcomed by the light since the split of Rune in the First Age.

Prince Ewan led us to the tent we would stay in for the night. The whispers and stares from the soldiers reminded me of just how different life would be once we crossed over to the magic realm. I was used to being beheld with disgust, hatred, and fear.

These men—adored me. They even addressed me as your majesty.

I nodded to them, as grandmother had trained me to do. She’d done her best to prepare me for what was ahead, but I worried that there was nothing that would calm the butterflies fluttering in my belly.

We crunched along the icy shore, and Prince Ewan stopped just outside one of the larger tents made of canvas.

“Here we are,” he said, turning to me. “Wait until you see your private apartment in the palace.”

“Thank you, Prince Ewan,” Kala said.

We shared a look as he held the cloth door open for her.

A brief scent of burning coals wafted out of the tent, and I shuddered, eager to warm myself before a fire.

Once she was out of sight, he took my hands and brought my knuckles to his lips. They were cold and dry from the weather, but still sent heat up my arms to my face.

“I look forward to the morning when we can learn more about one another,” he said. “I have waited all of my life to meet you, and even though we have an eternity together, I simply can’t hold back my excitement.”

I smiled. “Neither can I.”

“Its been ten years since you’ve seen a proper sunrise, I gather,” Prince Ewan said.

Nodding, I looked to the sky. “I am quite eager to see one.”

“Allandria Castle is set in the center of the kingdom, but the towers stand tall and can see the countryside for miles. I’ll take you to my favorite place to see the sunrise and set once we arrive and get settled.”

“Do you miss your home?” I asked, stalling. I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye. We’d just met and there was so much I wanted to learn about him and where he came from. “Back in Ostrum?”

“Not really,” he said. “Ostrum isn’t nearly as opulent as Allandria.”

“And, your family?”

“Ah, well. My father probably barely notices that I’m gone. My mother passed when I was a child.”

“Oh, dear. I’m sorry to hear it.” Even though he’d mentioned the death of his mother, he still had it in him to smile at me, though I detected a hint of bitterness in his voice.

Shrugging, he looked ahead. “Nothing to apologize for, princess. It is life, isn’t it? I’m afraid I only have traces of immortal blood on my father’s side. Poor Mother caught ill when the plague came in from the merchant ships sailing from human territory.”

“Kala mentioned that,” I said. “It killed thousands.”

He snorted. “Probably more than that. Bloody humans and their diseases. Wait, your grandmother let’s you call her by her given name?”

I shrugged. “She’s always insisted.”

“Celeste,” Kala called. “It’s getting late.”

Blushing, I flickered my eyes up to his and sighed. “I suppose I should sleep now.”

“Yes. I suppose so,” he said, taking my hands into his. “You’re more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed.” He brushed my hair from my face before kissing my forehead.

Kala cleared her throat and he chuckled. I shrugged and held back another giggle of my own.

We were betrothed, but there were limits to what physical contact was appropriate until we were officially wed.

My cheeks heated at the thought of what would be allowed afterward, and reddened as I realized I was betrothed to two others whom I hadn’t even met yet. I hoped this grand plan the Guardians had devised would work.

“Good night, princess,” he said, with a slight bow, and left me to my rest.

I watched him stalk off into the dark camp and glanced at the pale moon. All of my life I’d suffered. Could it truly be my time for a reward for all that I’d been forced to endure?

Inside, Kala had shifted back into a dire wolf. She rested on the floor of the tent next to a stone pit filled with hot coals. “It's too cold to be a faerie on this night,” she said. “Won’t you shed your faerie form and join me?”

Sighing, I removed my cloak and settled onto the bed made for me on the floor. Wool and down padding was only a step better than what I’d slept on in prison. “You know I cannot shift,” I said.

She lowered her head to her paws and closed her eyes. “You will,” she said. “Give it time.”

As I pulled the covers over my body and head, I contemplated all that had occurred and what was to come. The Veil was all that stood in between me and the realm I would soon rule.

“Are we sure about all of this?”

“It is your destiny,” Kala said. “It’s what you were born for.”

“But,” I pursed my lips and reconsidered what I was about to ask. We didn’t talk about the darkness hovering above my head, but I needed to know. “What about the Unseelie?”

“Enough worrying, Celeste. They can’t touch us once we are in Allandria. Forget them.”

Closing my eyes, I drifted into a feverish slumber that reminded me that not everyone in the magic realm would be pleased with my return.

No, my very own tribe wanted me dead more than the humans. More than anyone.