"What is this place?" Tristan asks, and there's no more awe in his voice. I can almost feel him shuddering.
And I can't reply, because I don't know. But I have a very strong guess, and I don't like it. For the first time in my life, I would hate if I were right.
CHAPTER 11
TRISTAN
The fae hasn’t looked like Kayn for days. He still doesn't look the way Cassandra described him — he's hornless, and looks pretty much human to me, which can only mean one thing: he's using that glamour magic, and I hate how easy it is for him to lie and pretend to be someone else.
"Can't trust a person like him, alright?" I tell the puppy sitting next to my foot. He looks up at me, cocking his head. "I mean a person who can take anyone's face. They can't be trusted."
Oreo blinks a couple of times, then his attention flicks back to Cassandra. The fae has taken to teach her how to call her powers, how to control them. I don't quite understand what she does, but I do see the shadows moving around her. It's unlike anything I've laid my eyes on. The darkness curls away from every surface, darting at Cassandra and disappearing into her body. Prince then makes her repel the shadows back, and we're involved in darkness for mere seconds before it's gone and Cassandra's heaving, bent at her waist. It goes like this as the sun climbs the sky, and Oreo, filling up even when he still doesn’t eat, lies down and naps.
The fae turns his back to Cassandra's panting form and ambles to a desk near a wall. He plucks a glass of wine from it and sips, but the frown on his face reminds me of the boss and how impatient he got when I couldn't accomplish my tasks as fast as he desired. This very office reminds me of the boss'. Though the walls and floor are wood, the dark desk and the high back chair behind it is exactly the same.
I lean against the threshold to a balcony, overlooking that weird forest full of fog. Cassandra thinks it might be the Rift, and she told me about how Kayn and the fae both want her so she can access it. I hate how I know so little about the world. I was a child when the boss took me, and he never cared about teaching me much. Definitely nothing about the world outside, not when he thought I'd never experience it. The books I had access to were old, mainly treaties and things the boss didn’t care I would consume.
Closing my eyes, I let the memories of the past wash over me. I don't even know how long it's been. For how long have I been working there, slaving away, seeing nothing of the world. When I was a teenager, I fought. I tried to escape hundreds and hundreds of times. Punishment came swift and hard, every single one of them, until I gave up. Until I knew the boss was too powerful, too in control, and I would need a miracle to get out of there.
And then she appeared. Beautiful and fierce like a lightning storm.
"You're going to stand there the entire day?" The fae asks, and I open my eyes to glare at him. He doesn't like me, and I don't like him, and we don't pretend otherwise.
"Is there a problem?" I shoot back, gaping at him from over my nose. He's shorter than me, and I'm sure I'd beat him up easily in a fight. If he didn't have all that magic apparatus. He carries a necklace that keeps him safe, and he used it to create some sort of barrier the other day. But if I'm fast enough, I know he won't have a chance.
The fae curls his nose, his face turning into a mask of annoyance. "If you're thinking of attacking me, you better give up already. The reason I brought you to this office is because it's the best protected place in the house."
I arch an eyebrow. "It's a library." Or it looks like a library, though Cassandra and I had already visited another room in the house with plenty of books too.
The fae clucks his tongue, rolling his eyes. "This is not the library. This is obviously my office, and I keep the most important books in here." He motions for the glass-encased volumes.
"Why are these books so important?"
The look of annoyance he shoots at me makes me want to punch his sharp nose in. "Someone like you wouldn't understand, but when you live hundreds of years, knowledge and history become an important thing."
Cassandra straightens her spine. “They look old.” She cranes her neck, gaping at the books around us. Some as leather-bound, yellow-paged, and fragile-looking. Others look even more ancient. There are more than a few rolled parchment pages. “Is there anything on the Cursed Realm here?”
“Of course.” The fae walks past her, too close for my taste. He strokes his fingers along the shelves, eyes on the books. “Fae take pride in learning their history. It's important when your leaders stay on the throne for hundreds of years, if not more."
Cassandra cocks her head. "So fae are immortal?"
"No, but we live long. Even with the advent of royal families, there’s fierce competition for the thrones. Though we enjoy long lives, we still die when attacked the right way. Having knowledge of your past and the past of your enemies, and a powerful bloodline may be the key to keeping you alive."
"Do you have family here?" she asks, looking around for I don't know what. Maybe picture frames? Indeed there are none. "The others call you ‘master’."
The fae's face turns hard, and he looks out the balcony, around my body to the forest in the distance. "My family is back home. You'll meet them when we get there. A bunch of selfish, hypocritical, brainless creatures. They don’t deserve the throne, and they don’t deserve the magic they’ve inherited."
"They sound amazing," Cassandra adds with a mocking smile. She steps closer to the balcony, reaching a hand out to me. I grip her fingers back, enjoying the warmth of her. “Is that the Rift? The barrier into the Cursed Realm?”
The fae nods, turning his attention to her. “For thousands of years, all lived in harmony. Humans knew where they belonged in the food chain. But once Mages came up, the balance shifted. Some say the Shadow Mages are hybrids between human and Dark Fae.” A shrug. “That tale is lost. Once humanity started to thrive, they complained of some issues. They disliked how they were used in the Cursed Realm, so the Shadow Mages stepped forward, creating rules to keep humans safe. The Twilight Fae, for some reason, agreed.”
Cassandra cocks her head. I notice how her forehead glistens with sweat, and I hate how hard she’s working. “Wait. So Shadow Mages were guards?”
The fae sways his head from side to side. “More like… No, not rulers, because the Cursed Realm has too many different species and too many kinds. No, Shadow Mages were… Enforcers. They made sure the rules were followed.” A wave of his hand. “The Twilight Fae were the guards. They stole some of our land with the excuse of creating a wall between the Cursed Realm and this one. That’s why their territory is between the two.”
“Alright.” Cassandra nods, looking as if everything is definitely not alright. Is she somewhat pale? "When are we going?"
"Soon, I hope." The fae turns to her and raises a hand. I tense, expecting him to slap her or something, but he just tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. Somehow I hate it either way. My heart flutters in rage, and I swallow a growl. At least Cassandra seems as taken aback as I am. She literally takes a step away. "Let's get your powers under control. You'll have to open the barrier, and we'll need you to command shadows better than you do today."