I felt numb. Deep down, there was a part of me that yearned to fight back, to break through the melancholy that hung around my neck like a noose. But every single time a hint of it rose up within me, my sister’s unrecognizable, bloodied face flashed through my mind.
They had killed her. And the king had promised to do the same to my mother and Val if I even breathed the wrong way.
I could be reckless with my own life, but not with theirs.
He had done everything he’d said he would. Taken my spirit. Crushed it.
“Don’t forget your bouquet,” Maidservant said as she pressed a cluster of flowers into my hands. “Morgan had this made for you.”
I hadn’t realized Maidservant was there. I glanced down at the flowers. They looked like those tangled, messy bluebells from the forest beside my village, not the big, bright yellow ones in the square.
I frowned, wishing I could ask her if she was sure.
But my lips were sealed, and the music had begun.
Maidservant cast a nervous glance behind her, then leaned forward and whispered, “The king is about to give a speech. There is something for you in those flowers. Read it quickly, while they are all focused on him. Do what it says. Goodbye, Tessa.”
She swept through the banner, leaving me alone with my thumping heart. I glanced around. Morgan stood at the far edge of the banner, her eyes focused on the square ahead, her hand on the hilt of her sword. She gave me the tiniest nod.
All the blood rushed into my cheeks.
My fingers dove into the bouquet, and they brushed paper. Lungs squeezing, I pulled out two pieces of parchment, each folded into a square. Quickly, I read the contents.
The first was written in a tense scrawl.
Be ready. A fight will break out. When Morgan approaches you, don’t run away from her. Just do what she says. She’s getting you out of this place.
Maidservant
I crumpled the note in my fist, sucked in a rattling breath, and stared at Morgan. She didn’t meet my eyes, her gaze still locked forward, focused on the king.
Was this some kind of trick? How could this be real? Morgan was the king’s right hand. His sword. The fae who killed for him. She’d done everything in her power to keep me in line. Why would she ever break me free?
But then my mind went over those early days at the castle. All her warnings. The silent looks. Her ashen face at the ball.
I needed to read the other note.
When I saw the handwriting for this one, I nearly toppled over. I’d seen that familiar looping scrawl a thousand times. My heart flipped over. Val.
I hope this reaches you, Tessa. I’m taking your mother, and I am getting her out of here. We’re going across the bridge and into the mists. Morgan will bring you to us.
I love you,
Val
My entire body shook, tears spilling from my eyes, as I read Val’s note over and over and over until I could be sure I hadn’t imagined every word. Val had somehow gotten me a note. To tell me she was taking my mother into the mists.
I reached out to grip something, but all I found was air. Val had escaped the Kingdom of Light…but she’d run straight into something far more dangerous. The mists.
Footsteps sounded nearby. Shaking, I crumpled the second note and shoved both of them back into my bouquet, tensing when a looming figure stepped through the banner. It was Cormac, a fae who had been part of the attack on Raven all those days ago. I gritted my teeth as he sneered down at me.
“I can’t wait for the king to finally take you for his,” he hissed, with eyes the color of blood. Spittle dripped down his chin, and the smell that drifted toward me was sharp and tangy, like a thousand barrels of ale. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to spread my seed? Two hundredyears. And you took it away from me.”
Heart hammering, I cut my eyes to the side, searching for Morgan. If that fight was going to break out as some kind of distraction, right about now would be a good time. But King Oberon’s voice continued to drone on in the distance.
Cormac grabbed my chin and jerked my face toward him. “Look at me when I’m speaking to you, human. You stole that from me, do you understand me?”
My hands fisted by my sides. King Oberon no longer had any grip on my family. If I punched this fae, what could he do now? Kill me? Hardly.