I pushed my way through to the dark space underground with cages lining the wall, all of them empty except for one. Elisia sat on a thin mattress hugging her knees to her chest. Her eyes were red from crying, but  it appeared she’d run out of tears.

A guard sitting at the entrance nodded at me as I passed. I stopped at the gate and unlocked the door. The creak of it opening brought the woman’s eyes up, and complete terror shone back at me through her black pools.

I stared at her, ignoring the emotions pleading through her eyes at me for mercy. “It is time,” I announced.

“Please…” she whimpered, pressing herself tighter against the wall she leaned on.

This once I wished I could respond to her plea with affirmative. I’d walk out to the courtyard empty handed, telling the crowd she’d died in her cell while she’d disappear into the night outside our reservation.

“I’ll make it quick,” I said instead. “You won’t feel a thing.”

A shaky nod and two attempts at standing up later, I was leading her towards the main courtyard where two nights ago we’d celebrated King Grath’s marriage to Siya.

Now this same place would bear witness to an organised murder.

Elated roars and laughter reached us even before we left the dungeon. If there was anything that a death fae enjoyed just as much as taking a life, it would be watching someone else’s life being taken.

Even Elisia being one of us, this occasion was a festivity to many. It excited a lot of fae in our court, and it should’ve excited me just as much, but as we walked to the centre of the yard that was left empty, a crowd of spectators curving around it and filling up the escape route behind us, my eyes couldn’t help but search for Isay.

I found her standing next to Queen Siya, flanked by Ferro and Regar, the latter throwing a lopsided grin and a wave my way. That bastard. The king had an arm around his wife, but she still kept gripping at his vest for dear life. The queen looked agitated, but her daughter was even more so when her eyes met mine, before I pointedly turned my gaze away.

A pang of guilt twisted my stomach and made a bile rise to my throat. I swallowed, but it did not wash back down.

Let’s get this over with. I stopped slightly off-middle of the ‘stage’, because I didn’t want to be any closer to Isay. I also did not want her to see my face, so I turned my back on her completely, looking at Elisia’s trembling form instead.

“Any last wishes?” I asked quietly.

She offered a slight shake of her head, then a nod, and I waited, but nothing came out of her lips. I waited a little longer until the crowd grew restless. Then I simply couldn’t wait any longer. I put my palm against her cheek, felt her flinch, felt her ecos fighting me, then did the one thing I knew was a certain way to get her to lose focus and give in. A sure way to make Isay hate me if she didn’t already.

I pressed my lips against Elisia’s and felt her ecos rush to me, filling up every untouched place within. And then she crumbled into ashes at my feet.

I took a deep breath when the ashes settled and felt the extra life force thrumming through my veins. It wasn’t as strong as the first time I’d collected from her, but it added to the magnificent thrill of being full to the brim.

I couldn’t stop the grin that spread over my face at the taste of so much ecos.  It was divine, but also painfully wicked.

Not turning around, for I didn’t need Isay seeing my reaction, I walked out of the courtyard with hollers and cheers following me. Several fae patted me on the back as I walked by as if I’d done something incredible. I suppose I might’ve, as nobody else could access the ecos within another death fae. Nobody but me.

Chapter 8

ISAY

LOUD THUMPING CAME FROM BEHIND MY DOOR BEFORE IT WAS thrown open and Prince Hiko invaded my privacy. I jerked up in bed, pulling my covers with me and gripping them to my chest, cold fury mixing with hot coals of embarrassment in my stomach.

“What are you doing? Get out!” I shrieked, shoving back to put at least some semblance of space between us.

He didn’t give a damn as he marched straight to my bed, took hold of the border of my blanket that hung over the edge, and yanked so hard the part I was still holding onto loosened from my fingers. He then discarded the whole thing on the floor at the foot of my bed.

“Rise and shine, Princess. We’ve got things to do.”

“We?” I bit back at his venomous tone. “Since when am I part of ‘we’?”

Crossing my hands in front of my chest only highlighted my boobs, and while I did wear a silky nightgown, it suddenly felt too thin to protect me from Hiko’s stare.

He showed no interest, however, and just barked at me, “Since me and my men need to follow your every move. Now get up. We are not going to wait on you.”

Heavens, I knew he was a moron, but I still hoped I was wrong. The only one I’d felt any connection to was Karmuth, and after last night I knew it was wishful thinking. He was as bad as the rest of them, if not worse. He’d told me—no, promised me—that the kitchen maid would be all right. Dead was not all right!

“It appears your bed does not have a right side to wake up on. Perhaps you should consider redesigning your quarters?” I was bitter all right.

I’d believed until now that my room was off-limits. It was the one place I felt a sence of of safety, where I didn’t need to appear strong or avoid others. Because others would not be in it! But now that belief was horribly crushed, and I’d never feel safe again.

You could have five looming bodyguards, you could even have seventeen, all the good it did if they were all death fae taking pleasure in completely draining people dry.

I had a staredown with the prince, still sitting on my bed as he impatiently waited for me to get up

“You go do what you do. I’m not planning on going anywhere today.” I sneered.

“Not an option.” Hiko was about to reach out and grab my ankle to pull me off the mattress the same way he’d done with the blanket, when I slithered away from his grasp and slid off the bed on the other side. Having it between us did not feel reassuring enough. The ring on my finger throbbed faintly and stayed warm, but I wasn’t going to trust it. If Hiko really wanted a go at me he’d find a way.

“Fine,” I huffed, not moving from my spot on the other side of the bed. “It’d be faster if you’d wait outside.”

“Fine,” he snapped back and marched out, leaving the doorway wide open behind him.

Idiot.

Making sure Hiko stood with his back to the doorway I quickly changed to baggy pants and a t-shirt combo that was comfortable but not as dismissive as sweats.

The prince was still staring at the hallway wall opposite my door when I walked out, then immediately set off when he noticed I’d joined him, expecting me to follow without question.

Oh, I did have questions, but I wasn’t going to voice them. Having any sort of exchange with Hiko would be bad for my confidence and my confidence had taken a huge drop already within the two weeks of my stay at the court thus far.

We left the palace in complete silence and headed towards an area separated from the rest with low walling. A wide-open space gaped in the middle, while off to the side several dummies stuck out of the ground on decent-sized poles creating a thin forest. It was a training field of sorts. The rest of the warriors already stood there waiting.

I avoided looking at Karmuth. Didn’t care to look at any of them, really. I’d escaped the courtyard soon after I’d seen the kiss of death performed right before my eyes that commenced the gathered fae into a raving mass.

I didn’t see Karmuth on my way through the crowd that parted like I carried a plague letting me through without a hitch, so unlike they’d received Karmuth.

I stopped short, not moving forward from the barrier pointing out the start of the training field, instead sitting on the carelessly laid limestone wall. It was just high enough to perch on top of with my feet still touching the ground.

Apparently, I was to bear witness to their fighting session. As if they hadn’t scared me enough last night, I now also had to see their physical prowess. You know, in case they couldn’t get to my ecos, (which now was momentarily protected by the ring), they could still give me a swift death by force.

I stood at a disadvantage no matter how you looked at it, so I decided to at least stand as far away from them as I could.

“What’s she doing here?” one of the warriors asked, not the bald one that Karmuth had called a Rottweiler, but the other one.

He was shorter than the rest, which did not mean he was short at all, and his broad shoulders more than made up for it. When he looked my way, there was a glint of something dark in his eyes I didn’t recognise in anyone else’s, Sinister included. An unease creeping up on me suggested he was one to look out for the most.

“Couldn’t leave her wandering around the grounds all by herself,” Hiko replied sullenly. “Father’s orders.”