The shadow figure lowered the violin and turned to me. "Please sit. I will be there in just a moment." Ezra's voice projected from the figure. I jumped from the shock of it, then took my seat, my eyes never left the figure. It played once again.

  After a few moments, Ezra walked out with a bottle of wine in one hand and two glasses in the other. "Good evening. I'm sorry I am late." He sat the two glasses on the table next to me and popped the cork. "This is a sweet white from my family's vineyard." He filled both glasses, took his, and headed to his seat.

  He sipped his wine and his free hand sat on the table, with his nails tapping against it.

  I took a sip of mine as well and let the sweet, effervescent taste wash over my tongue. "I wanted to thank you for saving me." I had not been able to get the attack out of my mind all day. Nor could I forget the softness he showed me after the attack.

  "As long as you are a guest in my castle, I will strike down anything that tries to harm you." Fire burned in his ice-blue eyes, and my core melted.

  He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. Like every other time, the fae servants brought out dinner. They placed a plate in front of me, and a savory scent hit my nose. The most beautiful beef wellington sat on top of mashed potatoes with a side of roasted carrots.

  "Would you like gravy, my lady?" The servant asked as he presented a silver gravy boat.

  "Yes, please," I said with a smile.

  He poured the gravy on top of the meat, and I watched as it pooled, and then dripped down the side. My mouth salivated, and I could not wait to devour it. Taking my fork and knife, I cut into the wellington, taking the medium rare meat into my mouth, which almost immediately melted. I could taste the savory umami of the mushroom duxelles as it hit my tongue.

  Ezra leaned forward. He had not even touched his food. I sat down my fork and stared back at him. Swallowing hard, I leaned back into my seat.

  "Why are you looking at me like that?"

  "Do you like it?" He questioned, his focus flicked down to my plate before returning to my face.

  "Yes, it is very good." I raised my eyebrow. "You have never asked that before. What did you do to it?"

  He leaned back in his seat, and his shoulders relaxed. "I made it," he said in a soft tone.

  "What?" My jaw dropped and my eyes widened.

  "I prepared it," he said again, this time a little louder. "You told me to surprise you, so I cooked tonight's meal."

  "This is absolutely delicious! I did not expect a king to know how to cook." I picked up my fork and knife and continued eating.

  "My younger sister taught me." He finally picked up his fork and started to eat. "She wanted to be a chef, not a princess." He let out a soft chuckle, and he looked off in the distance. The sad expression on his face told me everything I needed to know. We stayed silent for a little while as we ate.

  "I am sorry about your family," I finally broke the silence. "Gil told me what happened."

  Ezra's gaze snapped toward me, and fire returned to his eyes. His lips pressed into a straight line. We stayed there for a moment, gazes locked before his face softened and returned to sadness. "Just another thing the curse has taken from me." He shrugged and continued eating.

  "You never told me why the fae were cursed."

  Ezra clenched his jaw and twirled the fork in between his fingers. "Long ago, a human girl crossed into Orilon and met my grandfather. She told my grandfather life across the portal was terrible and she never wanted to return. He provided her refuge within the castle and they fell in love. When her sister came looking for her, she begged my grandfather to keep her safe." He stabbed the fork into the dark wood of the table. "My grandfather lied to her, saying her sister died. That the wilds of Orilon claimed her. In a fit of rage, she cursed the fae to turn into horrible beasts. Turns out, she was no mere human, but a sorceress. Over the years, more and more fae turned into these creatures."

  I could feel my heart break as he spoke. I thought the fae to all be horrid creatures, but the monsters I feared were created by a human. All along, it was the fae who wanted to keep a human safe.

  "She added only one way to escape the curse. The fae king would bear a strange mark," he continued. "He would have five hundred years to find a human with the same mark and fall in love. My grandfather was the first to turn into the vox as soon as the curse was placed. He had no hope of finding the human with his mark. Even if he did, it wouldn't matter. He loved my grandmother more than anything in this universe."

  His grandmother was human. The man who I feared, who hated humans, and ruled over the fae, was part human.

  "My father never gained his mark. I had nearly given up before I found you. This was my final year to find someone with my mark."

  He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and revealed an eight-point star birthmark under his collarbone.

  It matched the one on my wrist perfectly.

  "So, when you saw mine…" I said softly.

  "Yes," he nodded. "I am so terribly sorry to pull you into this mess. You now understand time is truly of the essence."

  "I understand." I took another bite and looked away.

  "Let's talk about something lighter, shall we?" He gave me a soft smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "How about some dessert?"

  "Sounds lovely," I smiled back at him.

  Twelve

  I was so excited when Poppy told me Ezra planned to show me more of the gardens today. He wrapped his arm around me and held me close as we made our way through the main section, his shadows surrounded us to keep us safe from any plants that wished me to be their next meal. A door in the back of the garden led to yet another greenhouse. Rows of garden boxes with perfectly organized herbs filled the space. Around the perimeter were beds filled with pink roses.

  "I thought this may be your favorite part of the gardens," Ezra said with a smile.

  I stepped away from him and took a closer look at the garden box in front of us. It had some of the rarest herbs I had ever seen. Glenda would have absolutely freaked out if she saw them. I could already hear her now listing off all the elixirs she could make with these.

  "This is wonderful," I said softly.

  "What are you thinking about? Your eyes are looking elsewhere."

  "Just thinking of my aunt. I miss her so much."

  "I am sorry, sunshine. You will see her again soon. I promise you that."

  I let out a sigh in response and turned away from his gaze. It was then I noticed the garden box filled with what looked to be vitella but was in multiple colors. My eyes went wide and a huge smile crossed my face. Back home, the vitella had green blooms. Here the blooms were blue, red, and purple. I walked over to the box to examine them more closely.

  "Aren't they wonderful?" Ezra asked from behind me.

  "I have never seen vitella in these colors. This is vitella, isn't it?"

  "It is." Ezra walked over to my side. "Here in Orilon is where the vitella originated. Only the green variety made it across the portal and into the human realm. The others are not able to survive in the human world. I suppose they hate the mundane soil. Each color has slightly different properties. The green can help speed healing, but the red can elongate your life. The purple is actually a poisonous variety that steals the life from those who ingest it for the giver to take."

  "That is fascinating!" I exclaimed.

  "Any time you want to come here, please let Poppy know. I will happily escort you through the main garden to keep you safe."

  "Thank you, Ezra."

  "You're welcome, sunshine."

  The next three days were filled with Ezra and I spending time with each other in the library and the gardens. Each evening, Ezra would prepare dinner for us to eat together. I hated to admit it, but the fae king was not so terrible to be around. Gods, if only I could tell Glenda and Jade of the man I met 'across the mountains'.

  We sat after dinner, enjoying our lemon cream pie and talking about the books we read today in the library. Ezra also enjoyed the same books I did, which I found quite hilarious.

  "Tomorrow I will not be able to join you in the gardens or the library. I have business to attend to." He took another bite of his pie.

  "Business?" I tried to hide the disappointment on my face. After spending so much time with him, I truly enjoyed his company.

  He let out a deep sigh. "Yes, unfortunately as king, I can't spend every day lounging around with you. Even if that is more enjoyable than what I need to get done."

  I chuckled. "Oh? Did you just admit that you enjoy spending time with a human?"

  "I would never admit such a thing," he said with a smirk.

  I spent all of the next day in the library, nestled in my reading nook. Staring out the window, I watched the rain hit the glass. Water droplets trailed down the glass, putting me in a relaxed state. The book I was reading could not hold my interest, I kept putting it down to watch more of the rain. The library had been very quiet, and I had not seen Gil all day. I wondered what he was up to today.

  I really enjoyed speaking with Gil. He always had great book recommendations. They were always outside of my normal genre, but each of them ended up being amazing reads. I sat down the book I was reading and went to find him, hoping he would have a suggestion for me.

  I wandered through the full library and was not able to find Gil. I looked over toward the door. Walking over to it, I peeked my head out and looked both ways, finding the hall empty. I decided to leave the library and explore. Wandering through the maze of hallways and staircases, I quickly found myself in a part of the castle I did not recognize.

  I had gotten myself lost. I had no idea how to get back to the library. Most of the doors were shut and locked. Only one door had been opened and the room beyond it was empty.

  I found a black wooden door with a golden doorknob at the end of a long hallway. The other doors had been natural wood. I twisted the handle, and beyond the door was a downward staircase made of dark stone. Closing the door behind me, I made my way down the stairs quietly. The sconces on the walls were covered in dust and cobwebs. Paintings were either crooked on the wall or had fallen completely. Stagnate must filled the air. At the bottom of the stairs, I found another maze of hallways.

  I continued to walk down the halls, and the sound of my footsteps echoed. After a little while of traveling through the labyrinth of hallways, I realized I was lost. My heart pounded in my chest. Panic was creeping in as I had no idea how I was going to get back to my room or the library from here. A familiar and terrifying screech sounded off from behind me. I turned and my heart dropped as I saw a vox. It was hunched over, claws dragging on the floor, with its blood-red eyes locked on me. I slowly took a step back, wanting as much distance between the two of us as possible.

  It let out another scream, and its wings flared open as it sprinted toward me. I spun and took off running for my life. The monster made loud clicking noises as if it were communicating. Never had I heard those sounds come from the vox. More screeches and clicking filled the halls, but I was too afraid to look behind me. Tears ran down my face. This would be my end. No one had been in this section of the castle in years. This is where I would die, and no one would find my body. That is if the vox left a body to be found. Tears fell down my face and blurred my vision as I frantically searched for an escape.

  I turned a corner and quickly regretted it. At the end of the hall sat a dead end, where a black suit of armor, which held a spear, faced me. I rushed to it and tried to yank away the spear, but it was stuck in place. Turning my head, I saw three vox now standing at the end of the hall. Baring their fangs, they progressed down the hall, slowly.

  I was trapped.

  I screamed and sobbed, still trying to free the spear. Shadows filled the space in between me and the vox, and Ezra emerged from them, his wings flared. This was the first time I saw them on full display. They were truly magnificent. The black of his wings were devoid of all light, causing the gold within them to shine. He flapped them hard and shadows rushed forward, forcing the vox to stagger back. The shadows enveloped them, and more of their screeches echoed off the walls. The shadows recoiled, and the vox fell to the floor. Their bodies shriveled, as if life was sucked out of them and their once red eyes were now a dull grey.

  Ezra turned toward me, tucking his wings behind his back. Rage contorted his face. "I told you not to roam the castle!" His voice was filled with anger and boomed off the walls, causing me to cower. I finally looked into his eyes, and they were solid black. "This is why. You could have been killed!"

  "I… I'm sorry," I whimpered.

  Ezra grabbed me by the arm and yanked me toward him, squeezing so hard that I let out a yelp. "You would have been more than sorry if you had gotten hurt," he snarled. In a sudden motion, he lifted me and threw me over his shoulder. I did not fight him. The grasp he had lessened slightly, but he still held firm. I turned my head so I could look forward to see what Ezra was doing. He twisted the head of the suit of armor and the side wall slid open, revealing a secret passage.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but as the first sound escaped my lips, Ezra cut me off. "Don't. I do not want to hear what you have to say." His voice was cold and distant.

  We walked through the secret tunnel in silence. Tears still flowed down my face as we made our way. The torches on the wall illuminated as we reached them, and extinguished as we passed. After a while, Ezra pulled on one of the torches and the wall opened.

  He sat me down and guided me into a small room with a desk, a library cart, and books. A shut door was on the far wall. The door to the secret tunnel shut behind us. Ezra looked down at me. The look of anger was gone, but the new expression was now much worse.

  Disappointment.

  "This,” he pointed to the door at the far end of the room, “opens to the library. You will return to your room and Poppy will bring you dinner." He turned away and walked to the door, twisting the knob. The door did not budge. He pulled harder, his muscles flexed.

  "Stop messing around. Let us out."

  "The door is stuck," he said plainly as he stepped away from it.

  "Then let's go back through the secret tunnel and find another exit!" All I wanted to do was to crawl into bed. After what just happened, I wanted a safe quiet place to hide.

  "It does not work that way," he sighed. "The door doesn't open from this side. Unfortunately, I used up a lot of my magic fighting the vox. My reserves are not as large as they used to be. Just another effect of the curse." He sat down on the floor and leaned his back against the wall. "We are stuck here until Gil comes back and finds us. This is his office, so he has to come here at some point."

  "Some point?"

  He nods. "Either until he finds us or my magic replenishes. Get comfortable, sunshine, we could be here for a while."

  Thirteen

  We sat in silence for an hour. Ezra grabbed a book off of Gil’s desk and had been reading it for a while now. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. I grabbed a book as well, but I could not focus on it. I was still shaken from the attack, and from the way Ezra reacted when he found me. I was thankful to him for saving me, but he showed me why he was the fae king. His power was beyond my comprehension. I will never forget the anger in his eyes.

  Heat built in the room, and I felt sweat bead on my hairline and drip down my face. Ezra seemed totally unaffected by the heat, and I could not help but stare at him as he flipped through the pages of the book. After a while, he closed the book and sat it by his side. He didn't even look at me or say a word before removing his shirt, in one swift movement. Sweat glistened on his chest, and I blushed hard before looking away.

  "Is that really necessary?" I looked back at him, trying not to stare at his muscles.

  "It is hot." He finally looked toward me. "Your wandering gaze is not my problem." He sneered and then smirked. "You could remove your shirt and make it even." A deep chuckle escaped his throat, and he offered me a wink.

  "You are such a pervert! I will absolutely not be doing that." I rolled my eyes, then focused my attention back to my book. Frustration built within me, as I hated I was attracted to him.

  There was silence for a long moment before he answered. "Can you blame me? I am trapped with a beautiful woman."

  "You think I am beautiful?" Heat filled my cheeks as I looked back up at him.

  "I have told you many times. I am now ending this conversation." His gaze returned to his book. "I am still mad at you."

  "I said I was sorry!" I huffed. Sitting my book in my lap, I crossed my arms.

  "Amara." His tone lowered and softened, causing my heart to skip a beat. "If you had gotten hurt…" His voice trailed off as he closed the book and sat it down again. Pushing off the wall, he slowly crawled to me. His ice-blue eyes never looked away from mine. When his face was just a few inches from mine, he stopped. His two braids hung in the space between us. "I don't know what I would have done."

  My body tensed as he got closer. Every part of me screamed for me to close the gap between us. I took in a deep breath of the electrified air and bit my bottom lip, trying to force those thoughts away. "Because if I died, we couldn't break the curse?"

  "Well, yes." He smirked. "Though there are other reasons."

  "Other reasons?" My voice shook as I spoke. My mind raced at all the possibilities. I thought his kindness all had to do with him needing me to break the curse. Could he have gained feelings beyond that?

  He leaned in just a little more, and my heart pounded harder. I swore my chest was about to explode. Just before our lips touched, he quickly pulled back. In a blink, he was back against the wall, reading his book again.

  The door swung open, and Gil looked down at us and let out a laugh. I looked up at him in shock. Ezra didn’t even look up from the book. "There you two are! We have been looking for you everywhere."

  Quickly, I jumped up. Ezra, still shirtless, slowly stood with an air of grace, flicked his hair back behind his shoulder, and walked out. As he passed Gil, he stopped and looked down at him. "Will you take Amara to her room? I must return to my duties."

 

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