Book 1: Brutality

Anger

4

"Angry people are not always wise" - Jane Austen

A big thank you to all those that helped get this story to a hundred reads and fifty votes, as a thank you, i'll be releasing a bonus chapter.

~Trigger Warning~

"The manticore may be the most dangerous beast, but the unicorn is the hardest to track. That makes it more challenging to hunt." Keya argues

"Unicorns aren't just difficult to track," Myriil says. "They're impossible. It's no challenge if it can't be done at all, it's just an absurdity. Anyway, no one's seen a unicorn in over three hundred years."

"Oh really, Dad?" Keya's mouth twists. "What do you know about-"

"Enough!" Everyone jumps at Naela's sudden shout. "It is a sin to try and kill a unicorn." Her hands clench her lacework. Her cheekbones are stained red and her eyes are ablaze, she's genuinely angered. "It's a sin to even discuss such a thing, even in jest. Keya, you will restrict your remarks to something more suitable, as will you Myriil."

They both are suitably cowered, muttering apologies. Naela erupting in rage is rare enough that even Myriil is unnerved when it happens. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Barathalion hide a smirk.

It's up to Ari to rescue the conversation. "The ball tomorrow should be fun, shouldn't it?" She says determinedly. "Can you tell us anything about the entertainments, Your Highness?"

The rest of the visit goes smoothly enough and Barathalion leaves before dinner, promising to see us all at the ball tomorrow night. As we're going our separate ways, Naela pulls me aside.

"Xara," she says, getting right to the point, "Prince Barathalion was looking at you quite a lot."

I say nothing but a flush warms my face, part embarrassment and part anger. I look away.

"He hasn't...?"

I shake my head fiercely, still looking away.

"That's good," she says with satisfaction. "There's no advantage to us if he corners you in some corridor. When he does call for you, we want him to do it the right way."

This fills me with such anger and mortification that my tongue is temporarily freed. "I won't go to him," I say hoarsely. I cough. "He won't ask and I won't go."

She sighs. "Of course you would," she says, not unkindly. "He's a Cormyth, a Prince of the High Court. You wouldn't have a choice any more than anyone else in Faerie. But..." She pats my arm. "It doesn't have to be a bad thing, Xara. Think of the wealth that would come to our family!"

Oh, joy. Now I'm the family prostitute.

"And it would be good for you personally, Xara," Naela continues, perhaps seeing my expression. "He'd give you so many wonderful gifts...you'd make your fortune getting married to a wealthy courtier."

Yeah, because that worked out so well for my mother. A spiteful anger forces my words up again. "What if I get pregnant?"

She purses her lips and shakes her head. She can't say it aloud — no one can criticise the royal family — but she doesn't have to point out how unlikely this is. Neither Barathalion nor his two brothers, the other princes, have fathered a single child in all their combined centuries of life. There hasn't even been the rumour of a child.

This poses a problem because for all the good immortality does to faeries, the truth is they have a rather high death rate. The throne can't be left so insecure, without an heir in reserve. And the present king, Elbauthin, is getting weak.

"We'll take what we can get, Xara," is all she says, "in the end, that's all we can do. So next time you see the Prince, smile. Smile and be pleasant. You're not going to get a better chance."

I stare at her. A better chance at what exactly? What future do I have in this place? Being the mistress of a bloodthirsty prince, who will pass me around to his friends the minute he gets tired of me? Marriage to some faerie lord who will use me as a broodmare while despising me in his heart? Why would I want any of those things?

But what options do I have? I don't have the knowledge or education to operate in the human world. I can't use a sword and become a knight, like Ari. I can't carve a place for myself with magic, like Keya. And I'm completely powerless to stop Barathalion, or my parents.

If he wants me, he'll have me and there's nothing I can do to stop him.

~Fun Fact~

Hunting unicorns is legal in Michigan.

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