Deep in the Bavarian woods, where the faerie realm touches on the human world lies Schloss Mondschein. Owned by a corrupted human family, the castle is the playground of the Fae. The human staff are their toys.
Servant's daughter Andromeda Arendt h...
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Andromeda Arendt had escaped a glamour before. By closing her eyes and distancing herself from the glamouring Fae in question. She could do that again. No need to panic. That racing heart of hers could just quiet the fuck down.
Tsk tsk ... You don't want to close your eyes, darling. Not really. Take another look. Don't deny yourself. He's delicious.
He was. He most definitely was. His sleeveless suit showcased bronze, bulky biceps. Good forearms too. His jacket short enough to draw attention to the way his perfectly tailored dress pants hugged his ass. The face of a God. His sculpted lips scorned her cruelly. Or was it mockingly?
Sexy ... the word you're looking for is ... sexy.
Yes! Sexy ...
No, no, no, no ...
She had to get him out of her head. With great difficulty, she forced her eyelids shut and took another deep breath. Her arms and her bow were still in position. She could set the arrow free and finish the bastard off, right here, right now.
But it was too dangerous. She couldn't be sure nobody had moved. Marian was right next to him. Marian!
Her eyes flew back open and located her friend's face immediately. From the looks of her, she too had noticed their plan was falling to shit. The horror in her widespread eyes triggered a memory of her panic-dancing mother. Another image she didn't need.
Andromeda looked at the ambassador again. He was smiling now.
You need that smile ... You crave that smile ... You can't live without ...
Her chest expanded with the fondest feelings for the ambassador. It was so utterly nauseating. The drugging sweetness of his spell engulfed her senses in tsunami-sized waves. By now, her eyes were probably heart-shaped. There was no way she could finish that shot. She'd better get out of here and hope to kill him another day. Cross her fingers that he wasn't aware of Marian's complicity. She couldn't bear to see her friend get hurt.
She dragged her gaze away from the ambassador's influence a second time, shoved the arrow in its quiver, and slung the bow around her back. With practiced precision, she strapped on her rope harness while balancing and moving forward on the beams.
Quick, quick, quick.
Her sweaty hands closed around the rope that led up to the patch of marked roof tiles. She and Samuel had loosened them a few days earlier to serve as her escape route. She pinched the rope between her feet and pushed off.
Push. Pull. Push. Pull. Up. Up. Up.
At some point, she registered the absence of a riot beneath her. No stopping the orchestra, no appalled shouts, no arrows sizzling ... only music and laughter ... the festivities continued as usual. She would've expected the ambassador to come after her, assisted by the Mondschein guard, but ... no? The ambassador didn't make a scene at all?
But there was no time to look back. No time to ponder. Quick. Push. Up.
She pushed four tiles from the inside out and hoisted herself through the hole. The cold winter chill bit at her face instantly, but she welcomed the fresh air, eager to close up the roof again, to be able to breathe properly with this physical barrier between her and the Fae's glamouring stare.
Before her time to breathe came, however, she heard something swish. She whirled around and blinked against the night sky. A silver thread slithered through the air, sparkling with faerie magic. That was never a good sign.
The thread whipped her legs from under her, tying her feet at the same time. Tears shot to her eyes as the back of her head smacked against the tiles and the next set of thread started dancing towards her. It looped around her neck, her hands ... two seconds later she lay defenseless on the cold castle rooftop, roped in like a sausage, but—like no sausage ever seen—she glowed with faerie lights. This was her worst nightmare.
"Right on time. Just like he said she would." Two faces came into view. Pointy ears, smug smiles, an ethereal glow ... Fae.
"What? Who? Who said I would?" Andromeda asked.
"Off we go." The tallest one grabbed the silver band tied around her waist and lifted her as if she was his fucking purse. They ignored her question completely and carried her to the edge of the roof where a flying dogsled was waiting.
"Put me down!" She cried ... and was flung into the cargo section of the sled.
"Gonna take these from you. Much more comfortable." He took her bow and quiver, then hopped in the front seat with his compadre. Before they took off, he turned and leaned over, a paper bag in hand. "Want a mushroom? It's gonna be a bumpy ride."
"Not in your lifetime." She spit, aimed at him of course but it didn't carry far enough. Landed a few inches before her face. When the sleigh took off with a jerk she could only hope it wouldn't be her face that suffered its smear. The immediate steep climb and rattling bump that followed shot that hope to smithereens.
She should've gone for the mushrooms.
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