A Court so Cruel and Lovely

Chapter Fourteen

I did not talk to Madoc or Jude or Taryn or anyone in Madoc's house. I packed my clothes and stuffed everything I possibly could into a bag that is bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. I left Elfhame entirely and found myself in an entirely different world. Trees surrounded me and the sound of people talking nearby filled my ears. The moon shone brightly overhead. From its slant, I knew it was at least 9 at night. It was mid-morning in Elfhame. Did time run differently here?

I stood and walked towards the sound of people. They stopped talking when they spotted me dressed in the clothes I sometimes wore during spy missions - a white button down shirt with a partial brown leather corset on top of it, brown leather pants and matching boots.

"Who are you?" one of them asked. He was male with curly black hair, whiskey colored eyes, and very muscular. He also had wings.

I'd never seen wings like that before - feathered and blue.

"My name is Selene," I said. "My father was the High Lord of the Night Court of Prythian."

One of the other males, a Fae with shimmering dark brown skin, long black hair and lavender eyes, looked at me. He reminded me so much of Rhys, my heart cracked. "Never heard of it."

"What's your names?" I asked, my knives sliding down my arms into my hands.

"I am Vikander Romanova from the House of Iron," the Rhys look-alike responded.

"I'm Roth Charmaine from the Empire of Sevón. My father is the king," the other male responded. He had broad shoulders and a powerful build. I could see the tiny flecks of amber in his pale green eyes, framed by a fan of long, spiky lashes.

"I'm Saxon Skylair," the first male, the one who asked who I was, said. "Son of Queen Tempest of the Avian."

"I'm Princess Truly Morrow," the girl responded. "Daughter of Queen Violet of Airaria."

"I'm Everly," the last one responded. She had white hair and gunmetal gray eyes rimmed with gold. She was tallish and slender.

"The mer is Reese Acquta of Seaspray, a land within the Azul Dynasty," Roth said, nodding to the last male. "He doesn't talk because he has taken a vow of silence."

"So, where am I?" I asked.

"Enchantia," Roth responded. "Where'd you come from?"

"Elfhame but I'm originally from Prythian - a Fae territory," I sighed. "I left for Elfhame because I'm supposed to be dead but it's a long story."

"We have time," Vikander said.

So I told them everything. Well, mostly everything. I omitted the part about my Illyrian heritage. And miraculously they believed me.

"That's sad," Truly said. "That your parents are dead and your adoptive family is, too."

"Except her abusive adoptive brother and the youngest brother," Saxon pointed out.

"Still tragic," Truly retorted.

Truly possessed a delicate yet edgy beauty, with white-and-black hair, tanned and freckled skin and bicolored eyes-the left blue, the right gray. Given the way Everly was looking at me as if she would kill me if I harmed Truly, I assumed they were siblings, possibly twins. I knew that look. I'd given the same look to my father when he yelled at Rhys for being captured. Rhysand had given the same look to the males in the Illyrian camps.

I wondered how they were doing. I hadn't seen them in ten years. Have they forgotten me? I know Azriel hasn't. He wrote letters daily. I packed them in my bag before I left. I had to sneak into Balekin's house without him realizing it but I managed to get the letters out. I didn't care about the jewelry I left behind. I just cared about keeping the letters away from Balekin.

We talked by the fire for a while. Then a rush of magic tickled my senses.

"Do you plan to harm us?" Vikander's voice floated through the air.

"No, of course not," I responded. "I have no reason to."

It occurred to me that something was off. The bastard was glamouring me.

"You dare glamour me," I snarled, the effects of the magic washing away as quickly as they came.

"I needed to make sure you wouldn't harm us," Vikander said, defensively.

"What good would harming you do for me? Powerful as I am, I have no intentions of causing unnecessary wars," I snapped. "I've had enough of war for a lifetime."

"And, for the record, I didn't glamour you. I mesmerized you," Vikander snarked.

"Same difference," I retorted. "And if you really wanted to know, you could've asked. Magic wasn't necessary."

"Would you have answered honestly?" he asked.

"Yes. And if you do it again, I'll shatter your mind and leave you an empty husk," I said, with a false saccharine voice. "Trust me, I've done it before. It's not pretty."

Vikander flinched. Everyone flinched. I held my ground, though.

"Trolls just breached our wards," Roth declared.

Instantly, I was on my feet with Starseeker in hand. I magicked my Illyrian fighting leathers on and walked with the other to face the trolls.