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"Yes, thank you. We are all well. Father is in excellent health. How is your daughter? I believe she was recently married."

She beamed at me. "Very well, indeed. The Duke is a fitting husband for my sweet Angelica. I always did say she was the prettiest of her age, excluding present company, of course."

"Of course," I replied through a thin smile. I hated how everyone was always scrutinizing my appearance and temperament. Was I fashionable? Was my face pleasing? How was my manner? Was I haughty or humble?

My governess had tried to counsel me on which traits would secure a fetching husband, a fabulous fortune, and a beneficial alliance for our kingdom. However, I proved to be a poor student.

I just wanted to be myself.

But I was afraid the real me wasn’t enough. I enjoyed reading late into the night, allowing the candles to burn down to their wicks. I liked being with Magnolia and running through the woods. I liked digging my hands into the soil and gardening.

Sadly, I was fairly certain much of this would be considered "below my station" at best and "wild" at worst.

I wasn’t fit to rule a kingdom.

It was always supposed to be fearless Briar, my older sister, but she was gone now. I shook the melancholy thought from my mind and tried to focus on the conversation at hand.

Magnolia was rapidly steering said conversation toward her favorite topic. "Do you have any news from the harbor?" she asked curiously.

It was one of the benefits of talking to Lady Catherine. Her husband was a wealthy merchant, so she knew everything going on at the harbor—which ships had come to port, which ships had never returned, any new or unique products in the market, and stories of the fae and their terrible island.

"Tragic news, I’m afraid," she said, glancing around and lowering her voice.

Whatever she knew wasn’t polite party conversation. My interest was immediately piqued. "Oh?" I asked.

She motioned us closer. "Another abduction at the marketplace. This time, two children were taken."

"How dreadful," I said softly. My heart ached for the family. I knew how hard it was to lose someone you loved. I thought again of my elder sister, Briar.

Maggie asked, "And it was them?"

Lady Cat nodded. "Their father made a bargain with one of the folk. They say he didn’t mean to trade the children, but you know how it is, he got the wording wrong."

My sister and I both nodded. We knew the stories. The fae brought nothing but destruction. Their storms had battered our coastline for generations. No one wise sought them out.

If you were unwise, you could find them in the market, selling their wares for a secret or a whispered price. No coins were accepted. Instead, you would pay with something far more precious—your laugh, your most cherished memory, your old age, your greatest secret, your first love, a single tear, or a lock of baby hair. If you offered them gold instead, it would turn to sand and slip through your fingers.

This man had paid dearly indeed.

My sister lowered her voice. "His nightmare may not be over. If they have taken the children, they may yet be replaced."

My mouth dropped open in horror. I hardly dared to speak that word aloud.

"Changelings," Maggie whispered.

Sometimes, the fae would steal a human child and replace them with a changeling, a fae child. It was their cruelest trick. At first, some parents were fooled, but most knew within days. While the child looked exactly the same, little clues would emerge. Suddenly, the child’s favorite food would make them sick or their hair that had always been parted to the left might move to the right.

Once the parents knew, things often escalated. The fae child could become volatile, malignant, or restless. If they became terribly angry, it was rumored their eyes would turn black. To toss them out was to risk the wrath of the fae and guarantee your own child would never be returned. I couldn’t imagine the pain of looking into the eyes of a near perfect facsimile of your child, only to meet a stranger’s gaze.

Lady Cat shook her head as if it were all too much for her. "A grim business. Now, princesses, you must promise you will never, ever visit their markets. If you encounter a fae, hold your tongue. A word may cost you your life."

We nodded. We knew this. Every child in our kingdom knew this.

Yet, somehow, people were always ensnared. How? Why?

Another twenty minutes passed as Lady Cat told us every imaginable detail of this season’s new fashions.

I found my mind wandering back to the patio and its welcoming breeze and star-studded night sky. I bet it was cooler out there.