Page 9

Severin

I wake after my first night on Earth amazingly refreshed.

Sleeping with the vitality of the forest spread all around the palace has replenished something within me I hadn’t realized I lacked.

Plant magic is an unusual power for a shadow fae, and I spent most of my life practicing my lesser magics, such as illusions and glamour.

To finally be able to use my main power is heady.

This invigorating feeling makes me even more determined to finalize my deal with Hannah. I’ll do whatever it takes to remain on Earth. I will not leave this realm.

I throw off the down comforter and leap from my bed.

No one scurries from the shadows to make it. For years, I kept a full complement of servants. Once the Dark God released us, they fled, and as part of my attempt to reform, I let them go. A sigh escapes me at needing to find new ones.

In the meantime, there’s magic. A flick of my hand sends my shadows spiraling outward to pull back the heavy velvet drapes covering the arched windows.

Sunlight pours in, making the marble floor gleam and picking out the colors of the rich tapestries that adorn the walls.

Another flick, and my bed is made, the heavy, brocade counterpane adding its own decoration of silver-shot blue to the four-poster bed.

After a refreshing swim in my bathing pool, I dress.

The black leather pants and boots are familiar, since I’ve lived my entire life in leather, but the softness of the fine weave of the cloth shirt still surprises me as it slips over my skin like a caress.

I button it only partway and cuff the sleeves.

My shadows can slip through fabric—they do so every time I form wings—yet it feels better to leave some of my tattoos uncovered and ready to act.

I shrug into a embroidered waistcoat and leave the crown behind.

Today’s visit to Ferndale Falls needn’t be as formal as yesterday’s.

The palace hums around me as I stalk down its halls, full of the first group of shadow fae to visit Earth. I’ll soon acquire local currency for them so they can venture into town, but for now, they can be content with the beauty of the palace garden and surrounding forest.

It’s early, so I cross paths with only a few others, yet even those few look different than they did only weeks ago.

Their eyes gleam with hope for the first time in years, and it stirs an unusual twinge in my chest. Perhaps remaining on Earth isn’t only about me. It will be good for my people as well.

My garden welcomes me, angled beams of morning sunlight painting the flowers with swaths of blazing color. The combined perfume of the various blooms is one of the most fragrant scents I’ve ever experienced, topped only by…

I jerk to a halt, the sweet smell of Hannah’s skin filling my mind so strongly that I take a deep breath. Alas, it’s only a memory.

My shadows stir restlessly under my skin, making my tattoos dance. I set them free and spring into the air as my wings unfurl, speeding me toward town.

Toward her , my enchanting little witch.

The trees of the forest call to me, and I dip low until my hands brush over the highest leaves.

I send tiny pulses of magic into them, healing small hurts, strengthening branches and roots.

Each use of my power not only aids the trees, it also binds this land to me, strengthening my claim.

By the time my year-long marriage ends, no power in the realms will be able to banish me from this part of Earth.

Growing up in a half-dead realm, I never imagined there could be trees such as this. It wasn’t until I visited Alarria and its vibrant forests a couple of months ago that I finally realized the full extent of what the Dark God had stolen from us. From me .

So when the orcs and humans banded together to defeat him, I fought on their side instead of his, freeing the shadow fae from his control. We forge a new future now, one filled with life instead of war.

I land at the edge of the forest, marveling again at how it borders downtown instead of being covered by human houses, as if this entire area has always been meant for the fae.

Pulling my shadows back into my tattoos, I stride onto Main Street, determined to spend my first piece of gold sampling human bread.

Instead of finding any sort of open breakfast eatery, I walk past one closed shop after another. My stomach growls a hungry demand. How can this place call itself a town if there’s no bakery? It’s a travesty!

Visions of buttery rolls dance in my head, taunting me. It turns out being a conquering king had perks I never realized—like the brownie bakers pressed into service in the palace kitchens. It was wrong to keep them like that, but goddess, I miss that perfect bread…

I turn at the end of the street and make my way up the other side of the green, with no better luck.

This will not do. This will not do at all .

It seems Hannah did not lie—Ferndale Falls does indeed need new businesses if I’m to enjoy my stay here. And it sure as fuck needs a bakery.

I leap into the air and streak back to the palace, flying so quickly that wind whistles in my ears.

“Varyn!” I bellow as soon as I step into the grand foyer. His name echoes off the gleaming white marble and bounces outward in all the connecting rooms and corridors.

“What?” an irritated voice calls from a distance.

I glare at the opening to the hallway that leads off the second-floor balcony until he comes into view, his long silver hair sleep-mussed, his shirt hanging from one shoulder.

“Where are you on finding businesses for Ferndale Falls?”

“You mean the thing I only learned about yesterday?” he says, his tone sardonic. “Fae aren’t that interested in uprooting themselves and moving realms, especially since the humans expect rent and fees.”

“Tell the fae I’ll cover the start-up costs,” I growl. “Now get me some businesses.”

“I have a lead on a leatherworker.”

“That can wait.” I scowl and chop a hand through the air. “Focus on eateries. We need them immediately, unless you plan to work the palace kitchens yourself.”

“Fine, yes. You’ve made your point.” He snorts and shrugs his shirt over his shoulders. “I’ll go now.”

“Prioritize a bakery!” I yell at his retreating back.

An hour later, I wait beside a rock formation covered with crystals.

Trees ring the small clearing, and the sound of the waterfall joins with that of wind-rustled leaves to create a pleasing whole.

I can see why the humans chose to put the door to Faerie here, since it feels secretive while only being a short walk from town.

The first person to step through the door is a cat sith, padding on all fours in their feline form.

Long black fur shades to gray at the tips, swirling in the breeze and making the big cat hard to see, even though they stand as tall as a wolf.

Green eyes dance with mischief as they grin a too-wide grin.

“Well, well. I had to see it for myself,” a masculine voice says. “The fae king arranging bakeries and pubs. I hear you’re even willing to pay all the start-up costs. My, how the mighty have fallen.”

“Name yourself, cat,” I snarl.

“Tsk. Is that any way to talk to someone you want to work for you?” He bares even more of his teeth and shifts into his fae form. He’s tall and well muscled, with skin as pale as mine and long hair that shades from black to silver-tipped. The shift has left him completely naked. “I’m Shadow.”

“I’m King Severin.” I fight back my sneer, annoyed that I’ve let him rile me. Our stories make it clear that cat sith are infamously jesting to the point of irritation, but I’ve had little contact with them until now. “Which are you, a baker or pubkeeper?”

“Neither.”

“So what good are you to me?”

He shifts again, this time to his dual form, an upright, fur-covered cat.

It’s his most formidable form, even more heavily muscled than his fae form.

The werepanther leans a shoulder against a tree and stares at his hand in fascination, making his wicked claws extend and retract repeatedly.

“I can act as your messenger in Alarria. I know my way around, and people know me.”

Alarria’s the world where orcs and other fae lived for hundreds of years without the threat of the Dark God.

It has replaced Avalon, my home, as the premiere realm of Faerie.

Even worse, shadow fae are not welcome there.

I told Varyn to use glamours and illusions to sneak in, but the feline fae is right.

I hate it, but if I want to attract the fae of Alarria, I could use Shadow’s help.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to make it easy for him. “You? You’ll be too slow.” I snort. “You can’t fly. ”

“You’ve forgotten what cat sith can do.” His claws retract with a snick, and he takes a step to the left and disappears, only to reappear immediately on the other side of the clearing.

“We alone walk the hidden shadow roads. In only a handful of hours, I can cross distances that would take others days. I’m as fast as you, if not faster. ”

“I’ve heard the stories.” I considered them exaggerations, but perhaps not. “Fine. I will pay for your services.”

He shifts back into his fae form, and his green eyes gleam as he extends a hand. “Two gold coins a day.”

“That’s outrageous.” Or at least I assume it is, having no real feel for what the currency is worth. “Besides, paying you in that fashion rewards sloth, since you’ll make more if you dally. I require speed. Instead of a daily rate, I’ll pay you a coin for every business lead you bring me.”

“Two for each lead.”

“One gold piece for each lead when you bring them to me and a second for each that creates a viable business in Ferndale Falls.”

“Agreed.”

The werepanther’s wide grin tells me I’m overpaying, but I don’t care.

After a rather dismal porridge for breakfast, I’ll give almost anything to get a proper bakery up and running.

Once you’ve had the perfection that is bread baked by a brownie, nothing less will do.

None of the diminutive fae will agree to work for me directly, but if I acquire a baker for the town, they’ll have to sell me their goods.

If not, I’ll bribe someone to buy bread for me.

Speaking of bribery, I say, “Get me a brownie baker, and I’ll triple your fee.” It feels wrong to pay for the things I used to force people to do, but I suppose I’ll have to get used to it now that I’m “good.”

As Shadow disappears back through the door to Faerie, I remember all of this has an additional reward. I picture the expression on Hannah’s face when I bring these new businesses to her town. She’ll smile at me, her eyes warm with approval.

I find myself as greedy for her look of appreciation as I am for excellent bread.