Page 2 of Manor of Wind and Nightmares (Fae of Brytwilde #3)

“This is beneath your station. An abominable insult!” Father sniffed from his position in my bedroom doorway, watching our servant, Anne, finish laying the last of my clothes in my trunk.

With a sigh, I pulled on my best traveling gloves, noting I’d almost worn a hole at the tip of my right index finger. I’d have to mend it soon, if I had time in Emberglade. I swallowed thickly, not wanting to wonder too much about what my life there would be like.

“The fae view us as lesser, Father,” I murmured.

“I cannot convince them that my being a gentleman’s daughter means I shouldn’t serve them.

Besides, no one need know why I’m away. You could tell our neighbors I’m staying with my old schoolfriend in Sonnville.

It would be far more shameful if we fall into poverty and lose the estate. ”

Father pressed his lips into a thin line, clearly seeing my point and feeling displeased about it.

“Auri, who will help me prepare my bonnet for the Season?” Callista asked, pressing through the doorway and throwing her arms around me. “Who will be my chaperone if any gentlemen come to call?”

Tears burned the backs of my eyes. What if I didn’t make it back home and never saw my sister again?

“I can help you,” Lavinia intervened, leaning against the wall out in the hallway and rolling her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic, Callista. She’ll be home in a year, and I can be your chaperone on outings. Besides, the money she will earn us will provide you with plenty of new ballgowns.”

Callista pulled back, eyes wide as she looked up at me. “Truly?”

“Do not spend too much on gowns and frivolities.”

Her expression crumpled. She was used to being spoiled by Father, who’d always let her have anything she wanted, a fact that had contributed to our current predicament.

I hesitated, hating to see the pain on her face even if I thought Father had doted on her to the point of nearly ruining her character.

Brushing a hand over her hair and tucking a loose strand behind her ear, I softened my look into a smile.

“That doesn’t mean you cannot buy any gowns.

Enjoy yourself.” Straightening, I strolled toward my vanity and lifted the bag of coins I’d set there, the one I’d smuggled in like I’d been ashamed.

Perhaps I had been. “This is for all living expenses while I am gone, so you must make it last until the next payment.”

Callista and Lavinia rushed forward, tugging the bag from me to gasp over the bag of gold coins.

Their conversation gushed over the things they could buy.

Misgiving seized me—even Father’s eyes had lit up with eagerness.

I couldn’t even count on him to be sensible with money, but there was nothing I could do about that now but caution them.

I had to leave them to their own devices and pray they could last until the king’s next payment.

Giving each of my family members one final hug, I bid them goodbye and prayed I’d see them again.

After the Emberglade servants—all fae rather than glamoured humans, I’d noted to my relief—took my luggage and the ship set sail, King Wystan and the female who’d spoken during our first meeting summoned me into the captains’ quarters.

It was clear the king would be staying here, from the elegance of the space compared to the cramped room with the tiny cot and scratchy linens the servants had shown me to earlier.

In the sunlight streaming through the window, the woman’s beauty was on full display.

Her face was flawless, her eyes bright and cunning.

With full lips, long lashes, and flowing auburn hair, she looked more like a portrait than a living being.

It was disconcerting, the way fae beauty took one’s breath away.

It was almost as frightening as King Wystan’s unusually nightmarish appearance.

Dipping into a curtsey, I tried to ignore the way my chest tightened with unease.

“This is my daughter, Princess Briar,” King Wystan said. “You will learn how to mimic her grace and elegance to the best of your human abilities, along with the rest of your training.”

I frowned. “I don’t understand, Your Majesty. How would learning the ways of a princess help me as a servant?”

“Servant,” Princess Briar scoffed. “No, you are to train to become our weapon.”

My stomach jolted, my gaze cutting to King Wystan. “You promised. Our bargain stipulated that you would not have me harm anyone.”

His smile was chilling. “And you assumed I am an ordinary fae, unable to lie and bound to my word. An unfortunate error for you, as I’m not fully fae.

My daughter takes after her mother and is therefore cursed with the inability to lie and appears as lovely as other fae do, but I possess troll blood. ..and trolls can lie.”

Chills erupted along my arms. I took an unsteady step backward, as if I could flee when I was trapped on a ship. “Does that mean our bargain is void?”

“Oh no, I am a king, not a vagabond.” He laughed. “As long as you serve me as promised, you will keep your estate and have your wealth. But if you don’t...I left some of my soldiers in Greybrooke. If you fail, I’ll send word, and they will kill your family.”

I bit my cheek to force my expression into neutrality. Though King Wystan could read my thoughts, I didn’t particularly want him to see my terror.

“You see,” the king said, leaning forward and steepling his fingers, “we’ve had long-standing animosity between our people and Willowbark, the Brytwilde kingdom closest to your little mortal town.”

Princess Briar’s eyes flared with hatred, and her voice filled with venom. “Their king slew my mother.”

“There was war between us, back when Briar was quite young. My wife was powerful in magic, as well as a talented warrior. She encountered King Edwin in battle, and he stabbed her in the back. A coward’s kill.

” He sneered. “Now, he lies on his deathbed, slowly wasting away.” He shared a secret look with his daughter. “But our revenge is not complete.”

“We want the king to suffer more,” Princess Briar said, smiling prettily, as if she were sitting at tea and gossiping with friends rather than plotting death and vengeance.

“I’ve tried many times to assassinate the crown prince,” King Wystan continued, “but he has survived every attempt, and now his father keeps him secure within the palace. No typical hired assassin will be able to get near to him now. And so...we have formed an alliance with Willowbark, but it is a farce.”

“A marriage alliance,” the princess added. “The best way to help lower their defenses against us.”

“You see, Crown Prince Kaede has air magic, a rare gift among the fae. He can command deadly windstorms, suck the air from a soldier’s lungs, and walk through the air itself.

His magic could wield a gale against a fleet of ships to churn up waves so great they would sink them all.

There are infinite ways he could use his element to win a war.

He strengthens Willowbark unfairly, and of course, as King Edwin’s heir, he is dear to him. ”

I swallowed thickly, understanding dawning. “So...I will serve as your weapon?”

The king dipped his horned head. “Briar is meant to travel to Willowbark as the prince’s bride. You will go in her stead, disguised to look like her. With their defenses lowered after the wedding, you will be able to get near enough to assassinate Prince Kaede.”