Page 1 of The Faebound Trials (Mates and Madness: The Phantom Prince and The Bloodweaver #1)

“I love you.”

I cocked my head to the right.

“Do you?”

“Yes. God yes, I would die for you.”

“Then prove it.” A smile formed on my lips slowly. “Die.”

His ear-splitting scream broke the unsettling stillness of the night as I struck the knife in his flesh once more.

Overwhelmed, dazed and out of breath, I pulled the knife off of him and unsteadily stood up.

What have I done?

Destiny can be stolen, dear. There are so many ways to do that. One is murder. One is taking the name of the destiny’s holder. You can always do both but nothing comes without a price.

The bigger the destiny. The bigger the price.

Her words played in my mind a thousand times while I stole everything from him—His life, his name, his destiny.

My head was spinning. My hands gripped the knife to find my footing, to keep it from trembling.

Funny how this thing took a man’s life and now I clung onto it for dear life.

Like the bloodstained knife didn’t just end a man’s life and became the key to my chance. My only chance.

Tears streamed down my impassive face heavily soaked with sweat.

I tried to stop the tears and the guilt by wiping it off using my sleeves. My face was raw and red and I felt the roughness of my twill blazer against my skin.

I heaved as I looked around. I tried to keep myself composed but I realized it was hard when you just killed a man for a spot in the Faebound Trials.

Until I fell on my knees. And I screamed my heart out until my throat burned.

I would do anything for my little sister. I would do anything to escape the human realm. To find a chance in the fae realm.

Until I finally stopped myself from thinking and started doing. I clutched the spade as I ignored the sweat and blood in my hands. I started digging.

I stopped blaming myself, I stopped feeling sorry for the man I just killed and I dug deeper until the hole was six feet deep.

His words rang in my ears.

I would die for you. God yes. I would die for you.

And he did.

His lifeless body proved to me how much he was willing to die for me, how much he loved me and I gladly took his gift.

His life. His name. His destiny.

All mine.

Then the rain came in heavy drops and I laughed as I lost my mind.

I crawled out of the hole I dug to find myself looking down at the man with five stab wounds.

I kept myself from thinking—of being burdened by guilt. It gnawed at my conscience.

But if there was one thing I have, a talent it may seem, it was the power to stop myself from spiraling.

I pulled the man and dumped him into the hole. I spared him one last glance, his body twisted in crooked angles. I shouldn’t have thrown him like that but he was dead anyway. And dead bodies tell no tales.

His sacrifice would not be in vain. I would do anything to get inside the fae realm. I would not give up until I gave my sister the life she deserves.

I faced myself in the mirror and sighed. Dark circles heavy on my sleep-starved eyes.

My dyed black short hair was cut at a blunt angle. I tried to comb it through its frizzy and dry state but I gave up remembering I had to wash off the blood and sweat of yesterday.

I was born and raised in Enara, the mortal realm.

Back in the day it was just Enara. We didn’t know about the fae realm, or the beings that lived there. It was just us mortals. We didn’t know other beings existed aside from us.

Until the Bonbell happened, the Drought as they would call it.

The Bonbell destroyed Enara in more ways than one. Death, sickness, and war killed millions of mortals in the span of 2 years.

Mortals wanted to survive. In desperation, the leaders found the fae realm, Enoranthas, where ethereal beings live. A place where sickness, death, and starvation didn’t exist because the fae had power, resources, peace, and magic.

And above all, the mortals envy their immortality and beauty.

I hadn’t seen a fae. I hadn’t been to Enoranthas.

To enter the fae realm and escape the doomed fate of mortals in Enara, the High King of Enoranthas agreed to help the mortals in one condition, The Faebound Trials.

The trials were created to filter out the humans. Only a few could enter the gates. Only a few could enter the realm and be given the privilege to live there.

It was only sensible and smart of him to let the humans enter a test because if he let everyone in, the mortals would find a way to kill them all and rule Enoranthas instead.

If the High King knew something about mortals, he knew that mortals were greedy and evil.

The Faebound Trials weren’t also created to reduce the number of mortals inside the fae realm.

Enoranthas was a place of magic and not everyone could withstand the enchanting magic it has.

The first humans who had the chance to enter Enoranthas were said to dance for hours, unable to fight the magic of illusion.

Enoranthas’s air overflowed with Entrancement Spell and the mortals died because their mind couldn’t handle the magic.

The air warped their reality enough to shatter their feeble psyche.

The Enchantment Spell was like oxygen. It was in the air of their lands. Enoranthas wasn’t built for humans. It was surprising enough that humans could live there.

My eyes darted to my baby sister, her dress a sequin-covered bright pink dress. She liked it so much I had to steal it.

My hair hit my face when the wind billowed wildly, cutting through the silent afternoon and making my baby sister shriek in excitement. That little goofball.

A smile cut through my face. I’d been waiting for this day.

“Will you be here with me after the test, Lowen?” My baby sister asked with worry wide eyes.

I kneeled to level her gaze and brushed her hair away from her face.

Her eyes resembled a silver stone carved by the gods, my mother’s nose and hair matched her fiery red locks, but her face was mine. A silver blood born from fire.

I fixed the goofball’s dress. The light hitting the sequined dress made my head hurt.

Why does she like this ugly dress so much?

“Yes, Lera. Of course. After the test, it would take a day to get the results back. So I have to go to you. And if I pass the test, you know I’d go straight to get you.”

Bringing your immediate family was one of the rewards of passing the Faebound Trials.

“It’s okay if you don’t pass the test, L. It’s okay if you don’t go. They said it was hard. Jaran’s brother died from the test, it messed with his mind they said.”

My hands immediately clamped her ears.

“I told you not to listen to that. It’s just rumors, love.” My voice softened.

My parents were Bloodweaver elites. They still died from the test. Both of them. They couldn’t take it.

After the test they started hearing voices, hallucinations, and eventually the fever.

Most of the elderly died.

It was as if the fae only wanted the young to enter the fae realm.

“I don’t want to lose you.”

I shared her fear. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I failed the test and left Lera alone by herself.

I forced myself to smile.

“You won’t lose me. I promise. After the test, I will go back to you and we will wait for the results together. Okay?”

Lera finally smiled. That was enough to calm my terror-struck heart.

“Will you see the Phantom Prince there?”

My brows dipped in confusion at the mention of The Phantom Prince from the tales that made me laugh when I was a kid.

It was scary but it was fun. I liked scary stories, one that was supposed to scare a little kid who was neglected by their parents.

A scared child who was left with her younger sibling forced to fend for themselves.

Scary stories were fun. They were made by people who had enough time to think about ghosts, the ones who didn’t have to suffer each day wondering when they’d get their next meal.

Because in someone’s reality the scariest thing a six-year-old could experience was hunger and poverty and being left to take care of someone younger than her.

Stories about phantoms made me believe people were ready to fear anything.

I was just a kid. I knew nothing about life. I knew nothing about how to protect myself and my baby sister.

I was forced to be strong at a young age, I was forced to face the noise, the fear, and the people around me who would kill just to survive another day.

But I tried and never stopped. I didn’t have a choice to give up or to take a break. Those words didn’t exist to me. Because someone else would suffer if I did. And I couldn’t take that.

Until it broke something in me. Until I lost faith in something I once believed in.

“You really like the Phantom Prince, huh?”

I saw the little twitch on her temple when she saw the lopsided smirk on my cocky face.

She knew I was teasing her. But she was iron steel who grew up with a crazy sister. Her words. Not mine.

“They said he was hauntingly beautiful and devastatingly enchanting.”

She twirled her sequined dress like a carefree princess who danced with peasants and animals, and the light blinded my eyes directly.

She hummed a mocking note and laughed at my groans.

“Where did you get those fancy words, huh?”

I pinched her cheeks and she giggled. I hugged her closer to me and kissed her cheeks. Then she pulled away to continue her story.

“They said that his beauty led to a thousand deaths. What does that mean, L?”

“Where did you get this, Lera?”

The Phantom Prince was a myth of some sort.

I’d heard stories about how his beauty led to a thousand heartbreaks. None of the women who fell in love with him got the lover they wanted. Him.

“Maren told us and the girls. The Phantom Prince was breathtakingly divine that women fell on their feet and died. He didn’t want their love.”

“It’s just a tale. No one actually died. The Phantom Prince doesn’t actually exist.”

“Then what will you do if you meet him and you fall in love with him like the girls in the tales?”

“That is so ridiculous. You’re making my head hurt.”

“Just answer me. You don’t love me anymore?”

I didn’t hold back my laugh.

I grabbed her by the shoulders and made her look at me.

Kids and their tales. Time to play along.

“If I ever meet this devastatingly handsome prince. I would run away and hide.”

“Why would you do that? Why not offer him a ring and ask him to marry you? He might be rich. He’s a prince.”

“And a prince that doesn’t exist.”

“He could buy me all the dresses I want. You just have to kiss him, L.”

“Who told you that?”

“Maren did.”

I washed my hands over my face and looked at the skies.

Heavens. What do they say to these children?

“I can buy you the dresses. You don’t need a prince to do that for you.”

“But still why would you run away and hide? What if he likes you too? What if you break his heart? What if he cries? You’ve always been heartless, L.”

“He doesn’t even know me.”

The kids and their imaginative minds. I wished I could be this carefree too. Though, it made me smile.

I love how Lera could be like other kids. Just happy with their games and curious minds.

“L. I’m starting to hate you.”

I let out an incredulous laugh. This girl.

“He’s the Phantom Prince. An enigma. Don’t you know that in the tales, he only wanted one woman? He was searching for over a hundred years for a woman who vanished.”

“That’s my question too. How come the Phantom Prince’s lover vanished? He is powerful, right? He even became evil because he lost her. How come he never found her? Is he dumb?”

“Such tragedy.”

And my eyes fell on a familiar man’s broad shoulders. I blinked and he was still there.

My eyes fell back on Lera who was waiting for me to say something.

“Well in the tale. The Phantom Prince believed in the end that the woman he loved was a time traveler or someone who didn’t exist in his world. It was a tragic love story. You should stick to children’s tales.”

I pointed to her nose and a smile broke on her face. She hugged me so tight that I could feel her small canines on my skin. I jokingly shrieked. This goofball loved to give bites.

I kept my face still and walked to the man waiting for me.

My mind flashed to the days I spent curling up against those broad shoulders.

When he turned around, my mind missed the touch of his lips against mine.

He was someone I’d always wanted, but when I got him, I knew it wasn’t love.

I realized I was lonely and I desperately just wanted someone to hold. It just so happened that he was there when I begged the heavens to take away my sadness.

My eyes locked into his rough brown eyes.

“L. What did you do this time?”