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“Well, in any case, I don’t see how attending one little ball first would hurt. You could stay for a short time, then I could fly you down to the cave you mentioned.”

“Wouldn’t Roan see me at the ball?” Kate asked. “Doesn’t he have to attend those sorts of things?”

“Oh, every time I have thrown a ball, my brother manages to vanish for the entire evening, much to the dismay of all the young female courtiers. He knows he is a highly sought-after dance partner, but he is not the most social of creatures. I assure you, he will turn into an owl and fly far away just to avoid a single dance.”

This didn’t sound like a good idea. “I really don’t want to risk it. What if he does stay?”

“Well, in that very unlikely possibility, he won’t be able to see you if he can’t recognize you. It’s going to be a masquerade, and I shall disguise you.” Eudora clapped her hands together, delighted at the prospect.

“I don’t think putting a mask on my face will be enough.”

The Fae princess tutted. “We don’t just use masks.

We also use glamour, Kate of the Winslows.

The balls have a certain excitement and titillation that comes with the idea of deception and illusion.

You dance with someone, but they may not be who you think they are.

They may look exactly like someone you desire but end up being someone else entirely.

I shall place a strong spell over you, and no one will recognize you except me. ”

Kate wasn’t sure she should agree to this plan. Too many things could go wrong. It would be her luck if Roan decided to stay, and surely he would see through a spell, even Eudora’s, wouldn’t he?

“Lady Eudora...”

“Please, call me Eudora. I wish for us to be friends,” the princess said with such honesty that Kate felt an instant warmth and connection. She hoped it wasn’t because of some glamour Eudora was using. She genuinely wanted to like Roan’s sister.

“Eudora, I can’t risk upsetting your brother if he finds me at the ball. Please, just let me go see Caden.”

“Darling Kate, there is but one lesson you must learn as a woman in the land of the Fae: never refuse a chance to dance at a royal ball. Our balls are legendary, and one never knows what magical opportunities they might afford. Even the humans know of fairy balls, do they not?”

Kate remembered reading about fairy dances and balls, and she reluctantly nodded.

“Good, then it’s settled. You shall dance at least once at the ball—after you see your brother, of course. Then I promise to fly you to the cave you came from to get back to the labyrinth before my brother realizes you are missing.”

“Did you say you would fly me down to the cave?”

“Yes. All Shining Ones can fly.” She stood up from the bed and suddenly spun in a circle. A pair of iridescent wings appeared behind her. They were silvery with hints of pale seafoam green with slender tail parts like a luna moth that draped down in an elegant way.

“You have wings,” Kate gasped in awe. “Does Roan have wings?”

“Oh yes, but we rarely show them, except when in court. Think of them like court dress. So Roan hasn’t shown you his when he visits you in the labyrinth?”

“No, he simply shows up and we argue... or he is rescuing me and then we just end up in a bed he conjures out of thin air. I try to get him to talk to me, but...” She halted when she realized how pathetic that sounded.

The last thing she ever wanted to be was a stupid damsel in distress who couldn’t save herself.

She’d always hated those parts of fairy tales.

What she wanted was for Roan to see her as a strong person, to value her, to open himself up to her like she was doing with him.

“Roan is guarded, even from Rath and me. Don’t lose hope, Kate. You are closer to him than you realize.” Eudora said this so gently, yet her words were filled with hope, a hope that Kate held on to as well.

Kate tried to shrug off the pain of knowing that she and Roan were still strangers to each other.

It was foolish to want more when she wasn’t going to stay here after she solved the labyrinth.

But that didn’t stop the little flame of hope burning within her that they would someday share everything between them. ..

“I should hate him, you know,” Kate admitted. “He took me away from my home, and he stole Caden too. Then he tossed me into the labyrinth just so I would agree to sleep with him, and now?—”

Eudora took her hand again. “Now you fear you might love my stubborn brother, and you worry what loving him will mean for you.”

“That’s it in a nutshell,” Kate replied, her tone soft and full of an ache that burned in her throat.

“ In a nutshell .” Eudora chuckled. “You humans have such amusing sayings. Do you know the funny thing about nuts? When planted, the seed within will grow into a mighty tree—like an acorn turning into an oak.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

Eudora’s wings fanned out as she smiled. “Love grows from something small into something infinite. You must give it time to see what grows between you.”

“It’s a little hard to do when I’m in the labyrinth and he’s doing.

.. whatever Fae kings do.” Kate couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with Roan’s sister, let alone a Fae princess.

“Besides, there’s no future to any of this.

I’m just human. He sees me as a pet, a thing, and I won’t be staying.

” Kate had been afraid to say those words aloud, but now they were spoken.

Her mother would have said she couldn’t unring that bell.

Eudora bent down to face Kate, who still sat on the edge of the bed. Her wings fanned out, shimmering and beautiful. “You know what the Fae think of humans?”

Kate sniffled and wiped away tears with a furious hand. “What? We grow old and die and?—”

“Kate,” Eudora cut in gently. “Your mortality isn’t the fascination for us.

It’s something far more valuable. You change .

Strength comes from changing. A human woman who has lived all of her life stages and sits with weathered skin and white hair.

.. that woman has experienced more life than I will in many ways.

Change requires choices, new paths, new adventures, and lessons to be learned.

The Fae cherish stories about humankind because it teaches us about things we might otherwise miss. ”

“You mean, like how we have fairy stories about you guys?” Kate wiped away a stray tear that had crept down her cheek. “My mom loved fairy tales. She said they weren’t actually for children but that children were the only ones smart enough to understand them.”

Eudora smiled. “Your mother sounds like a very wise woman.”

“She was.” Kate smiled through her tears.

The old pain in her chest was almost unbearably agonizing at that moment.

“I miss her so much. I try so hard to act like I’m okay, as if losing her didn’t destroy everything inside me.

” Kate sucked in a breath. “But it did. I thought my stepmother, Sandra, would want me, that I’d matter to her, but I.

.. I was just in the way, taking up space. ”

Eudora curled a slender arm around Kate’s trembling shoulders.

“Never let anyone in your life make you feel like you’re not enough.

You are Kate of the Winslows. You are perfect as you are, and what is wrong with taking up space?

Think of the space your mother took up in your life.

The depth and vastness of your grief demonstrates the incredible space she took up in your life.

You deserve to be that for someone else.

Let yourself grow inside someone else’s heart. .. perhaps someone like Roan.”

“You think I should stay here in your realm and fall in love with your brother and abandon my life and my home? Like it’s that easy?”

“Nothing worth having is ever easy. Sometimes, the most important journeys we make start with a single step away from all that we know.” Eudora brushed a lock of hair back from Kate’s face in a motherly way. “The question is, are you brave enough to take a journey?”

“I doubt I’ll have a choice,” Kate sighed. “I doubt I’ll solve the labyrinth, which means I’ll be stuck here forever.”

The Fae princess chuckled. “There is always a choice.”

“Is this your way of telling me that I should choose to go to the ball?” Kate almost laughed. It would be like a fairy tale.

“Yes, exactly.” The princess grinned. Eudora looked her over. “But you will need a dress.”

“Fine. I’ll let you fairy-godmother me or whatever. But I want to see my brother first.”

“Fairy-godmother you? Well, I don’t exactly have the credentials for such illustrious work, but I could certainly try. The Fae chosen for such professions are rare and powerful,” Eudora said so seriously that Kate actually believed what she was saying.

“Never mind,” Kate said. “Can you take me to Caden?”

She decided to trust Eudora. Each time she looked into the other woman’s eyes, she couldn’t help but feel like it was Roan watching her.

Thank God he hadn’t seen her turn into a blubbering mess about her mother just now.

Kate caught herself. No, she wouldn’t apologize for having emotions, especially about her mother.

If anything, Roan might actually understand.

He had lost his mother as well, and it was rather clear she had left a gaping wound in his heart.

She was certain Roan would be furious if he found out she’d reached the palace unfairly, but part of her wished that he was here now, offering comfort to her. Despite his brooding intensity, he could be wonderfully comforting when she needed it most.

She couldn’t forget how he’d held her in his arms, kissing her so sweetly after she’d survived the morgen attack, even as he healed her.

It hadn’t felt selfish, hadn’t felt like he was healing her for his own needs.

He’d touched her so tenderly, the concern in his eyes so deep, so real, that even that memory of it made her shiver with a need to be back in his arms.

Maybe Eudora was right. Maybe what she felt for Roan was worth taking a risk for. But was it worth leaving her entire world behind?

Eudora pulled Kate to her feet and tucked one of Kate’s arms in her own as they left the bedroom.

The Fae princess grinned impishly. “Now then, let’s see your brother. Then we will fashion you a dress worthy of a princess.”