Page 9

“Aviva, I know you must have mixed feelings about this whole ordeal, but you’re doing the right thing. Your compliance in this has made things much easier for me,” Father said, with next to no emotion in his voice.

I spun on my heel to face him fully, my wings flaring slightly as I spoke.

“I’m not doing this for you, Father , but for my people.

They more than deserve a chance at peace.

Don’t mess this up for them. They’ve sacrificed enough,” I said in a hushed yet fierce voice.

Now that I knew I likely wouldn’t see my father at least for a long while, I couldn’t find it in me to fear him.

Father’s eyes widened slightly and his nostrils flared—the only sign that he was angry—but before he could even open his mouth to speak, I turned and walked away, heading in the direction I saw Teagan go.

Within a few strides, I found Teagan waiting outside the door of the carriage.

Now that I was closer up, I realized just how detailed it was.

It was a rich, forest green with countless gold accents.

There were gilded vines covering the entirety of the carriage, with small thorns and flower buds sprinkled throughout.

There was a wolf’s head in place of a handle, and the Southern Thorntier family crest—a wolf’s head with a silhouette of the sun behind it—on each of the wheels.

Teagan placed a hand on the wolf head handle and opened the door for me.

“You’ll be riding in here until we get to The Haven, Princess Aviva.

Hopefully we’ll be there before nightfall tomorrow,” she said, seeming slightly uncomfortable with my presence.

"Our group will split into two, with the wolves leading the faster one.

That way we can get back to the South quickly, so we can make preparations. "

From what I understood, it took roughly three days or so to make it from Hollis to Cairnyl. The fact that the giant beasts could shave off an entire day was astounding.

“You can call me Aviva, I really don’t mind. I’d prefer it, actually,” I said, trying my best to sound friendly, though I felt differently. If I were to ever have any chance at escaping the South someday, I’d have to start with gaining their trust.

Teagan shook her head slightly. “You’re to be my queen, Princess,” she said in explanation, then nodded towards the open door to the carriage, silently motioning me to get in.

I held back a sigh, then turned towards the carriage. Just as I went to step up into it, a hand shot out, offering assistance.

“Please, let me help.”

The tan, toned hand belonged to the most handsome male I think I’d ever seen.

His eyes were such a rich green, they reminded me of the dense forests I’d read about the South having.

The sun hit his chestnut hair just right, making it glow with red undertones, and his cheeks were splattered with freckles.

The smile playing softly on his lips made my breath hitch ever so slightly.

This revealed a single dimple on the right side of his face and a small scar that marred his jaw to the left.

The scar did nothing to take away from the rest of his features though, such as his strong cheekbones and straight nose. He was… gorgeous.

“My lady?” he asked, still holding out his hand.

That was when I finally noticed that he, like Teagan, had a winding, swirling brown pattern on the back of his hand that was climbing up his arm.

Where Teagan’s marking had seemed sharper and more angled, his was all soft swoops, though his seemed to cover less of the length of his arm than Teagan’s did.

I cleared my throat then reached for his hand, figuring if I refused it wouldn’t reflect well on my intentions or my character. Yet the moment my hand touched his, I had to hold back a gasp—it had felt like lightning had ignited under my skin.

I quickly brushed it off as being my zirilium starting to build up. There was no way it could be anything other than that. Especially since this male was Southern.

Not to mention I was to get married to the King of the South soon.

Teagan shut the door to the carriage once I sat in the seat across from the male, who I assumed couldn’t be more than a couple years older than I was.

Shortly after the door had shut, I heard the reins of the horses snap, and we jerked forward into motion.

I quickly moved closer to the window and shoved the curtain out of the way, watching my father, Hugo, Dimitri, and Aurora grow smaller and smaller the further we rode away, all but my father waving.

I watched out the window for what felt like hours as we traveled further away from everything I’d ever known.

I watched as the only people I cared about in the entire world disappeared from view, then stared at Gatlyn Castle until the Northern flag flying high on top also disappeared from my line of sight.

It seemed we were going the long way around Hollis, not through it, but I could still see it far off—the tall towers with balconies and ledges that us winged fae flew into, as well as the bridges connecting all of the tallest buildings together for easier access.

The city where I’d been raised, where I met my best friend, and where I’d gone to study the people who lived there and made connections.

Tears threatened to fill my eyes as I watched that city built in the sky slowly vanish across the horizon.

And all too soon, I was farther from home than I had ever been, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever see it again.

Sighing, I let the curtain fall closed and wiped a single tear from my cheek that had somehow managed to escape, despite my fortified mental walls.

I shifted uncomfortably in the small space, tucking my wings in tight to my body, but I still felt squished.

Though, I also wasn’t willing to move any closer to the stranger I was sharing air with, so I remained close to the window.

This carriage was obviously not built for fae with wings , I thought.

“Uncomfortable?” the male asked, and that’s when I realized he had been observing me this entire time.

Suddenly embarrassed, I felt my cheeks and the pointed tips of my ears flush with color as I slightly flared my wings, then tucked them back in. “ In more ways than one, ” I mumbled to myself in the long dead Northern language, Nolvym.

I had found books written in the dead language around age ten, hidden away in the royal library, and decided to teach it to myself.

Dimitri had never understood why I cared enough, nobody alive spoke it anymore—not after the entire continent agreed to only use the common language.

Though, that was shortly before this war began, all those centuries ago.

Dimitri didn’t seem to understand that speaking Nolvym made me feel closer to our immortal ancestors, made me feel closer to the time of peace they had gotten to experience. It made it easier to imagine myself there.

I didn’t let myself think too hard about the expression that passed across the male’s face at my quiet remark.

For the next few minutes we rode in a peaceful, yet slightly tense silence. I made sure to keep my expression flat, passive.

“So, who all was present in telling you goodbye? If I’m not mistaken, I counted a total of only four fae, and no guards,” the male asked abruptly, interrupting the moment of quiet.

It was an effort not to roll my eyes at the question. There couldn’t be a good reason for him to be inquiring about me personally.

Ignoring him, I turned back to the window. Although I could barely see out of the window with the sheer curtains in the way, I stared on.

Shifting to face me more fully, he tried again.

“What was it like being raised in the North, Princess?” he asked, his voice staying calm and level, even though I imagine my silence wasn’t the answer he had been wanting.

But if he thought I was going to start trusting Southerners now, he was sorely mistaken.

I remained silent. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to get at, but I needed time to think in order to forge a plan. I’d be mild and respectful when necessary, but that doesn’t include small talk with a stranger that I’d probably never see again after we arrived in the South.

He sighed, then spoke again, still staring at me. “Listen, I understand you have no reason to trust me, but I will be a great ally to you in the South, so we might as well start working together sooner rather than later.”

I cleared my throat to hide the laugh that threatened to erupt from my throat. The audacity.

I ignored him.

Though his voice never grew louder, the slight shift in his tone gave away his frustration as he said, “If you won’t tell me about yourself, then I’ll do it for you, based on what I’ve observed in our short time together,” he declared.

“You keep your circle small—whether that’s been an active choice or not, I do not know.

You love the city you grew up in, and probably feel sick leaving it like this.

You don’t trust anybody but yourself right now, which I understand—from what I’ve heard, you were just as blindsided by this ordeal as the Southern royals were.

And lastly, you’re terrible at hiding daggers. ”

I snapped my eyes to his, shocked at the accuracy of his words. I met his eyes head on for the first time, and suddenly I felt like he could see straight into my soul with just one look.

Before I could open my mouth to speak, he held up one of my twelve daggers and dangled it in front of me, before pulling it back and inspecting it.

“Your right sleeve hung slightly lower than your left, so spotting it was simple. Lifting it off of you when I offered you a hand, even more so. You definitely have a lot to learn, Princess.”

I felt the surge of emotions in the same moment as my zirilium began to sing under my skin, asking to be released. Anger, frustration, grief—all of it swirled around in my heart and head until I couldn’t think clearly.

In the next breath, I unsheathed the dagger I had stashed in my left boot and pointed the tip of it right at the hollow of the male’s throat. To my shock, one side of his mouth lifted up in an ungodly, handsome smirk, flashing that dimple.

“You have some nerve,” I ground out between clenched teeth, pressing the dagger slightly harder against him.

To my astonishment, the male didn’t even flinch, or move an inch. He remained perfectly still, not breaking eye contact as he said, “You have no idea.”

“Who are you, anyways?” I asked, holding the dagger firmly in place.

“You can call me Byn. And like I said, I will be a great ally for you, Princess. Let’s skip the pleasantries and get right to working together, why don’t we?” he suggested, still wearing that obnoxious smirk on his full lips.

“If you think for a moment that I’d trust anybody from the South, you’re going to be very disappointed,” I stated, matter-of-factly.

Just then, the carriage hit a small bump in the road, disrupting the careful hold I had on the dagger. Byn winced slightly as the dagger pulled a small drop of blood from his soft skin.

I quickly pulled the dagger back before I could do anymore damage, and replaced it to its holder in the side of my boot.

His hand went to where the dagger had previously been, and his eyes only left me for a moment to look down at his hand, which drew back with a splotch of bright red blood on it.

“You win this round, Princess. Don’t get used to it,” he said, wiping the blood on the brown leathers he wore that reflected Teagan’s perfectly, then handing the dagger he stole back to me.

I was careful not to let our hands touch again.

My heart hammered in my chest for a long while after our interaction, but his eyes never left me again for the remainder of the ride.

I could feel his gaze upon me as if he were actually running a finger along my skin.

I was used to studying people, but it seemed I was being outdone in my own skill set by the way Byn seemed to study every slight movement I made.

I did my best to block it out, and I didn’t bother looking over at him again. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know how easily he had gotten under my skin. How easily he knocked down the mental walls I had built brick by brick to keep my emotions in check.

I watched the icy blue sky turn orange and pink, then a deep blue as night fell. We still carried on for hours, all in silence.Sleep beckoned me, but I refused it, hating the idea of letting my guard down when surrounded by the enemy .

We carried on, neither myself or the male I shared the carriage with allowing ourselves to sleep. We made minimal stops, and though they prompted me to eat, I refused. My stomach was still in knots, thinking about everything I had left behind, and the uncertain future I would soon be facing.

Just as my eyelids had begun to droop the second night of travel and I could practically hear sleep calling my name, the carriage came to an abrupt stop. I quickly sat up straight, heart pounding with the realization that I had nearly fallen asleep so close to the enemy.

“Where are we?” I asked, turning to Byn for the first time since I’d held my dagger to his throat the day before.

A small, thoughtful smile made its way onto his lips as he said, “Princess Aviva, let me be the first to welcome you to The Haven.”