The Winter Court Series: The Fae's Captive
Автор
M. L. Smith
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2,1M
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Seri has spent her life hiding in plain sight—a half-human servant with royal blood she dares never reveal. But when ruthless King Cazimir takes her across the border, her secret becomes a dangerous weapon. His cursed lands are dying, and only she can break the spell… if he doesn’t break her first. He sees her as a pawn, yet fate has marked her as something far more intimate: his fated mate. Desire coils between them, fierce and treacherous, pulling her toward a man who could either save her or ruin her completely. The closer she gets to him, the more the line between captor and protector blurs—and resisting him may be the hardest battle of all.
Chapter 1
“This is a mistake,” Beatrix hissed to Seraphina, running her hands nervously over her skirt as she looked out the window of the carriage. “We shouldn’t be venturing away from the castle, especially so late at night.”
“You make it sound like we’re running barefoot through the woods, Bee, not taking a royal carriage to a ball. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
Seri sighed, wishing she’d come alone.
Unfortunately, her older sister Hyacinth—the Spring Fae princess—had invited both her best friend and Seri to the festivities tonight, leaving no option but for them to travel together.
Not that Seri disliked Beatrix, but Hyacinth’s friend always worried so much, making it almost impossible to enjoy anything.
And tonight? I just want to have fun, Seri thought wistfully.
“Well, if we weren’t sneaking into the ball like a pair of thieves, I’d feel a lot more enthusiastic,” Bee answered with an indignant huff.
“As it is, my father forbade me from attending since I’m ‘too young,’ and you…” Bee trailed off, her brows furrowing. “Well, we know why you weren’t invited, though I hate to say it out loud.”
“The truth won’t hurt my feelings,” Seri replied with a roll of her eyes. “I’ve long since realized that I’m nothing more to my father than a servant—and a disappointment.”
I’ve known that for twenty-two years.
She stared out of the carriage window, trying to shake off their conversation and the small hurt that surfaced whenever she thought about her relationship with her father, no matter how hard she liked to pretend she didn’t care.
The moon was high in the sky, the temperature warm and welcoming. Tonight was a perfect night for slipping away. And with the Fall Court hosting an extravagant ball to honor the Seelie royal heirs, Seri was sure she’d be able to sneak in among the throng, unnoticed by her father and stepmother.
Despite being the daughter of a king, Seri was nothing but a burden. A shame.
A nobody.
Off in the vast distance, Seri caught sight of withered, blackened trees. Over there, where no Seelie dared to venture, was the Winter Court. She’d never been this close to it before, and the sight of that lifeless forest, however far away, sent a chill down her spine.
There were rumors that the Winter Court had suffered a terrible blight. All their crops and most of their vegetation had perished, and the soil was now too poisoned to sustain life. Their population was starving.
And the food that grew despite the diseased land… The rumors regarding that were even worse.
Some said that ingesting the rotten food drove you crazy. You became enraged, monstrous—and some even grew sex-crazed, trying to rut anything that moved to sate the madness growing inside them.
And then they died.
There was no saving someone who’d eaten the contaminated food.
She reminded herself that she shouldn’t care. The Winter Court was full of Unseelie, natural enemies of the Seelie Fae.
I don’t, but…
Briefly, her fingers trailed over her cheek, brushing the thin veil of powder hiding the faint silver snowflake there. For the past decade, the snowflake was a constant reminder that she’d betrayed her father, freeing his enemy Cazimir, the tyrant Unseelie king, over a decade ago. She hadn’t understood what she’d done then, but they’d made sure she learned.
She dropped her hand into her lap, refusing to think about all she’d endured because of her own recklessness. It was over now, and dwelling on the past wouldn’t alter history. She just wished that she could hide the mark more effectively than with makeup.
Being a half-human, Seri couldn’t cast a glamour on anything, though she could heal people and influence nature to do her bidding.
Those gifts were the reason her father, the Spring king, had snatched her from her human mother when she’d been an infant.
Seri shook her head, not wanting to think about that. She gazed through the carriage window and out to the Fall Court’s grand castle looming in the distance, nerves fluttering in her stomach.
After all her years of being a servant, tonight would be different. Magical, even. Hyacinth had just turned twenty-five, along with a handful of other Fae royals, and tonight was her debut, marking her officially as an heir to the Spring Court.
Before now, Hyacinth had spent her life isolated in the Spring kingdom, rarely allowed to venture out past the castle grounds, or to interact with anyone other than family or castle staff. As the only acknowledged princess of the Spring Court, Hyacinth had been as much a prisoner as Seri had, though far more pampered.
Hyacinth was sweet-tempered and gentle, not at all like her mother, Celeste. And all Seri’s life, her older sister had treated her with kindness. She’d bandaged Seri’s wounds more times than she could count, snuck her food when Celeste decided she shouldn’t be allowed to eat, and for the longest time, had even smuggled Seri into her room at night so she could sleep in her luxurious bed instead of the small cot in her own room.
That last venture had lasted until Celeste had discovered Seri sleeping soundly in Hyacinth’s bed, her dirty feet staining the pristine sheets.
Seri shivered, remembering Hyacinth’s screams vividly as she’d been forced to watch a guard whip Seri’s bare back until she’d passed out. After that, Hyacinth had never invited her to her bedroom again.
Despite Celeste’s best efforts, however, the two sisters had remained extremely close. Her sister had bribed several guards and coachmen to ensure they secretly made it to the Fall Court tonight; to watch her take her place among the Seelie.
All Seri needed to do was keep out of sight of Celeste and her father, and she’d enjoy an evening of dancing, food, and, most importantly, fun.
She smiled to herself, the corners of her lips pulling upward in a completely unfamiliar motion.
“You’re not even listening to me, are you?” Beatrix asked with an audible huff.
Seri shook her head. “No. You’re just going to make me worry, and all I want is a night free from that.”
Beatrix pursed her pink lips in irritation, her wavy brown hair almost an exact match for Hyacinth’s. They even had matching brown eyes and thin button noses. Seri envied that a bit.
She herself was plagued with light, curly blonde hair, rosy cheeks, vivid green eyes, and pointed ears, just like her father. She assumed that her heart-shaped face and pointy chin were from her mother’s side. Unlike the tall and willowy Spring Fae women, she was short, with a voluptuous figure. She might have loved her body if it didn’t draw the most unwanted attention of Fae males, who considered her an object to be used and degraded.
“I said,” Beatrix continued, startling Seri from her thoughts, “another carriage is closing in on ours.”
Seri sat forward in her seat, glancing out the window again to see what Beatrix was talking about. “Where?”
As soon as the word left her mouth, their carriage was struck from behind. Seri jolted forward, throwing her hands in front of her just in time to stop herself from slamming into the other side of the carriage. Horses neighed, and the coachmen escorting them to the Fall Court castle let out a panicked bellow.
The sound cut off abruptly, and the carriage rocked ominously as it rolled over something on the ground too large to be any minor debris on the road. She inhaled roughly, scenting blood in the air.
The carriage came to a grinding halt.
Beatrix reached for Seri as the door ripped open, a large, frightening-looking creature standing just outside. He was taller than any other male she’d seen before, with green skin and tusks that jutted from each side of his mouth. His long black hair was worn in braids around his head, only adding to his rugged, intimidating appearance.
An Orc? But they never ventured away from Winter territory, not for anything! So what was he doing here?
What if he’s infected, and that’s why he’s wandered into a Seelie kingdom?
Seri’s heart skipped a beat, terror tightening her throat. What if he was in the throes of madness and wanted to kill them?
Or worse?
Her eyes widened in more than a little fear as the Orc reached inside, grabbing Beatrix roughly by the hair and pulling her from the carriage.
“Seri!” Bee screamed in terror, her grip tightening on Seri’s wrist. Seri latched onto her friend, unleashing her own panicked scream as the Orc reached inside and yanked her out, too.
He dropped Seri almost immediately, and she crashed to the ground, the skirt of Hyacinth’s beautiful dress tearing as her heel caught the fabric on the way down.
“Don’t hurt us!” Seri screamed, trying desperately to move away from the Orc. Only, it wasn’t just one Orc, but several.
Scattered around the wrecked carriage, five more Orcs fanned out in a hard, silent ring, weapons low but ready. Axe. Sword. Mace.
Seri scrabbled backward in the torn hem, breath burning. Sex-crazed or just plain out of their minds with infection, these Orcs were more dangerous than anything she had faced before in her life—and she had faced more than her fair share of brutality.
The largest stepped in, his shadow swallowing the moonlight, his gaze cutting over Seri—and fixing on Beatrix. He seized Bee’s chin, tilting her face to the light as if checking a seal.
His nostrils flared. His mouth shaped a word.
“Princess Hyacinth—”
