Page 24 of Royal Hunt
“Now, as to the exact reason why we’re here: The Royal Hunt.” Cassus paused, a vicious gleam in his eyes. “The Royal Hunt is quite the tradition for the fae. Every century or so we descend on your continent for a bit of sport. Our hunt lasts seven days, and when it’s over, we leave you in peace for another century or two. Depends on how bored we are. The lingering magic from our presence reinvigorates your lands and repairs your weather cycles.”
Cassus’s eyes glinted manically. “Of course, humans don’t live long enough to remember our little visits, and no one believes those that do. You call them crazy! Another lovely trait of your people; how callous you are toward your elderly.”
He stepped in front of one of the younger princesses from the Western Realm, Lyra or Lily. I didn’t know which was which. God she was young, perhaps only fifteen? Cassus gripped her chin tightly, pushing it back and forth, inspecting her like she was an animal. The girl whimpered, and a growl rumbled from Nessian’s chest.
“The rules are simple,” he continued, dropping her and moving on down the line of heirs. “For seven days we will commence our hunt.” He spun around, glaring at the crowd. “None of you humans will interfere or impede in any way. We will even let you watch alongside our own people, who will observe for their amusement. When it is over, we leave and you won’t speak of it to anyone. In return, your lands will be bountiful for the next one hundred years, and the weather mild. If you break these rules, the land will fail you, and you all die. We will bring new prisoners and start over. We could always use more slaves in our realm.”
My jaw dropped. I was quickly revising my definition of ‘asshole’ after meeting the fae.
Gregory raised a trembling hand, and I inhaled a shaky breath. His gaze was locked on something below me, and I glanced down. He was staring at my hand, entwined with Ellis’s. I tried to yank away, but Ellis refused to let go.
Gregory glanced away, shifting his gaze to the fae warrior in front of him. “N-not an objection, sir. Just a question, if you don’t mind?” Gregory’s face was white as a sheet, and he lowered his raised arm to clutch his cap in his hands. His normally kind, brown eyes were tinged with fear and a hint of anger. Cassus merely raised an eyebrow.
Gregory hesitantly continued. “You said a royal hunt. What exactly are the royals hunting? The game in the Northern Realm isn’t … I mean, the animals haven't been ...” he trailed off into silence at the stare from Cassus and Ferar.
The tension in the air ratcheted up a notch, and the heirs collectively held their breaths. Viana scowled. Ferar snorted, and Cassus showed the room his fangs.
“What are we hunting? Why… the prisoners, of course.”
Nine
The youngest princess cried, falling to her knees beside Nessian. Her sister went with her, wrapping her arms around her as the younger one sobbed. Nessian stood over both of them, glaring murder at Cassus. “You’remonsters!You tricked our people into murdering our families under the guise of some new religion, and now propose to kill us for sport?”
Cassus grabbed the back of his hair—damn, they were fast—and pulled, forcing the prince to bare his neck and fall to his knees.
“They are not your people,” Cassus angrily whispered, yet somehow his voice carried to the far corners of the hall. “And yes, that’s exactly what I propose. Do you think any of them will save you? Perhaps trade places? Offer themselves up to save their king?”
He dropped Nessian to the ground, and gestured to the crowd with open arms. “Well? Does anyone here wish to speak up on behalf of their prince?”
The silence was deafening.
My hands balled into fists at my sides. Gregory took a single step forward, holding his arms out in surrender. He pointed toward me, his hand shaking. “She’s not an heir. Please let my betrothed go. She’s just a useless, boring, human girl.”
I reminded myself to smack him as soon as I was able. Ellis’s hand went rigid against mine, and then he tore it away. I didn’t have time to react as Cassus was suddenly behind me, and he pushed me down the stairs hard in the small of my back. Unprepared and wearing a dress that was too large, I fell.
Pain exploded down my body as my arms hit the ground first, taking the brunt of the fall. My chin nicked the edge of a step, and I bit my tongue as my jaw was forced upward. I spat blood out onto the freshly cleaned floor.
Strong arms quickly picked me up, but they weren’t Gregory’s. I looked up to see a flash of dark hair, and gold eyes scanning me intently. Ellis pulled me to my feet, only for me to be yanked away by Gregory.
I slapped my childhood friend’s outstretched arms, tired of being manhandled. “A useless, boring, human girl?” I shrieked at him.
Cassus sniffed. “She bleeds like a human; I’ll give you that.” He dismissed both of us, and Gregory pulled us both into the crowd to better disappear. But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t leave Ellis, or any of the other heirs. This wasn’t right.
Gregory saw the look in my eyes and sighed, but stopped trying to grab me. He stood at my shoulder, hovering anxiously.
“The heirs will compete against each other in a series of tests and games,” Cassus continued. “The winner will be allowed to re-establish the ruling families however they see fit.”
The triplet that had been bleeding from his head blinked, still looking dazed. “None of this makes sense,” he spat. “Our mothers and fathers surely would have told us about such games and warned us. Prepared us even!”
Viana snorted again. Cassus whipped around, staring her down. She matched his head tilt perfectly, silver eyes meeting more silver, and I squelched down an inappropriate giggle. In another life, they could have been older brother and younger sister. His eyes narrowed.
Viana flashed her own teeth. Her fangs weren’t as long as Cassus’s, but the intent was clear. “I can commission a painting for you. Surely, it will last longer.” Her eyelashes fluttered at him.
Cassus snarled, then ignored her in favor of Nessian. “Your parents knew nothing. The last games were before their time, and their parents were compelled into silence by blood magick. The winners always are. They had no memories of the games, simply the desire to create as large of a family as possible.” His eyes narrowed again at Viana, who lifted her chin defiantly.
Oh sweet Lord.They were using some kind of magick to compel the royal families to breed more, so that there would be more contestantswhen the fae popped by for their games.It was good I hadn’t eaten much at the feast—my stomach wouldn’t have been able to handle much more upheaval or sick revelations.
“There are only eight of us,” Nessian spat. “Not much of a contest.”
