Page 52 of A Sanctuary from Shadow
Who the hell had thoughtthata good idea?
Uncle Neel shrugged. “We fae enjoy mischief and trickery. It certainly makes a wedding more exciting. Sometimes scandalous.”
“I’m guessing the king’s wedding was one of the scandalous ones,” I said.
Uncle Neel snorted. “The most. Gentian’s intended was there just for fun, but the king accidentally chose her instead of his actual bride. Once a choice is made, no one prevents it. Even if it’s wrong. We prefer to think of fate as a better matchmaker.”
“Gentian didn’t see it that way, of course. He was livid, claiming the king had chosen wrong on purpose. The king denied this, but when he and his new queen happened to fall madly in love, Gentian thought his suspicions confirmed. It only fueled the bad blood.
“Anyway, the queen was there the night Gentian cast the curse. She stayed the assassin and saved her husband’s life, though she couldn’t lift the curse.”
“Good for her,” I said.
The corner of Aunt Aylie’s mouth trembled as she faced me. “She used her entire store of power in saving her husband. There was no time for it to regenerate before Gentian killed her for thwarting him.”
I stiffened, recalling a vision of a tall, slender woman with copper hair disintegrating around me in blinding stardust.
“Ow!” Ace yanked his hand from mine, shaking it. “Jeez, Amy. It’s a hand, not a stress ball.”
I patted his shoulder. “Sorry. I—I’m just—”
“What’s wrong, Amy?” Briar asked.
“Nothing.” Sleep deprivation had me drawing insane conclusions. “It’s just—well, what happened to the king?”
“He fled the realm,” Uncle Neel said. “Went somewhere he and his family would be lost in a crowd. They went somewhere they could hide from Gentian and his harbingers. They came here.”
We froze again, doubting our ears.
“You mean, they came here—like to the human world,” Vi rationalized.
“I mean they camehere.” Uncle Neel grimaced, watching his meteor land. “To Pittsburgh. The king—and his three children.”
Eleven
“Youcan’tbeserious!”Vi screeched. “We’reroyalty? I’m a fairy princess, and you won’t even let me have my own car?”
“This is fucking bullshit!” Ace erupted, his ears pinkening.
“Acer Larkspur!” Aunt Aylie glared. “Watch your language!”
Ace’s amber eyes nearly popped from his head. “My language is called for! You made us go to school, knowing most of the stuff we learned here won’t mean shit where we’re from!”
While my brother and sister argued in tandem, reality stampeded me. My night terrors weren’t just intricate phantasms. They weren’t fantasies a child therapist could reason out of me. Because they weren’t just dreams. They were memories.
“I was there,” I uttered more to myself than anyone else. “I saw it happen.”
“Enough, children!” Aunt Aylie hushed my siblings. “What was that, Amy?”
I blinked at her, everyone staring at me. “I was there in the room—when the queen saved the king.” The full weight of what I was saying clobbered me. My hands shook as I wailed into my palms. “Ohmigoddess! I was there! She was mymother! I watched her die!”
“That’s impossible,” Uncle Neel said. “If you were there at the time, Gentian never would’ve left you alive—the heir to the throne.”
I sat bolt upright again.
Ace collapsed in relief, looked ceilingward in silent thanks to Danu.
“I thought you said the throne was passed down to the son,” I argued, gouging my own thighs. “That’s Ace!”
