I didn't realize how much of a mess I was until I came face to face with a full-sized mirror in the bathroom.

The curls that Leah had so gently placed in my hair were gone. They were knotted, tangled mess that cascaded down my back. The make up which she applied so delicately - the cat eyes, the rosy cheeks, red lips - was all a black and pink streaky mess down my face.

And the blood... How had I not noticed it before?

Dried, dark blood covered and caked my legs, skirt and shirt. Dried mud and dirt trailed up my bare legs and streaked my cheeks. Why did Damien let me sleep on his bed?

A small pink duffel bag was tucked in corner of the bathroom. I rummaged through it and found a change of clothes as well as shampoo, conditioner and soap. I silently thanked whoever it was that put it all together.

My deep sigh echoed in the large marble bathroom around me. The bathroom was too grandiose, too big to be comfortable.

I felt so small.

I peeled my clothes off and took a shower despite how my body craved a hot bath. I thoroughly washed my hair then the rest of my body, making sure to leave nothing without a good scrub.

I felt like a new person when I emerged. The change of clothes provided was a pair of flats, jeans and a comfortable T-shirt.

When I left the bathroom, I found Damien was still on the couch reading the same book in his hand.

He looked up as soon as I entered the room. He set his book down on the tablet next to him without looking at it. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. I couldn't do much else, I couldn't trust my voice.

After a moment, I could speak again though barely above a whisper. "I'm all right, I guess."

I looked up at him and found his concerned mauve eyes watching me. Somehow, he was impeccably dressed, impeccably perfect.

The intensity of his concerning gaze made me look away. He wouldn't push me to speak but I knew I had to.

I looked at my hands instead and swallowed. The memories of the night before came flooding back. It was as if my mind had pushed it away until I finally felt myself relax.

"Damien," my voice was soft. "What happened? I mean, we were in a club in the middle of the city and this guy just-" I stopped, noticing how my voice was beginning to shake. My words came out as a whisper. "He appeared out of nowhere."

"We're still trying to figure it all out," he sighed.

When I looked up at him, I found him shaking his head.

"Whoever he was, he knew the Royal Guard was there. There were a lot of them." He ran a nervous hand through his perfect jet black hair. "After I left you here, I went back. We were able to track most of them down but they was enough to overwhelm your bodyguard and mine."

I frowned - a habit I was doing more and more of, I realized. "I have a bodyguard?"

He nodded. "You've had one for months - it's Oren, the cat."

I moved towards where he sat. "The cat?"

"Well, Oren is his title, at least. His name is really Oberyn, he's the head of the guard. A shapeshifter. He volunteered to guard you when we were starting to suspect an uprising after my father's death. I thought it was overkill at the time." He sighed, shifting back in his seat. "I guess I wasn't being as careful as I thought."

I sat down heavily on the couch across from him, watching as he placed his closed fist on his cheek.

"An uprising," I almost breathed. The word was so foreign to me.

He nodded. "We need a Queen for that reason. Having one will secure my reign - and there's also this law-"

"What law?"

He stood from the couch and started to pace. "I am the youngest king in centuries. In the past, when a King was crowned they already had their partner. That wasn't ever an issue. Since everything in recent years has been different," he said that word with disdain, "I am being forced to find a queen before the next Blood Moon."

I shook my head. "But - but that's not fair!"

He chuckled wryly. "Em, life is not fair."

"So that's why you have to marry this week."

He nodded. "Yes. It's why I disappeared for so long. Everything has to be perfect or I will lose my throne." He chuckled quietly, it was almost strained. "We were lucky - the Magister found the ancient law, otherwise we would have let the deadline slip by."

I nodded, trying to take everything in as much as I could. As much as any human could, at least. "What would happen then? If the deadline did go by?"

"I'd lose everything. Best case? My distant cousin would be king. Worst case? A usurper could take it for themselves."

I frowned. "But you are the rightful king!"

The corner of his mouth moved slightly as if he had attempted a smile. "Do you think anyone would give up the chance to be King? You underestimate my kind."

"So all of this has to do with last night? How?"

He nodded. "We think so. It's one hell of a coincidence that they showed up after we publically announce our engagement."

"But why me? Why am I the target?"

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know." He sounded defeated. "Oren seems to think that they want to get to me through you - to keep me distracted? - it's why he's wanted to watch you all this time."

I placed my head in my hands. "This is insane. Wait." I began to panic. "What about my parents?"

"I sent them away, they're safe. We can't be too cautious."

I sighed in relief, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of them. I ran up to him and hugged him tightly. "Thank you. Wait." I looked up at him as he towered over me. "What about Woof?"

He laughed and tucked a wet stray hair behind my ear. "I made sure he could go with them. What would become of Woof if he was away from your father for too long?"

I laughed, he knew the small dog too well. "Thank you."

"And Chris?"

I shook my head. "He should be okay I haven't seen him in months. And I'm not close to anyone else."

He eyed me. "No romantic interest?"

I laughed. "No, nothing like that. He gives great advice for college though. He's going to help me with an internship soon."

He placed his hands on my shoulders and gently pushed me away. His compassionate eyes met mine. "I am very sorry for putting you in danger, Em. I never thought that something like this would ever happen. I would never willingly put you in danger."

I nodded. "I know."

He pulled me into an embrace again and held me tight against his chest. "I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to you." He sighed deeply. "Em, I'm so sorry about your friend and I know you don't want to think about it but I need to know." He pulled away again making sure to look me in the eyes as he spoke. "Did he say anything to you? Did he mention a name? Anything?"

I turned away, crossing my arms across my chest.

Poor Mia. The guilt I had felt last night bubbled up again - Mia was dead. And rather than thinking about her I'd been thinking about myself. The last time I saw her Damien had told me to leave her - that nothing could be done.

I licked my dry lips.

My eyes were transfixed on the ashes of the fireplace, the fire from the night before long since gone. "Is Mia - Is she still there?"

"We've taken care of her. No human knows what it really was. The guard made it look like an accident."

I let out a long breath one I didn't even realize I was holding, my hands falling to my sides. "How's Leah? She and Mia--they were close." I was looking at my hands as I spoke, trying to focus on little things. Trying not to think of what I thought about last night.

Noticing what I was doing, Damien took my hands gently in his. His voice was soft, sympathetic. "I know what you're thinking. This was no way your fault, Em. Not even Leah thinks so. You couldn't have prevented this."

I shook my head, the attempt that I was making to hold back tears was failing. "You don't know that." My voice barely above a whisper. "You weren't there before - it happened." It was hard to say what it was, the words failing in my throat.

"Did he say anything to you?"

Slowly, I nodded. "That man - he called me something - he put his hands out like he wanted me to go with him. He called me Alteaza."

He tensed. "What did he call you?"

My eyes were full and spilled tears. I rubbed my hands against my cheeks trying to brush them away. "Alteaza? Do you know what that means?"

When he didn't answer or move, I looked up at him as he still held my hands.

He was deep in thought, looking out a window. "Yes. It's what we call our Queen. The formal title of our queen is Alteaza. Alteazor is King. He was calling you 'his Queen.'"

I furrowed my brows. "Well, that makes no sense. I'm no Queen."

"No," Damien agreed as he let me go. "But he might think you're the next queen."

I blanched. "What?"

His mauve eyes seemed to change color in the light - a feature that despite the years I'd never really gotten used to. "We will need to meet with the Royal Guard immediately. You will have to tell them what you just told me."

I froze. "Wait, what?"

Someone knocked on the door and I was instantly quiet. Who could it be just outside listening to us?

Damien chuckled at my response. He walked towards the closed doors. "It's all right. I asked for them to get you breakfast."

My stomach grumbled at the mention of food and I placed a hand over it, my eyes wide.

He laughed and walked towards the door opening it slightly. He pulled in a small tray on wheels with lids over some plates. I peered then made my way over as he closed the door behind him. He took the ornate cover off one of the plates then another.

"Oatmeal, fruits. Take whatever you want."

I looked over the selection on the tray and started making my pick as Damien walked away. My mouth was practically watering as I picked up the fruit from the tray.

I swallowed. "Isn't there a rule about humans not eating fae food?"

He looked at me with a deadpan expression. "You offend me, Em. I would never." He sighed. "It's from the human world. It's safe."

As I continued to place grapes, berries, and apples on my plate, I noticed a strange purple and red berry I'd never seen before. It seemed to shimmer and glow the more I looked at it.

Instinctively, I picked it up and bit it then mechanically continued finishing d the whole thing. The strange flavors burst in my mouth. It was sour at first then sweet. I never had anything like it.

It was a dizzying euphoria, something I'd never experienced while eating fruit. It was delicious.

My stomach grumbled again as I continued to pick more fruit from the tray and placed them on a small plate for me to eat.

I followed him to the other side of the room where he was deep in thought staring out the large open doors I'd seen before. The curtains on the doors moved slightly with the breeze coming in.

As I approached him, I watched the scenery behind the curtain come into view.

Small buildings littered the mountainside far away in the distance. It looked like construction I'd never seen with a mix of older architecture with stone and colors I'd never seen before. The homes were overlooking a large body of water that snaked around the mountain. On the other side of the river a large forest loomed continuing as far as I could see.

I continued towards the doors and gently pulled the curtain aside to get to the balcony.

It was beautiful.

A large port city bustled and breathed with life beneath us. In the distance at the foot of the mountain were more homes, beautiful and strange and inviting. The dark red roofs and white walls made it seem like an old city they were reminiscent of the old homes I'd seen pictures of Italy in the countryside.

The closer the buildings were to the river, the more different the architecture became. They evoked older cities like Paris with curved rooftops, gargoyles and large stain-glassed windows. The windows were shining in the sunlight, throwing different colors along the cobblestone streets. It was all dark colors, grey ...

The people moved about their day, walking, riding open old-fashioned cars like in the movies. It was strange and beautiful, mesmerizing to watch. Even the water of the large river was hypnotic - throwing colors I'd never seen before. Green? Turquoise? No, it wasn't quite those colors.

Wherever we were was high up so much so that I had to peer over the railing to see a small bridge that led to the immense building we were in. A small river cut through the cliffs below us where the building sat.

Castle, it was definitely a castle. And we were definitely high up, the breeze picked up around me and with it the beautiful scent of trees and flowers. Could it be from the forest across the river?

When I could finally speak, I asked out loud. "This is really it, isn't it? This is your home."

I heard his steps behind me but couldn't turn towards him, too mesmerized by the city below us.

"You should see it at night. That really is something."

"It's beautiful," I breathed.

He laughed. "What did you picture? Underground caverns? Pitchforks?"

I shook my head. "Nothing like this."

"They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," he stated. "Ancient Greek myths among others named the Underworld after this place. They may have heard it from one of our ancestors and weaved it into their history." He smiled as he looked at me. "You are now in Blackdown Keep - castle and home to the royal family for centuries. That city is Kingstown. The river," he pointed to the large river with the harbors, "is the Ylee. The lifeforce of our people according to ancient myth."

I turned to him again when I could finally tear my eyes away.

He didn't smile. "Welcome to the land of gods and monsters."

He frowned and squinted as he watched me. I followed his eyes and saw that he was looking at my neck.

Instinctively, my hand flew to my neck but he caught it, stopping me from covering it.

"Em, what's this?"

I was caught off guard when he started to inspect my neck with his fingers. His eyes inches from my throat.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, uncomfortable with the attention I was suddenly receiving. My cheeks flamed as I watched his eyes examine the area, his fingers moved my head delicately.

I thought back to the kiss. He'd caught me off guard then too, giving me a deep kiss to transfer magic. It wasn't a terrible kiss ...

I batted his hand away and he let me go with a frown. "When did you get that? Who touched you?"

"What are you talking about? What's on my neck?"

He sighed exasperated, "This is no time for games, Em."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

He led me back inside and placed me in front of the large mirror next to the dresser with our polaroid on it. He pointed to a mark on my neck. "This looks like fingerprints on your neck."

I frowned as I studied it. "That's weird, maybe I did it to myself?"

No, that wasn't right. Something at the back of my mind nagged at me, waiting for me to reach it, like a buried memory. My head pounded from the effort.

His look let me know he wasn't believing me. "This doesn't look self-inflicted, Em. What aren't you telling me?"

I shook my head, trying to relieve myself of a momentary headache. "No, I swear, I don't remember anything."

No, my mind screamed. Something isn't right ...

He turned to the door. "We must tell the Guard everything you know."