The smile on my face fell.

The small light in my hand extinguished immediately making the room fall instantly darker.

I felt small. Uncomfortable.

I cleared my throat and stepped away from Damien, careful to avoid Leah's gaze.

She casually walked up to Damien and held on to him tight as Damien hugged her back. They seemed to fit perfectly, like two pieces of a puzzle. The top of Leah's head just graced Damien's chin.

She did not seem happy.

Damien didn't seem to notice. He only nodded at the man over Leah's shoulder. "Send them in."

Instantly, figures appeared in the room. First one then two then five. All were on a knee, heads down, swords drawn and out in front of them. They rested the tip of the sword on the floor with their hands folded on the hilt in front of them, resting higher than their head.

Three men and two women, I noticed.

And all showing respect for Damien, their King.

I swallowed hard. Never in a million years did I think I'd see something like this.

"Please rise," Damien spoke. "There is no need for formality."

They all rose to full height and sheathed their sword as they did, taking off their helmets.

They were all heartbreakingly beautiful. The women in their armor still had delicate features, their eyes and brow were raised slightly towards the end, their long dark hair trailing behind them. They wore heavy armor on their chest and back while their legs and arms were draped in rich dark fabric. The armor was a dark metal, intricate and had depictions of a river, moonlight, and trees.

The men had similar armor as well but it also covered their legs and arms, with pointed larger than life shoulders. They were no less attractive with high cheekbones, both dark and fair skin. Dark hair, purple hair, blonde.

As always, I felt the most inadequate one there.

The first man that appeared before the others, didn't rise. He kept his head low and sword in front of him.

Damien spoke. "Oren, please rise."

I couldn't believe it--the Oren? Was this really Cat?

"I won't, Alteazor. I failed in protecting the Lady of Elendil last night."

Damien spoke again. "She is safe, please cut yourself some slack, you were ambushed."

He shook his head but didn't move anything else.

One of the women sighed, the one with the dark skin and eyes. "He keeps beating himself up over this, Alteazor. He feels as if he has failed her."

The atmosphere was casual, though they spoke to Damien with respect. It seemed as if they had all been friends for a long time. For a moment, I felt like a stranger.

Damien sighed and looked at me. "Emylin, Lady of Elendil - do you forgive this guard for his perceived failure?"

I blanched. "You mean me?"

Damien nodded and raised an eyebrow. "Please just say you forgive him so he can concentrate on the task at hand."

I blinked, looking back at the man. "Um, ok? I forgive you."

He finally stood to full height, sheathing his sword and taking off his helmet. I recognized him immediately. He'd been the one that saved my life the night that Leah had taken down a section of the forest behind my house. I couldn't forget the hazel eyes or the dirty blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail.

I was finally meeting Cat, the raven, the man who saved me, in the human flesh. Finally, I was able to put a face to the name. He was the same person that appeared in my room all that time ago. I knew they were all the same. Of course, I knew. It was entirely different seeing him face to face already knowing all the facts.

"Now that everyone is here," Damien cut through the conversation in the room and then looked towards Oren. "What have you found?"

Oren was formal, calculated and barely moved. He bowed his head respectfully towards me and turned his attention fully to Damien. "The guard has not been able to find the man since he disappeared last night. His men were hired and had no information on where he came from nor who he is."

I was floored. He escaped?

I looked to Leah. How must she feel to learn that the man that viciously murdered her best friend was still loose?

"Any idea why he was there in the first place?" It was Leah who spoke to the group, with an arm still around Damien.

He shook his head along with the others.

Damien spoke up. "Emylin might know."

All eyes turned to me and I felt the smallest I'd ever had in my life.

"Is this true, child?" The woman that spoke was the other in the group with fair skin. Her brown eyes were full of concern.

I nodded silently. "He said something to me as the attack happened. He called me Alteaza. He had his hand out like he wanted me to go with him."

I watched as everyone in the room shifted where they stood then whispered amongst themselves.

Leah pulled away from Damien, her arms crossing across her chest. "But Emylin will not be Queen." She said it matter of factly, with more conviction than the statement called for.

Oren spoke up. "Your Majesty, perhaps they mistakenly thought that the Lady of Elendil will be the future Queen."

Damien nodded. "That's precisely what I was thinking. This means that they are both in danger."

"She's been Marked too."

Everyone turned their attention to the fair woman again as she spoke.

The woman stopped short before reaching out to me. "May I?"

I nodded and she approached me.

She gently turned my head as she examined it. "This is several days old. He could not have given you this. Do you know who gave you this?"

I shook my head. "I didn't even know about it until this morning."

I watched her exquisite features crease in concentration as she started mumbling something under her breath. She turned her head curiously towards Damien and Leah.

Damien seemed to nod but I barely caught the interaction. Leah watched and said nothing.

Eventually, she sighed and stepped away from me. She turned to Damien. "This is old magic. Very old, dark magic. Whoever did this - it's not good. I believe it is connected."

I watched Damien as he slowly sat on the closest, smaller throne in thought. I watched his shoulders and hands tense. He was furious. "Kymra, you've studied magic longer than most of us. Do you really believe that's what that is?"

She nodded solemnly. "Yes, Alteazor. I will confer with the Magister but I don't believe I'm mistaken. It may provide clues to who attacked her."

"That will be what you will work on until you resolve this."

The woman, Kymra, nodded and bowed her head in his direction. "I will get started on this right away."

One of the men spoke up. "Who would want the Alteaza? What would they have to gain?"

"Could it be ransom?" Leah asked.

Oren shook his head. "No, this couldn't be for monetary gain -"

"A usurper?" Another man asked.

I looked to Damien - he'd made a comment about how marrying Leah would make it so that he wouldn't lose his throne...

I tried to steady my nerves. Everything was happening too fast. If they wanted Leah, why would the tattooed man murder Mia and go after me? Why would they think I was her? I wasn't fae - never closely resembled one, I was ordinary, normal. I had split ends, I couldn't see without my glasses and I had more bad hair days than good ones.

My biggest fear was failing college - not having a man with a large cleaver chasing me speaking nonsense.

It wasn't being 'marked' and having a handprint on my neck I didn't remember getting.

Everything felt so wrong.

And then there was Mia...

I closed my eyes trying not to think about it. I was out of my depth.

Dizzy, I sat down in the seat directly behind me, my head in my hand.

Damien was still speaking. "Kidnap Leah long enough that the Blood Moon passes? Perhaps."

The woman with the ebony skin that appeared with Kymra spoke. "That makes no sense, Your Majesty, this law is absurd! Why? Why does it have to be now? Your reign is still in its infancy, it's much too soon--"

Damien held up a hand which made her silent. "We need more information, Elvina, we can only speculate. All of you, find out what you can."

One of the men behind Oren spoke. "What about the future queen? She must be protected at all times, she is the obvious target."

Damien nodded. "I agree, Jax. Oren, be sure to put the guard on alert. My future wife and I will be staying here taking care of the preparations for the wedding - nothing can go wrong or deviate from it, do you understand?"

Oren nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Jax, take my future wife to safety. Under no circumstances are Leah or Emylin to be in the same room going forward. Not until after the wedding, understood?"

Leah stepped forward. "No way, I am not leaving!"

Everyone in the room turned towards her.

Damien looked towards Jax, his jaw clenched. "You are dismissed."

Without hesitation, the man took two large steps closing the space between himself and Leah.

Leah was fuming. "No, I am staying if she stays-"

They disappeared as soon as he grabbed her arm.

Damien nodded towards the rest. "You are all dismissed. Kymra, please stay."

The rest disappeared except for Oren and Kymra.

Damien stood and crossed his arms. "Yes, Oren?"

I saw Oren's fingers twitch around the hilt of the sword on his waist. "And Lady Emylin?"

Damien looked to me then to him. "She is staying here until after the wedding."

"What?" I almost shrieked. "What about school? And work? You can't be serious!"

Damien squared his gaze on me. "Try me. I wasn't kidding when I said you were safest here." He turned his attention back to him. "The only ones that know that Emylin is human are in this room."

I frowned. How did Kymra know?

"I want to keep it that way. No one else must know. Kymra, work on trying to find out who Marked her. This might be the only clue we have with us on who would want to take the future queen, involve the Magister as well. Oren, you will watch Emylin and keep her safe while she is here. Keep her out of trouble."

I threw my hands up. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Oren bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Kymra spoke up, her voice magical. "Alteazor, someone must speak to the future Alteaza to keep this secret as well."

Damien sighed as he stood. "I will talk to Leah - if there's any reasoning left in her right now."

I frowned. "Yeah, what was that about?"

Damien smiled to himself as Kymra laughed. She spoke through her laughter. "Oh, I know what that's about. She doesn't like that you're in her chair!"

Damien raised a hand, "Now, Kymra, we don't know that."

She shrugged. "I do."

I looked at the chair I was sitting in. It was the larger one, the most beautiful. I didn't even realize it. From the looks of it, wouldn't the grander of the thrones belong to the King? I looked at him. "Wait, this isn't yours?"

He shook his head a small chuckle escaping his lips as he spoke. "No, not at all."

"But-"

"Kings are consorts, Em. In the land of fae, it's the Queen that holds the most power."