Galan had been right; I was being passed into the care of one of Mirin’s sons while they had their meeting. To my surprise, it was Lorelis who waited for me outside. I’d expected Lothaire, with his mild interest in me. Lorelis had been quite clear on what he thought of me, and it was shocking to have him waiting outside for me in the hallway.

There hadn't been idle chat when they came for us. Galan had confidently emerged from our room and led most of the soldiers away, not a word ushered. They followed him as if Galan knew where he was going, like he had some authority over them.

I was left alone in the room, and though I hadn’t seen them yet, I knew exactly who was outside. His hatred for me was tangible, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. I couldn’t blame him for his feelings, nor did I want to change them. I doubted myself just as much as he probably doubted me.

Lorelis didn’t barge into the room and demand I go somewhere, wherever, with him as his father deemed. Instead, again to my surprise, he waited silently.

It was a small eternity before I gathered myself together and stepped out of the room. Lorelis had perched himself against the wall adjacent to the door, idly fiddling with a dagger in his hand. Two men had stayed, likely to protect their prince. I wondered then if there were more of Mirin’s sons, and if I’d run into more agitating personalities.

“Claudia, is it?” Lorelis asked me casually, continuing to flip the dagger, not once looking at me. Flustered, I looked down at my hands, which had balled into fists against the skirt of my dress. “Quite a human name, albeit uncommon.”

“Claudia Aevennar,” I said, attempting to replicate the way Galan had said it. Somehow, I mustered a tone I found fitting for a favored. Listening to myself, I sounded snobbish, a convincing bite in my voice. Old hatred bubbled in my chest, reviving a passionate anger against what I replicated now.

At last, the young prince’s eyes flicked up, studying my face. They narrowed on me, and he hummed in disappointment. “I’ve only seen that name in ancient ledgers,” he said, almost like he was speaking to himself and not me. “Your line must be a few generations away from being human, based on how you look. I’m surprised you were even turned, truthfully.” Though his words were smooth as silk, they were full of ire.

For a moment, I was flailing internally. It was a hard task to play into a role I hadn’t fully learned, but I had no choice other than to trust my ability to lie and evade what I couldn’t answer. I’d been practicing since I was a child, and thankfully it wasn’t a skill I’d lost with my human life. “Your father has no interest in me, Prince Lorelis, and I am surprised you go against this with your questioning.” I watched as his brows drew together in a heavy line, a deep set pulling at his mouth.

“I have every right to question an abomination in my home, whether or not my father has interest in it.” He pushed himself off from the wall, coming to stand a breath’s distance from me. Lorelis was a brave man to get so close to me, and I somewhat admired him for it. He, at least, felt strongly about protecting his family. I’d never had brothers, or a father, or any male relative to experience this dynamic with before. “No matter how human you look, Claudia, do not forget that your existence is damnation to your kind.”

My jaw clicked audibly as I clamped my mouth shut. As much as I wanted to stand my ground against him, ultimately I was at his mercy without Galan to protect me. I wouldn’t raise a hand against Lorelis without knowing with absolute confidence he would not rise again. “You need not remind me,” I said at last. “I spend most of my time thinking about it.”

The anger slowly eased from his face, a brief wave of surprise resonating from him. I’d said too much. The prince watched me for a long moment, as if waiting for me to say something else. I held my tongue, reminding myself that I would have to tread carefully here. I could say anything and be wrong, and oust myself in the process.

I could feel when he’d found a new reason to hate me, if not for my remorse. His resentment was strong, and I knew it was nothing I could change.

“Elves,” he scoffed in annoyance before turning away from me. “So high and above everything else, aren’t you?” He questioned, but it didn’t sound like he wanted an answer. He’d misread my silence for contempt, but I was stuck on the word elves. I’d save my questions, and anger, for Galan later.

“Aevennar,” he repeated my false last name, sounding out each syllable slowly. I felt my heart race, fearing he’d come to the conclusion that it was fake.

“Forgive me, Prince Lorelis, but is there somewhere we are to go? Or am I simply being watched?” Truthfully, I’d rather sulk in the dark Underneath, waiting for Galan to return, than do anything else here. I wasn’t a welcome guest, and I’d hoped to skip any interactions that I could.

“King Mirin requested for you to be placed with the other pure-bloods while you wait for your keeper.” Shit, I thought. There were other pure-bloods here, and if I was put with them, they’d surely know I wasn’t one of them. “I don’t understand why he goes out of his way to ensure your comfort, or any other dead thing like you.”

His words beat against the meager confidence in myself that I’d managed to build up, threatening to tear it back down. No matter how alive I felt, I was a dead abomination, just as he’d said. I could fool myself all that I wished, but the truth could not be denied.

“Perhaps your father has learned to find use in otherwise overlooked things,” I snapped at him, unable to hold my anger back. I had no idea what I was fighting, only that I wanted to fight his resentment for me. It was as if I was fighting my own disregard for myself.

“He’s found plenty of uses with your kind,” he said coolly. A shiver danced over my skin at the implications behind his words, and I didn’t want to think too deeply about it. “Enough of this, Claudia Aevennar, I’d rather not waste any more of my lifetime in the Underneath.”

“Is it not daytime?” I asked through a tightening throat. Emotions clawed at my soul, and I wished I could will them away, just as I’d willed them to exist back at the inn. This was my fault, I realized. I’d begged to feel anything, only to be granted the curse of feeling everything.

I was both myself and the prince. I understood him, understood where he came from, what he thought, and agreed with him. I was seeing myself through the lens of others, and staring back was a monster.

Ascelin, looking through the eye of Lorelis, I hated myself. I despised the creature I’d become, a soul-damning being. Hatred wasn’t a strong enough word for how I felt. No- how Lorelis felt. What I was feeling didn’t belong to me, and I’d been sucked into its jaws.

The realization had me reeling back, physically moving away from the prince. I stumbled in my backwards retreat, catching myself on the wall. The prince was having a near-similar reaction, the two soldiers inching closer in alarm. “What did you just do?” Lorelis’ voice came in a horrified whisper.

I couldn’t answer him. It was like I’d been transported back to my dream, and my body was not my own. My panic rose as Lorelis straightened, drawing his sword.

“What did you just do?” He screamed at me, his face turning red. Before me, his memories played like flickering shadows in candlelight. I saw him as a child, the forgotten scenes of childhood flashing faster than I could keep track of. I watched in growing horror as he grew older, the once joyful child turning into a cold-hearted royal. He’d killed hundreds without mercy, and without doubt he would continue to do so. Through his memories, I saw the deaths of thousands, many of them innocent humans.

The ghost of his past was gone, in its place was his future. It was as if he’d multiplied before me, dozens of him staring me down with seething rage. In his futures I saw his varying deaths as well, and most of them came sooner than he likely thought. Very few of his endings were non-violent ones, and I almost began to fear the human in front of me.

Slowly, I was coming back to myself. I had to peel my emotions from his, deciphering which were mine and which were his. I ignored the shadows of his futures, attempting to blink them away.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The prince drew closer in a threatening stalk, his weapon aimed for my heart. “Answer me, or I will not hesitate to end you here.” Countless swords pointed my way, but only one of them was real. Present.

“I don’t know,” I answered him honestly. I didn’t understand what had just happened, still feeling as though I were in a dream. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Bullshit,” he growled at me, but the blow didn’t come. Though he still held it in anger, his sword didn’t come any closer. “I felt you inside my head,” Lorelis spat. “Picking apart my soul. Don’t lie to me, pure-blood.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I said again, pleading with not only him but myself. Desperately, I wanted it to be true, but I was still seeing hundreds of him. They blended together, but my curse was the ability to see them separately, lifetimes streaking past my vision. Though little time had truly passed, I was watching detailed moments of the years yet to come for him.

“Is that why you’re so special?” He hissed at me, coming a step closer. The sight of him was blinding, and I feared I was losing my grip on sanity. “Having him to tote you around? Do you even know who he is?”

In my stupor, I didn’t have the sense to respond to him. The truth was that I didn’t know Galan, or who he was. I knew nothing of anything, and yet here I was, in the middle of a world I had no space in.

There will never be room for what is not wanted, the voice from my dream came back, as fresh as I’d first heard it.

I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be here anymore, but the voice was right. I couldn’t continue to dance between the lines; I had to put myself fully into one choice. I’d dreamed of lands beyond Reddon before becoming pregnant, but the weight of it was what finally pushed me to go. I’d gotten what I wanted, and the price I’d already paid for it was too devastating to end with giving up.

“I apologize, Prince Lorelis,” I said, finding my voice once more. “I’ve forgotten many things in my change, some of them my manners.” My placated words were doing nothing to quell his internal fury, but his demeanor changed. His sword lowered, then he sheathed it back at his side. “You were right in your assumption of my bloodline,” I continued, encouraged. “I am one of the last, and I nearly was not changed. It was more difficult on my body than others, and I am still picking up what I have forgotten.”

“Obviously,” he said with as much venom as a snake. “Using any unnatural ability on a royal, of any descent, is a crime. You will do well to remember that, if you have any desire to survive this castle.”

I almost apologized to him again before I stopped myself. I’d already done so, which was more than I pictured a favored doing. I was still supposed to be acting like them, and I was failing miserably. “It will not happen again,” I assured him, but I didn’t know how I’d done it in the first place.

“If I catch you luring my brother, there will be consequences Claudia,” he warned me in a serious tone. Luring? I’d done nothing of the sort, but this wasn’t the first time this accusation had been made. Ferlan had made nearly the same comment, and still I had no clue how I’d lured anyone.

“Oh, hello,” a feminine voice purred from down the hallway, hidden behind the bulky frames of the soldiers. “I thought I’d heard your voice. It’s always a treat to have you in the Underneath, Prince Lorelis.”

“I’d enjoy our time together far more in the warmth of sunlight,” Lorelis quipped. His eyes were still on me, and I watched as he struggled to master his temper. He was raging, and whoever the woman was, he hated infinitely more than me.

The woman laughed, and it finally drew my attention away from the prince. There was a soft warmth of light coming from behind the soldiers. I caught glimpses of the torch she held, and it was then that I remembered Lorelis and the soldiers should not have been able to see down here. They’d managed to perfectly navigate their way to my room without any source of light.

“I can do that any time you wish, my prince,” the woman said, her voice dripping in sultry seduction. Her presence made me uncomfortable, and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I had to see what she looked like. Was she human, pure-blood, vampire? Something else?

“But you refuse to walk with me in the castle, Fiona. How will I ever get you into the daylight?” The prince turned, giving me his back at last. It was relieving, and in that moment, the visions of him disappeared. It was now only him- present him. “Is it the ithanae glass?” He teased cruelly, displaying how little he liked her.

“You know it’s the glass,” she sighed, rather pitiful in her tone. The flickering torchlight grew brighter as she stepped around the men, and they did nothing to halt her movements.

She wore a long, golden dress with a white bodice that tailed over the back of her gown. Her bust was exposed with a teasing amount of lace to frame the neckline. The woman’s blonde hair was pinned elegantly to her head, with purposeful strands of ringlets left out at her temples. A horrible sinking feeling in my stomach screamed that I knew her, but it wasn’t possible.

I’d seen her die.

Though her eyes only briefly scanned me, they lingered on my face for a moment longer. Her lips twitched on a smirk, but she didn’t address me directly when she spoke again. “I wasn’t aware we were getting a newcomer,” she said to the prince, completely ignoring that she knew me. Or was I wrong? It could be some odd coincidence, but I knew that was being too hopeful.

“Because you aren’t,” Lorelis said while he dusted himself off, straightening the gold hemmed vest he wore. He brushed his long hair back with a hand, raking it through his fingers. Though I’d managed to sever the connection that had led me into the mind and body of Lorelis, I still knew and felt his emotions clear as day. I didn’t need to have the connection, and I supposed this was part of my curse.

Not only was I burdened with the full span of guilt and shameful desire on my own soul, I was given the weight of everyone around me as well. I felt them as if they were part of me, and it was both terrifying and comforting. To know absolutely how one felt about me was a peace I’d never known to wish for. But it was a deeper level of loneliness to know so much about others, and nothing of myself.

I’d have to sort myself later within the comforts of privacy. I wiped away any doubt that she was not Fiona Bassett; I had to play this by assuming and preparing for the worst. Fiona’s return was a threat. She could reveal that I was human, and Ascelin knows what would happen to me when Galan couldn’t protect me.

I didn’t want to think about what it meant to see her here. What it meant for her to try and eat me on our escape from Reddon, only to end up in the same place. It was a sick twist in fate, and it was evident whose side it favored.

“Claudia is a guest,” Lorelis said, breaking through my thoughts. Inadvertently, I’d been staring at Fiona long enough for her to give me another quick glance. I schooled myself as fast as I could- straightening my posture and erasing any emotion from my features. “She will not be here for very long, should the Gods will it.”

“How delightful.” Fiona’s voice was smooth, and the smile she wore was nothing less than purely intentional, and practiced. Somehow, I saw her more clearly now. She was beautiful, ever more so than my human eyes could’ve seen, but her eyes were haunted. “If King Mirin wants her kept with the rest of us during her stay, I have no problem taking her from here. I know how little you like the Underneath.”

I didn’t know if I should be relieved or terrified by the idea of being alone with Fiona. She was too kind while she said it, too willing to help on something that wasn’t her responsibility. Lorelis must’ve caught it too. “Why?” He asked her, not disguising his suspicion.

“Maybe I wish to give her a tour, Prince Lorelis. Give her a proper welcome, which I doubt has been given thus far.” The hand holding the torch moved outward, slapping against the metal of one soldier’s armor. I couldn’t see his expression, but I could’ve sworn I felt his bewilderment before he reluctantly grabbed and held the torch for Fiona. “Is it a crime to be friendly?”

“You hardly do what is asked of you. I would not trust you with anything else,” Lorelis bit out. “Be on your way, Fiona. You have no business with this one,” he said while gesturing at me. Why the sudden change in Lorelis? I would’ve figured he’d gladly throw me into the arms of anyone who asked.

“As you wish, my prince,” Fiona sighed, dipping into a low curtsey. I was transfixed with her perfection, amazed by details I hadn’t seen as a mortal. Then, she rose and turned to me and leveled me with a snaring look. “My dear,” she said to me. “Welcome to Lonest’s shining star, I’m sure your journey has been long and challenging. May this castle suffice as a memorable resting point before you embark this new world. You have much to learn, little pure-blood, though I would be honored to answer any. . . questions you might have.”

She’d said many things beyond her words. It wasn’t lost on me the emphasis of her words, finally confirming she did know me. She hadn’t died from that arrow, but I still didn’t know just how Fiona Bassett was in Lonest, of all places.

Fiona had swiftly turned on her heels, disappearing beyond the glow of the torch. I watched her silhouette as it melted into the deeper shadows, eventually swallowing her whole, nothing left of her to be seen. Lorelis remained silent, watching after her as I did.

“You will not go with her,” Lorelis commanded me quietly. “You will not speak to her. Am I understood?”

Could he truly give me a command, if I was not considered his subject? I wasn’t going to push technicalities I had no understanding of. I didn’t want to meet with Fiona after our last interaction, but Lorelis’ caution and sudden protectiveness was odd. “Was I not supposed to go with the pure-bloods?” I asked him as innocently as I could.

“Not anymore.” Lorelis turned to face me, narrowed eyes assessing me with renewed interest. He still didn’t like me, but I’d sparked something in him I wasn’t sure how to read. Neither did I want to lean too far into it and get sucked once more into his soul. “There’s something about you,” he accused, his focus on my body. “Your arrival with the Hound has brought change and confusion to my home, and I don’t want you wandering anywhere out of my sight or my brother’s.”