Shade Fortress rising up to the sky along the side of the mountain. If we got closer, we would run into patrols and right now we couldn’t afford to do that.
“To get to the prince and rescue Farrah, we need to get inside,” I said. “But the place is too well guarded.”
“I can glamour us as servants so we can sneak in,” Kayden said, her eyes on the fortress. “It won’t last long, but it should be enough to get us inside.”
I nodded. “Then, once inside we should split up. I’ll go find Farrah, while you two find the prince.” I glanced at Ariella. She was still ignoring me.
“Sounds like a plan,” Kayden said. “We should sneak in early tomorrow morning, during the guard change.” I had been out for a couple of days, and during that time, Kayden studied the movements outside the fortress. “What do you think?”
I nodded again, sure I needed another good night sleep before sneaking inside a fortress and probably having to fight for my life, and for Farrah’s life. Actually, I doubted I would be able to sleep, but at least I could stay in bed and let my body rest.
That night, we went back to our borrowed house near the fortress. After a quiet dinner, Ariella made tea and retreated to her bedroom.
Kayden poured some tea in two mugs and brought it to the living room, where I was seated on the couch, too worked up to relax and try to rest.
“Here,” she said, offering one of the mugs to me. “It should help you relax.”
I took the steaming mug from her. “Thank you.”
Kayden sat down on an armchair across from me. After a moment of silence, she asked, “So, tell me, why is this frost fae so important to you?”
I stared into my mug, wondering what I should tell her. But why lie to her? She was here, after all, and willing to help us, help me. “I’ve known Farrah for three years now. I’ve always loved her, since the first moment I saw her, left beaten up by witches in a forest.” I drank a sip of my tea. “And recently I found out she’s my mate. Though, I know about the curse the fae king put on the fae. She can never love me otherwise she will lose her immortality.”
Kayden scoffed. “Immortality is overrated. If she is your mate, if she really loves you, she should choose to have a life with you, to grow old and die with you.”
For some reason, I didn’t tell her that I wasn’t sure if Farrah knew she was my mate. We hadn’t talked about that before she left me and married the evil fae prince.
“I’m not going to force her to choose between me and her immortality.”
Kayden dropped her mug in the low coffee table in between us. “I understand. Perhaps I just talk about immortality as if it wasn’t a big deal, because my people and I have been living in the human realm for a long time. Soon, we’ll lose our powers, and our immortality too. I’ve already come to terms with it.”
That picked my interest. Besides, it was an interesting subject to take my mind off Farrah for a few minutes. “How did the blaze fae end up here?”
“Alos, my father, used to be king of the fae,” she said, her tone bitter. “He was a good king, but he trusted easily. One of his advisors set him up, a web so intricate, no one saw it until it was too late. He almost killed my father, but I was able to steal him away from the castle before that happened. The shadow king killed most blaze fae, so we ended up fleeing the fae realm all together.” She paused. “I felt like a coward running like that, but I couldn’t just stand there and watch my people get killed.”
“You planned on attacking back.”
I wasn’t asking, but she nodded all the same. “At first, I thought we would regroup, get stronger, and fight back. But our numbers were small, and our fae became afraid of the power of the shadow king. So we ended up just settling here, hidden in that canyon.” She lifted her amber eyes to me. “Until you came to ask for help.”
I nodded. “Still, it’s just that three of us against a fortress full of shadow fae.”
“If we plan it right, we can do it.” The conviction in her gaze, in her voice, stirred something in