Rage (Her Monsters Book One) - K.A Knight Page 0,110
strongest warriors were always waiting and ready.
Like now, they drop from the trees and seemingly emerge from the dirt, with their hands and weapons all pointed at me. Grinning, I raise my hands in mock surrender.
“Brother, it is good to see you again,” Ashera calls, fading into existence in the middle of the bridge. No doubt called by his fellow warriors upon my entry to their lands.
“Brother.” I nod, genuinely happy to see the fae male.
The land this side of the glamour is so much more than I could ever explain. Colours that do not exist within the human realm are dotted all over, and everything here is alive and powerful. The land itself vibrates under my feet, welcoming me. The trees lean closer to shelter us from the sun, and the flowers open up again.
The same bridge is still here, of sorts. It isn’t broken now and it is made of fae metal, the strongest in existence, infused with magic— a crossing to their world and plane. It’s also a point where fae can transport themselves to if they have that power.
Beyond the bridge lays their land and their castle. It is a strange place, because it both exists in our world but does not at same time, and the castle looks nothing like any of the human creation. Gothic, and infused with nature, it is said it is possible for the castle to actually move. Transforming into whatever you need, or whatever it wants. it only answers to the royal line and the rightful heirs, which is how they decide who will lead them. If the land does not welcome you, then you do not lead.
“The king is expecting you,” Ashera calls, walking closer until he embraces me in a warrior’s hug. You do not touch the fae unless they first touch you, or you are invited to. Ashera is tall and willowy like most fae, with distinct pointy ears and cat-like eyes, in a stunning emerald green. His hair is long, blond, and held back with weaved braids. He is strong though, as the king’s right-hand man he is one of the strongest fae to be born in centuries.
He steps back, nodding at his guards who fade back into their positions, and I join him as we walk across the bridge, side by side. “Then he knows why I am here?”
Ashera nods but does not speak, which isn’t unusual. He only says what he feels must be said, nothing else, and unlike most fae, he does not speak an untruth.
All fae are incapable of lying, but they can twist the truth easily enough. Ashera does not, he believes any twisting is a lie and will not do it—not even for his king. It’s one of the many reasons I like the fae man, you get what you see with him and he is honest.
As we step down from the bridge on the other side, I let myself relax with the trees creating a canopy above us, leading us straight to the heart of the castle. There are many myths and stories of the fae themselves. Some are true, some are...exaggerations.
Within their land different courts do exist, but only two. The Night Court, also known as the Winter Court, and the Light Court, also known as the Summer Court, but you are not necessarily born into that court. Your magic decides for you, as does the land. No fae is welcome in both, and strangely enough it creates harmony. Oh, don’t get me wrong, they warred for a long time when a terrible queen sat upon the dark throne and a greedy king sat upon the light. It was when I first moved to the land and they both ordered me to pick sides.
The loss of life was great, both courts lost their powers, and the land started dying, sick of all the bloodshed and death. Only then did both leaders realise they were dooming their race by fighting. The humans were already killing enough of their territory, they did not need to do it between themselves. So I stepped in, and together we made a pact, a deal of sorts. One that even today is unknown to most people, a secret buried so deep that I will take it to my grave.
A baby.
Born of both courts, their bloods mixed and welcomed in the light and the dark. Tested by the land and named queen in both. She will one day take the throne, not that she is