Night Fae (Dark Fae Kings #3) - Meg Xuemei X. Page 0,14
queen of the Dawn Court.
For a second, the room became deathly silent. In the quiet before the storm, the Director of the Silver Circle smiled as if he’d expected this explosive outcome.
“My little sister died at birth,” Brigantia screeched. “This unremarkable thing is an imposter! Look at her! She isn’t even a Fae, but an inferior human!”
“Yet you went out of your way to put a ten-million-in-gold bounty on her head,” Baron said.
I gave him a hard look. It wasn’t wise to mention that much money. Indeed, gasps broke out in the room. I darted my eyes around nervously, sincerely hoping no one would jump on the opportunity. Ten million in gold was damn tempting to anyone who had a heartbeat.
Even Northton raised an eyebrow at the generous offer, his hand automatically moving toward his khaki pants. I bet he kept a few deadly spells in his pockets, and I knew he’d aid my kings and me if anyone came to take my head.
“I was raised by mages in the human world, and I’m proud of that,” I said. It was time to prove who I really was. “But I’m not a human.”
With a thought and sheer will, I shrugged off the glamour the kings had placed on me with their powerful magic. Instantly, I saw my new appearance in the Night King’s sapphire eyes, then in the Summer King’s molten amber eyes. My own eyes were the greenest things, set in my porcelain face. My full lips were gorgeously pink, like roses in a spring mist.
A trace of cool air flowed over my pointed ears that peeked out of my golden hair. I radiated like the dawn star. Everyone who saw me now would be convinced that I was a royal Dawn Fae through and through.
My every feature was beyond exquisite. I hadn’t desired this degree of beauty that no human or high Fae could dream of possessing, but now I owned it willingly and proudly, knowing it was my weapon and my birthright, and I was wielding it.
I was no longer the Evelina who was constantly bitching about losing my college dream in my little familiar world. I was now Princess Ileana, who held part of her human past within her heart. I was no longer lost, for I’d found my mates and myself—or they’d found me first.
Shocking silence rippled across the hall. Not even my kings’ elite knights had seen my Fae appearance before. Yeah, I knew, it was stunning.
The mages’ ward was designed to prevent the use of any offensive magic, but they couldn’t negate Fae glamour. That was why Brigantia still had her glamour in place. That was why I could drop mine to show my Fae heritage. I only wished I could rip off her camouflage and let the world see her true face, which was as hideous as her blackened soul.
Baron and Rydstrom gazed at me, heat smoldering in their eyes like the midnight sun. My heart fluttered, my desire for them searing the air between us. Rydstrom reached for me, and I opened my arms for him, but he pulled me behind him and parked himself in front of me, even with the table between the queen and me.
Baron tensed like a whip, his muscles bulged, his hand twitching near his blade. His hard gaze fixed on Brigantia like she was a rattlesnake about to uncoil and strike.
“Is this too Fae for you, Kin slayer and mass murderer?” I asked with a cold, savage smile.
“Behold Princess Ileana,” Northton called out, his commanding and cultivated voice booming off the glass walls. The Director of the Silver Circle was the first one outside the Fae circle to acknowledge me. “The world can’t wait to get to know you more.”
“How dare you, imposter!”Brigantia screamed, pointing her manicured finger at me then sweeping her hand at everyone around the table. “This peace talk is over! I’ll never concede to a pretender.”
Northton clapped his hands, and two figures stepped out from behind the bar and dropped their mage glamour. They slid off their chef hats and beamed at me, love, pride, and sorrow reeling in the warm eyes of the parents that had looked after me for two decades.
A riot of emotion slammed into my chest.
“Mom? Dad?” I stuttered as pain, relief, shock, and joy flooded me.
Chapter 6
My parents had been missing for a while. I had dropped out of Columbia University and returned home to care for my younger siblings.