Shadowborn Queen - G. Bailey Page 0,1

got locked up for something she didn’t do. I’m a princess and a descendant of a goddess who is no doubt watching over me. In the name of Selena, my mother, and father, I’m going to save this kingdom.

My life has never once made sense to me, nor did I understand why bad things kept happening to me until now. I’m of royal blood, I was born at Dawn and I’m here to save the Enchanted Forest.I’m certain Corvina is working on a way to save everyone, I know her; she is my good friend and a good person. She will save whoever she can, and I’m going to help her. I swallow my nerves to keep them from showing on my face, remembering that Ronan and Eva haven’t broken me yet and they won’t. Ronan digs his nails into my arm and turns the corner into an even darker hallway. The wolves disappear in the opposite direction and my pulse spikes when the sconces dim, no longer casting shadows on the crystal floor.

"Have you always been a spineless snake, Ronan?" I hiss, glaring over my shoulder at him. "Did you even feel anything when you betrayed your friend. Corvina? When you betrayed Shadowborns? You know—your people?"

He keeps his eyes pinned forward. "Eva needs me to help cleanse the Forest of its sickness and I love her. She is our saviour."

I scoff at the utter insanity. "Yeah. Keep telling yourself that, buddy. You’re in love with the bad guy in the story. Haven’t you realised that yet? You can’t save her!"

"Your mum believed it, too," he hisses in my ear, forcing my heart to lurch at the memory. Why mum?

No... I can't think about her right now. I need to stay focused and figure out how to get out of here.

"Where are you taking me?" I ask instead, refusing to think about my mother’s death. She wouldn’t want me to cry over her sacrifice. She wants me to survive.

Ronan’s scathing laugh grates my ears. "Are you scared, Izzy?"

"Don't fucking call me that," I snarl. "Only my friends call me that and you'll never be my friend. You're nothing but a traitor."

He shoves me farther down the hallway. "Like I give a shit. Anyway, where you're going, let's just say you'll be feeling a lot of pain. So you better shut up or I'll let them keep you indefinitely and not just for one night."

I don't have time to ask who he's referring to because someone else replies first.

“Asshole," I jump as Gold appears behind us and whacks a candle on the side of Ronan's head. "Get the fuck away from my girl."

Ronan sinks to the ground and I smile at the sight of his unconscious body.

Gold lifts the candle and goes to hit him again, probably to kill him this time.

"You're better than that scumbag," I say, grabbing Gold's hand.

His eyes burn like molten gold in the near darkness. Slowly, he pulls his arm back and then my back hits the wall as he pushes me further into the shadows. His lips claim my mouth and for a moment, I forget everything as I melt in his strong arms.

"I'm getting you out of here, Izora," he whispers against my lips. "But you need to do exactly as I say."

I nod, my heart soaring at the protective edge in his voice. "Just tell me what to do, Gov'nor." My light-hearted joke doesn't match the fear I know is palpable on my face, but right now, it's the one thing keeping me from falling apart.

"You need to act as my prisoner," he says, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "I will escort you through the palace to my quarters. Once we're there, we'll be safe for a while. Let's go."

He stands back, and once again, his features change from the Gold I know, to the cold governor of Shadowborn Prison. Gently, he takes my arm and nods. I return it with a courage I didn't expect to feel and follow him down the dimly lit hallway. With each step, the sconces brighten and bleed over the light fae that litter the floor.

Tears spring to my eyes at the sight of them. These were my people, innocent guards and noble men and women who had nothing to do with this mess, and yet they were slaughtered like animals. Why? Why all this unnecessary blood?

I'll never understand the cruelty of fae.

And now I'm one of them.

Gold tilts my head, forcing my gaze