small diadem.
“I’m Vanessa, Nicholas’s sister. He calls me Ness and only he is allowed,” she clipped with finality, bowing her head as
she stepped forward and closed the gap between us. “What do they call you, then?”
She seemed very standoffish and blunt to the point of almost rude. I would not like to get on the wrong side of her. She was
beautiful and looked the part of a dark goddess. At her hip in a baldric held two small daggers, each with handles of gold. She
Clearly wasn’t someone to mess with.
“I’m Ornella Light of the Crystal Fae.”
Her eyes widened at my name then a black mist began to sprout from her fingertips and snake around me. Fear and panic
flooded my veins as the mist wrapped around me. It was similar to Nicholas’s shadows, but his had always made me feel safe
and secure. The library faded around me.
In a flash, I was taken over by the mist. Not even a heartbeat passed before I was dropped onto the ground. The sudden
hardness of the cold floor beneath me had me letting out a cry of surprise. The sound echoed around me as the mist began to
quickly disappear.
Lifting my head up, I saw I was surrounded by strangers, Fae I did not recognise. My eyes searched until they fell on
Nicholas, who sat at the top a black Obsidian stoned throne.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, NIC?!” Vanessa’s voice echoed throughout the room.
Struggling to gather my bearings, I felt Nicholas’s eyes drifting towards me. Vanessa wrapped one hand around my
forearm and forced me up onto my feet. Her look of disgust and anger was enough to make me shake in my core.
“DO YOU WISH TO BRING WAR TO OUR DOOR?! DID YOU LEARN NOTHING FROM OUR PARENTS, YOU
IDIOT!”
Looking up towards Nicholas, I couldn't help but notice he sat a bit too comfortably on the throne while his sister shouted
venomous words towards him. Unbothered and without a care in the world. His eyes landed on me, or rather where my arm
was clutched, and I swore I heard him growl under his breath.
Instantly Vanessa released me, causing me to lose my balance and stagger forward. Nicholas’s eyes landed on a guard
beside him. The guard was quick to move, helping to steady me before guiding me to a seat near the foot of the throne.
“Vanessa, dear sister, I trust you will listen to these words only once as you know how much I despise repeating myself.”
He finally stood then and every single Fae within the large hall bowed or curtsied. It was then I noticed on top of his head
was a crown made of that same obsidian stone as his throne. My heart began to sink into my stomach.
“Do you wish to end up like Lord Baron? Banished to the shadow realms when he disobeyed me for the final time?”
His voice shook the room as it bellowed out and Vanessa dropped to her knees. The woman who I thought could take out