Chapter 1
I move my lips to his cheek to place a soft kiss. I feel his fingers run gently along my back as he stands at my side.
"You must come visit me again." He says in a low voice in my ear. I move my hands to his arm to hold him close. He places a kiss on my forehead and I smile up at him.
"I would never disappoint your highness." I say jokingly, bowing my head slightly.
"Give my best wishes to your family." He says. I nod to him and look to one side of the airport lounge to notice William walking in our direction. He raises his hand and points to his watch so I give the prince at my side one last squeeze on his arm before removing my hands. Just as I move my hands away from him he quickly reaches out and takes them.
"Please consider my offer." He says, a genuine look in his eyes.
"I will, Elias." I say with a smile. He releases my hands and I smooth them over my black dress. William is now at my side and he picks up my carry-on luggage which holds my newly acquired clothes and jewellery. As soon as I turn around and my face is no longer in view I slide on my sunglasses and allow my forced smile to fade away. William hands me the mobile phone in his hand and I move it to my ear, knowing that the Elders will already be on the line waiting for me.
"I'm here. I just finished with the Lindström's son." I say, following William as I walk.
"Is there any other information you could gather in your last week?" The voice on the phone asks.
"What I passed along was everything I could get from the son, can I please just come home to celebrate my aunt's life with my family?" I ask.
"The most important thing right now is ensuring the future of our company. The funeral isn't for another week so if you can gather more from the son it's your duty as princess to do so." The voice on the phone says.
"My duty is to be with my family, soif you plan to stop me from coming to the funeral you're welcome to try." I say sternly before hanging up and handing the phone off to William. He smiles at me and moves his hand to the small of my back as we walk. I move his hand off of me quickly,
"Despite the popular opinion of the men around me, I can actually walk without assistance." I say, with a tone of annoyance. I slide my jacket off and fold it over my arm as I walk. We move down the hallway to enter the exclusive section of the plane and William remains close by my side.
"I suppose our night together was only a one-time thing, then?" He asks in a low voice. I take my sunglasses off and stop walking to face him.
"I told you to stop mentioning that!" I say angrily. I try to keep my voice low but some people in suits look at us as they walk past. "Cassiopeia had just died and we were both grieving, it was a mistake." William takes my elbow firmly and he responds.
"Mistake or not you have to admit that it was unforgettable." He says.
"Take your hand off of me." I warn him. We're close enough to the plane for two stewardesses to look our way with wide eyes.
"Put your sunglasses back on." He says, letting me go. I look away from the women, so they can't notice my black irises, before sliding on my glasses.
"Will you just admit that you have feelings for me?" He asks. I turn away from him and walk off towards the plane. The women smile to me so I give them my fake smile in return and continue on to where they pointed out my seat. I take my seat and bring my phone out of my handbag, looking to my messages. William's seat is beside mine but there's a fair space between them due to it being business class. I fold open my magazine and recline my seat, feeling William's eyes on me every now and then.
When the plane lands I walk beside William and we both remain silent. William answers his phone as we walk through the exclusive lounge and into the main terminal. William gestures for me to stop so I begin to pay attention to his phone call.
"Wait, so you're here? At the airport?" He asks with confusion. He looks over my shoulder and raises his eyebrows at something. I turn around to see Emmeline standing there with a Nyx either side of her. She's wearing a slimming white dress and has her hair in a classy up-do. Around her neck hangs a beautiful pink jewel. She hands her phone off to one of the Nyx before fluttering her fingers in our direction. I glance back at William before walking over to her.
"Isn't this a happy coincidence?" She says in her usual displeased tone. She slides her sunglasses off her face and I notice that she looks like she's been crying, she's also tried very hard to hide it. I sigh and step forward to pull her into a hug. She pauses and I feel her stiffen as I move my arms around her but she doesn't reject my embrace. After a moment I pull my arms away and move them back to my sides.
"What do you mean coincidence? I thought you were here to pick us up." I say, raising an eyebrow.
"You're not the only one with duties, Lena, I'm a princess too- I had to do my part for our family." She says, sliding her sunglasses back on. She turns around to walk and I fall in step beside her. The rest of the men move in appropriate positions behind us and at our sides.
"I just thought you would have preferred to stay in Linmoor." I say.
"Of course I would. But the decision wasn't up to me." She says without emotion. I nod in understanding.
"That's a nice necklace by the way." I nod to it. The pink jewel catches the sun's shine and I have to pull my glasses over my face; I look beyond Emmeline to the window outside to see the setting sun. As soon as I mention the necklace Emmeline moves her fingers to it and the side of her lip curls up in a smile.
"Oh this little trinket? I got it in Saudi Arabia. The man who gave it to me called it the Queen's Jewel." She says.
"It must have been hard for him to part with." I can't help but feel envious of the necklace, my time spent in luxury has caused me to gain appreciation for superficial things.
"It was, however, I'm a very good negotiator." She says. I smirk at her comment and we walk to the area to get our bags before leaving the airport. A black limousine pulls up at the road and one of the Nyx who came with Emmeline gestures for her to get in it. He opens the door for her and she walks ahead to stand by the door.
"I'll see you at the mountain." I say, sliding my jacket on. Emmeline pauses before getting in and turns to look at me.
"I suppose it's easier if you join me." She shrugs, before sliding into the back. I glance to William, who has raised eyebrows. I'm not sure if I'll enjoy spending a long car trip with Emmeline. I sigh and nod to William before walking ahead to get into the limousine. Our luggage is placed in the back and William gets in the passenger seat beside the driver. By the time I place my handbag next to me on the leather seat Emmeline has already opened a bottle of alcohol. She offers me a drink with gin and I accept with gratitude. The limousine begins to move and I let my hair out and slide my high-heels off.
"You know, I've been thinking of going to college." I say, taking a sip of my drink. Emmeline widens her eyes as she looks at me.
"You're kidding." She says.
"I'm twenty. It's what people my age do." I shrug.
"You're a Veela princess, you're not like other people. What would you even study?" She asks.
"I'm not sure... maybe law or politics. I'd have to look around and see what suits me." I sip from my drink. Emmeline looks back out the window as she considers what I've said.
"Haven't you ever thought about it?" I ask her and she looks back at me.
"No. It seems like a waste of time."
"Well how do you suppose a queen learns to do what she does? Law and politics would come in handy."
"I've already been raised to know what to do as queen. I don't need some diploma to tell me otherwise." She seems to say it with annoyance and she quickly finishes her drink.
"It was just a question." I shrug, looking out the window. After a moment I continue, "You don't ever feel unfulfilled? You're only in your early twenties as well, how do you know you want to do this your whole life?" I ask.
"If by 'this' you mean having drivers and maids and getting expensive gifts then I can honestly say that I would rather nothing else. Also, unless you've miraculously won the praise of the elders in the last year, keep in mind that I do have a plan and that's to be the next matriarch of the aerie." I roll my eyes and raise my hands in defence.
"Sorry, I won't bring it up again." I lean back against the seat and bring my already-read magazine out of my bag with a sigh. Emmeline watches me and reaches into her bag with a different magazine. I look up at her and she glances down at mine.
"Swap?" I ask, closing the cover and leaning over to offer it to her. She takes it and hands me hers, flipping open the page and beginning to read. I grin at the thought of having new reading material and we spend the next hour in silence as we read. Eventually Emmeline gets a phone call and I pretend to ignore her.
"Well hello, you." She says in a flirty tone. I widen my eyes and look over at her. Her eyes meet mine and she narrows them at me. We both pivot on our seats slightly to face away from each other and Emmeline continues.
"Have you been thinking about me?" She asks with a giggle. "Yeah, I bet you do you naughty man." This statement causes me to almost choke on my drink. Emmeline glares at me again and I can't hold back my laughter. She kicks at my feet as she talks.
"Yes, sorry. I'm sharing a car with my cousin and she's laughing at something childish." She says. I calm myself down and open up my magazine again with a large grin on my face.
"Of course I'm in the limo. Though, I have to say, it's not as nice as your Ferrari." She says in her flirty voice. I roll my eyes and Emmeline continues to glare at me.
"Okay darling, I'll speak with you soon. Good bye." She says, hanging up. "You are so immature!" She says to me.
"Who's your 'naughty' man, Emmeline? Someone rich, I assume?" I ask, keeping my grin.
"None of your business." She folds open her magazine in frustration.
"Oh come on, I never had a sister. You should be able to share with your family." I say in a dragging tone.
"He's a suitor I met and we've been seeing each other- there. And you can't use that excuse because you still have your old memories of your twin, Veronica; or something."
"It was Violet and she wasn't my real sister, remember? The witches put me with that family after they took me from Arabella and my father."
"Then they died and you were put in that orphanage where Pan found you, I've heard the whole story; please don't repeat it." She rolls her eyes. I go to continue talking but my eye catches something odd outside Emmeline's window. The first thing I understand of it is the tinted windscreen and the hood of the car. I then piece together that this car is faced our way and is coming towards us at a very high speed.
"Emmeline!" I shriek, reaching for her arm and yanking her towards me. Just as I do the car connects with her window and then bulldozes through to the seat where Emmeline was sat. Her blonde hair comes in a wave in front of my face and our eyes meet in a brief moment of panic. The limousine begins to spin out of control and I feel it being lifted from the road as everything begins to move very slowly. My body moves from my seat and Emmeline's grip on my arm turns to a searing pain as her talons have begun to erupt from her fingers. A glass of gin flies past my face and my shoe moves past my head at my side. I blink my eyes shut and everything speeds up and then goes completely black.