Heir of the Coven (Daughters of the Warlock 3)

A castle stood up ahead and... “Are they dragons?”

I narrowed my eyes. They couldn’t be, surely? I hadn’t thought any existed.

Two magnificent, ancient creatures flew overhead. One had wings of a royal purple, and the other had flecks of blue on its otherwise reptilian body.

Tavlor nodded. “Yes.”

“Are they shifte

rs... or...?” Just normal, regular animals. I really had no idea how to spot the difference between the two yet. My eyes scanned for anything on them that might give them away, but I couldn’t come up with anything just yet.

Tavlor squeezed my hand. “These Fae, in particular, don’t like any type of shifter, so you will not find any in this realm. And I would recommend... not speaking of shifters in front of them. It could rile up anger.”

I pretended to zip my lips shut. “I will watch and learn, and try not to ask too many questions.”

I was notoriously bad at exactly that, though. Mother liked to tell me how one day my curiosity could get me into a lot of trouble, if not killed.

My father nodded.

“I know it seems wrong, but on this first visit, it’s probably best Ava,” he said gently.

I nodded. Surely, I could keep my mouth shut and just observe?

He continued, “Mental and physical shields up, especially when we’re speaking to the king.”

King. And I highly doubted king was an elected official. This place might be worse than the magic realm. At least by appearances there was some sort of checks and balances within the magic government. Of course, if the entire Council was corrupt it didn’t really count, but the possibility was there.

“Yes, Father.” I’d gotten pretty good at both physical and mental shields now.

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer, and as a trio, we walked along the dirt road, towards the castle.

I clung to Tavlor’s hand and continued to take in every detail around me. It was like being in some sort of medieval time. With rocky roads, and untouched woods. Castles, and no cars. No signs of advanced technology anywhere in fact, although, I’d kind of expected that from a Fae realm.

As we stepped inside the castle gates, I glanced around, anxious to learn more of these people. Would they look like the other Fae I’d met?

I frowned as I surveyed around the city.

The streets were littered with rubbish and filth, the houses mere shacks. What was this? A mirage, perhaps? There were no people and I didn’t see any trees, which seemed odd for the Fae. They loved the earth. It helped their magic, from what I was told.

This world couldn’t really be a Fae world... could it?

And yet this wasn’t a dream, it was far too real, so that begged the question, with all the power and magic the Fae had, why didn’t these people look after themselves better?

A group of women walked past, and my gaze grabbed onto the features of their faces. These were the first group of actual people I had seen since stepping into this realm and I wanted to see what sort of feeling they carried with themselves. I frowned.

Unlike Abigail and Horlow’s realm, where the people thrived, strong and happy, these Fae people seemed under nourished. Cheekbones stood out prominently, like sharp edges to a weapon. Their skin was dirty and their hair was unkempt. How was that possible? Were they not meant to use their magic to feed themselves, perhaps?

I kept my questions to myself, though I was dying to ask. But I’d promised not to say anything, and just observe. So, I did. I didn’t want them to overhear my ignorance and get offended because of it. I didn’t want to upset them in any way.

Tavlor, still holding my hand, pulled me up the streets that led to the main castle on the top of the hill.

When we approached the main door, my father went ahead and introduced himself to a guard in a shabby grey uniform, explaining that we had organized a meeting for today. And if he had, that had been fast work on his behalf.

I could feel the eyes of the people around me, boring into the back of my head. Did they know who I was? What I was? Clearly, we didn’t belong here, which might be the reason for this inquiring gazes.

“Come,” my father called, and together, we walked through the locked doors and into a drafty old castle

I suppressed a shiver as I stepped through, snuggling deeper into my cloak. I might not have wanted to wear it, but it was doing its job of keeping me warm.