A Forest of Stars (Court of Starlight and Darkness #1)(9)

She glanced over at me, her face suggesting it was a dumb as hell question.

I raised my hands in defeat. “Fine, fine.”

I didn’t have a lot of practice making friends—I was way too socially awkward and rarely left my apartment—but I needed to make sure I didn’t annoy her into dropping me.

She led me through the forest, moving swiftly along the path. When we reached an area where the trees thinned out, she pointed to the left, where a hill rose up toward the sky. Through the trees, I could see a tower that sat on the top. The stone blocks that it had been constructed from were large and roughly hewn, a darker gray than the castle.

“Remember those rules I mentioned?” Meria asked.

“Yeah.”

“That’s where you end up if you break them.” She pointed to the top of the tower.

I squinted upward, spotting windows with iron bars. A pale face peered out, indistinguishable as male or female from this distance. “What did they do?”

“Relationship with a human, from what I hear.”

“Just a relationship? Did they tell the human what they were?”

“Nope.”

“And they still ended up in the tower.” I shivered.

Shit.

“Yeah. So just imagine what happens if they find out you’re human.”

I shivered and vowed to keep my mouth shut about that little detail. We continued through the woods, but I couldn’t help but peek back at the tower as it disappeared through the trees.

I’ll end up there.

The feeling was enough to turn my stomach, but it was a deja vu so strong that I had a hard time ignoring it. Fortunately, Meria spoke, giving me something else to focus on.

“We’re nearly there,” she said. “Act like you know what you’re doing.”

I could hear the sounds of chatter ahead. As we turned a corner on the path, I spotted a clearing in the woods. It was roughly circular, a flat patch nestled between the rocky hills that continued to climb upward.

Tables had been set up in the grass, each laid out with platters full of delicious looking food. My stomach growled at the sight of it.

“Hang on,” I whispered. “Can I eat the food from here or will that make me stuck in this realm? I think I read something like that.”

“From a fairy tale, yes. And sometimes it works like that. But not in this realm, you don’t exactly have a choice anyway. You’ll need to eat if you’re going to live long enough to escape.”

I couldn’t argue with that logic, and my stomach was still grumbling.

“Come on, I see a seat.” She led us toward the closest table. It also happened to be the farthest from the dais at the front, for which I was grateful. The throne that sat upon it was empty, but I knew who’d be sitting there soon enough, and I wasn’t in the mood to get close to him.

We joined four other competitors at the table, each of whom was dressed similarly to Meria. Different colors and fabrics, but they were all attired for a day out in the woods in a magical fae kingdom.

The food in the center of the table smelled divine. Bacon and eggs and fresh crusty bread, along with piles of fresh cut fruit and carafes of juice. It was way better than anything I usually ate at home, and I was grateful the fae—the freaking fae, who were real, by the way—ate the same food as humans.

I looked around, taking in everyone’s pointed ears and their crazy, ethereal beauty.

Couldn’t they tell I wasn’t one of them?

I was pretty enough with my red curls and green eyes, but in a fresh-faced, dairymaid kind of way. I looked like I was from the old country, and these people were the royalty that didn’t even know girls like me existed.

From the scowl of distaste the woman across from me was shooting my way, she felt the same. It was as if she’d just realized that mere mortals walked the earth alongside her, and she was annoyed to make my acquaintance.

Her dark brows arched as she looked me up and down. She couldn’t see my shorts and fishnets through the table, but I was sure she’d gotten a good look when I’d approached. She was wearing a perfectly matched outfit of crimson leather, of course.

“That is what you’re wearing?” Her words were edged with the kind of disdain only truly fancy people could manage. “And what’s with your ears? What are you hiding?”

“Oh, stuff it, Evelyn, or I’ll stuff it for you.” Meria glared at her, and Evelyn glared right back.

I looked between them, suddenly grateful that I’d been housed with Meria. From the way that Evelyn looked away first, it was clear that my roomie was top dog. That probably made me her schnauzer sidekick, but I was fine with it. At least she was on my side.

“We really are going to have to get you some new clothes, though,” she whispered at my side. “Not that I don’t love the whole aesthetic, but you stand out too much. And they’re not suited for what we’ll be doing.”

“Thanks.” I turned my attention to my food, wanting to get in a decent meal before the show started. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I was sure I’d need the fuel.

As I ate, I took in the competitors. Not that I cared about where I stacked up amongst them—I wasn’t trying to win. But I needed to know who might be a bitch like Meria or a bitch like Evelyn. One type I liked, the other type could get me killed if they figured out what I was and revealed it. Take Evelyn. I didn’t doubt for a second, she'd turn me in if she knew I was human.