Page 6 of A Fate of Wings
The Autumn Court was my home. My kingdom. But it wasn’t safe. Not even for me as their ruler. Still, we were a force to be taken seriously.
We walked the smooth, reddish-brown dirt track from the castle. The forever fall leaves fluttered in the breeze, paving the path in an array of canary-yellow, amber, and claret foliage from the ambrosia oak ranging in size from squat bushes to tall columns stretching high into the azure sky. Each step crunched the feathery leaves, sending up the fragrance of sweet vanilla. The path veered to the right, the trees giving way to the golden stalks of long, wild field cress. Ahead, the colosseum loomed enormous and imposing, with its tall stone sides circling the fighting pit. We’d held many contests here. Some to the death. Tomorrow’s trials wouldn’t require death. No, I needed the men alive to perform each phase in my search for a mate. The word mate was alien to sirens. Many immortals believed in fated mates. We didn’t. Sirens rarely took mates. Only the strongest of sirens ever took a mate. If we didn’t vent the power in our voices often enough, then it would turn toxic in our systems. Make us vulnerable. Mortal. I held a shudder of dread inside.
My mother was powerful enough to take a mate, and so would I be.
She’d raised me and my identical twin sister to believe that notion. I didn’t understand why my sister Melanie was so against me taking a mate. She’d voiced her displeasure more than once. It was growing tiresome.
We walked through the wooden gates into the bottom of the pit. The dirt kicked up in clouds of reddish-brown dust around our feet, settling on the fringe of my gown and the boots of my personal guards. The stone stands with thousands of seats were empty. Waiting. I almost sensed their anticipation for tomorrow’s events as if they were a living, breathing being.What would it feel like to be a brutal warrior to battle here?As though I’d called the sounds themselves to my consciousness, the cries of the battle-hungry crowd roared in my ears, chants to finish their opponent, the applause when it happened ringing in my head.
Sirens were bloodthirsty.
“Do you have the final numbers of contestants for tomorrow?” I asked, snapping out of my inner thoughts.
“At last count, there are close to two hundred,” Raefa said.
“Species?” I spun a small circle, shielding my eyes against the glare of the golden sun as I stared up at the royal stand I’d sit in with my sister tomorrow.
“At least one from each species.”
“Even the fae?” I rose an eyebrow.
“No.” Raefa dipped her head as she realized her mistake.
“I didn’t expect so.” I almost sighed. A fae mate like my mother had taken would have been preferable, but they were too peace-loving to come here for a battle in the colosseum. “Never mind your slip of the tongue, I won’t take it.”
“Thank you, your majesty.” Raefa curtsied.
“Have any arrived for tomorrow?”
“Many are here already,” Ailine rushed to say. “They are in the cages below us.”
“You have them all contained?”
“Yes, we wouldn’t allow so many warriors to walk freely in the Autumn Court,” Ailine said, puffing out her chest.
“Good.” I walked across the grounds to the iron grate, leading the way to the underground cages and the waiting area. “I shall visit the entrants.”
“Is that wise?” Raefa asked.
“I will tell you what is wise.” My glare and tone were harsh.
“I didn’t mean to insult you, your majesty. Perhaps what I should have said is, do you think it is safe?”
“We have them all caged below. I have my personal guards with me. What could go wrong?”
“Some of them are massive. They might escape our bars.”
I ran a hand over the top of my golden staff. “Call in a witch, have her magically imbue them too.”
“Yes, your majesty.”
“I suppose I’ll see them soon enough tomorrow.” I turned to walk back the way we’d entered. It would have been nice to at least get an idea of who would become my mate. I could allow myself to be attracted to the winner. It was a given he would desire me because all I needed to do was sing for that to happen. But I didn’t want a mate I’d sung to my side. I wanted one to fight to be by my side.
A crack of thunder exploded over our heads and thick gray clouds rolled across the now indigo sky. The wind whipped into a fury, blowing my hair around my face and my dress around my legs. Huge raindrops dropped from the sky and landed on the dirt, leaving splotches of growing darkness on the soil. The scent of rain hung heavy in the air, along with the anticipation of tomorrow.
A silhouette even darker than the clouds flitted across the sky. We all peered at the creature winging its way across the Autumn Court skies. A split second later, four siren guards were by the creature’s side, their soft gray wings beating furiously in the wind while the other creature seemed unperturbed by the strongcurrent. If they weren’t so high in the sky, I’d see who and what the creature was.
“Who is that?” I asked, blinking away the raindrops hitting my face.