Royal Glass Hearts: Immortal Secrets {A Reverse Harem Romance}

Five

For lunch, we ate bread and cheese as the carriage bounced along through the faerie forest.

"Mother said once I learn to use my wings, if I ever miss home, I can just fly back." Corrie untied her satchel and tipped tubes of magical hair dye out onto the seat.

"First, there is no way I will ever miss our tower. It was like being trapped in the sky with the constant fear of death just from tripping out a window. Second, I'm not sure I'll ever want to move back home. I still think we should ditch our kingdoms after graduation and run away with a pack of fox shifters. They are all kinds of fun."

Picking up a tube of witch-spelled dye, I asked, "Where did you even get all this?"

Corrie shrugged. "The witches were having a 'back to academy' sale."

I indicated for her to turn around and proceeded to squeeze the dye into her hair where it was magically absorbed.

"I wish we shared more classes."

Corrie groaned. "No, you don't. Seriously. Art appreciation is going to be the slowest hour of my life. And I have it every week,"

"But you love art."

"Yeah. I like making it, not studyingit."

"At least all students share basic combat," I said. Her hair was turning a vibrant shade of neon pink.

"You're going to have to help me pass that class."

"Let's just worry about making it to the academy first. Then we can worry about passing our classes," I suggested, rubbing the last of the dye into her hair. "Cinderella really put me through it yesterday. My muscles are aching just sitting here."

Talking about training reminded me of the rash on my mother's chest. I'd searched through the medical books in the palace library but to no avail.

"Do you know what might cause an immortal to have a scarlet rash expanding from their chest?"

Corrie paused, tapping a finger to her chin.

"Werewolf allergy?"

I snorted and pushed her forward. "All done. Back to your usual pink-topped self."

"Your turn." She proceeded to braid my hair.

By afternoon, clouds blocked the sun, and we crossed the border into the elven kingdom. Burying myself under a blanket, I got comfy as we passed through the mist-shrouded forests.

The elven kingdom was dark and wild. We passed an elvish elder moving regally through the trees. Wearing black from head to toe, he had a bone-white, ethereal face.

Glancing at my friend's dark clothing, I arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not a mist walker posing as a faerie? Are these even real?" I plucked one of her black feathers.

She grinned. "I wish I was elvish. Then I could have cool magic-enhancing mist too. And I wouldn't have to fly. But no, unfortunately I am all faerie."

"Pity," I teased.

We fell into silence. With all the mist and gnarly trees, the elven kingdom was seriously creepy. When I couldn't bear the silence any longer, I asked, "Is Oblak going to visit you?"

"Nah. I dumped Oblak."

"What? What did the bastard do?"

"It wasn't anything he did. He's a good guy. This just feels like a new start, you know? He was my old life, and I don't want to be weighed down by that. I want to figure out who I am. Not who Rapunzel's daughter is, but who Corrie is. I don't know, I'm rambling."

"No, I get it." I sank back under the blanket. I'd felt the same way at one point, but I didn't have the luxury of entertaining those ideas. My mother needed me to awaken my siren to validate her position as queen. I couldn't be distracted, not by anything.

"Do you remember when we used to pretend you were an animal whisperer? And I was like this amazing faerie warrior who'd save animals from the bad guys and bring them to you to heal?"

"How could I forget?" I smiled.

"When did you stop imagining?" she asked.

After a pause I replied, "I don't remember. It just kind of happened. I guess I grew up."

As a child, I'd dreamt of opening an animal sanctuary beside the Tioatian Lake. I used to sneak birds with broken wings and other damaged critters into the palace and hide them in my bedroom, painstakingly nursing them back to health. Cinderella put an end to that fantasy. Now I funnelled my energy into my training. I ran faster and faster, so even if I saw a defenceless creature on the brink of death, I was moving too fast to stop.

Wooden beams creaked beneath us as we crossed a bridge. At some point I became Corrie's pillow. She murmured in her sleep, something about falling.

Craning my neck out the window, I gasped at the river below us. It flowed red with blood. We were in Dracia, the vampire kingdom. Tutor Maverick, a chubby, bespectacled elf who repeated the words "equations" and "probability" at least fifty times a day, had told me of the rivers spelled by witches to flow with blood. I watched the river and forest go by, my eyelids growing heavy, as I drifted off to sleep.

I almost missed the blur in the trees. A hulking beast leapt onto the carriage door, its claws sinking into the tough pumpkin skin. I screamed, pushing Corrie behind me. She fell to the floor of the carriage.

"Corrie!" I shook her, but she didn't respond.

A low growl had me turning back to the beast. I froze. It was much too large to be a regular wolf. What was a werewolf doing in the vampire kingdom? Flecks of forest green shimmered in his eyes. I was captivated. A flicker of recognition whispered through me; some part of me knew this beast somehow. He growled and pushed his hulking body farther through the carriage window. Too large to fit, his muzzle stopped inches from my face. Hot breath blew across my cheeks. I reached a shaking hand to the beast, threading my fingers into his rough fur—

"Achoo!" Jerking awake, I rubbed my nose. One of Corrie's feathers must have tickled my nostrils.

The culprit made a sleepy noise and snuggled more comfortably on my lap.

It was just a dream. Outside, there was no sign of any werewolf or beast, only the driver's lamp casting shadows across the forest floor. With a shiver, I closed the window shutters and snuggled with my best friend, sighing in relief at the rhythm of her even breaths.