Chapter One

I always see her in my dreams, though at this point, I nearly wish that I wouldn't. Each time that the memory replays, it hurts just as much as the day that it happened, like a cold knife being dragged mercilessly across the delicate skin of my throat. Tonight, she looks just the same as she did on the day that we were separated, small and fragile. In mere moments we were torn apart by clawed hands, cursed by sharp tongues speaking unknown words. It seems so long ago now when I was nearly eight and she was just six, in human years. SO long ago, yet the memory remains as fresh as it had that same day. Of all the things I've forgotten, she ins't one of them.

Don't play too close to those woods, girls. Be sure to come back before nightfall. The Fair Folk might snatch you up in exchange for a changeling. The voice of our grandmother echoed through our heads that day the way that it always had when we went venturing out to play by the old train tracks. We never listened to her warnings, assuming that they were merely the superstitions of an old woman. We sorely regretted dismissing her that day, once our tea party and lives were suddenly interupted.

On a warm, spring day, the birds became silent moments before a figure as tall as a young tree appeared behind us and scooped us away from our little blanket with inhuman swiftness and ease, never to be seen in the human realm again. It happened so quickly that we didn't have the time to find our voices and call out for help, though no one would have heard us so far from home, anyway. We were foolish children for wandering so deeply into the forest of Ireland on our own, with only our family dog for protection.

Before I knew what happened, I woke up inside of a small cage with my sister clinging to my arm so tightly that it hurt. I didn't care, though. All that I could focus on were the strange, angular faces peering at us through the bars and their pointed teeth and ears, snarling at each other in an unfamiliar language. I grabbed my sister as tightly as I could and held her to me as she whimpered in terror, glaring out at the strange beings and daring them to try and separate us. I had always been one to hide my fear through defiance, and I had never been more terrified.

My sister was bought straight away since she was younger and didn't know better than to show her fear so openly. She screamed as the lid of our cage was opened and she was pried from me, and I lunged forward to bite the hands that gripped her arm. This seemed to amuse the spectators but infuriated the owner of the appendages, my mouth filled with acrid liquid. Blood, both that of the creature and my own pooled inside my soft mouth.

They pulled my sister from me with ease and handed her away to someone, before returning to beat me off of their arm. Their fists were like tree trunks and one hit sent me sailing into the side of the cage. With my head reeling, I jumped back to my feet and lunged forward again, only to have the top quickly slammed shut and locked, sending my small body to the floor. I slammed my small body against the bars, frantically looking for my sister in the crowd.

Another tall person- or thing, had her by her long locks, admiring the amber hue. My sister locked eyes with me, her face running over with tears and snot, and screamed my name, too afraid to struggle. I don't remember what the name that she called me was anymore, but I can always remember hers.

"Alice!" I cried, reaching my hands towards her through the bars. "I'll find you, no matter what! I promise!"

I memorized her features in that moment, knowing that it would be the last time I saw her. I knew I needed to remember her. And then, she was tossed over someone's shoulder and carried away through the crowd, kicking and screaming and crying my name as she faded into the crowd. I will never forget the pain that I felt that day, and how quickly my world was taken away from me. I had never been so vulnerable and afraid in my life, and therefore, never more savage.

I wake up to the sound of my ragged breathing as I gasp for air, clenching the sheets so tightly that my knuckles ache. The exposed beams above the bed are still dark, so I know it is not yet morning. It has become rare for me to sleep through the night the past ten years that I've been here. One of the causes for my distress is sitting quietly in a chair by the window, I know, even before sitting up in the sweat-soaked sheets.

"You are quite the fitful sleeper. It brings me some sort of entertainment," The voice muses as I prop myself up on an elbow to glare at them. "Oh, come now. Do not look at me with such venom, Belamour. Come to me. Tell me what has you troubled."

I know better than to disobey the command, as much as it makes my blood boil. I have been disobedient in the past and have had many bruises to prove it, so I have learned to chose my retaliation wisely. I swallow and stand from the bed, walking quietly over to the owner of the voice.

In the realm of the Fae, humans have two purposes when they are stolen; They are either bought as pets for the nobles, as my sister and I were, or they are kept as children for those who could not bear their own. Alice is lucky- she was purchased by a Seelie noble, who typically adopt human children as their own. I, however, was purchased as a pet by the bastard son of the Unseelie court, who find little other use for human children.

Now that I am closer to him, the familiar scent of an apple orchard calms my racing heart, which is still galloping from my dream. There is barely enough moonlight spilling in from the window to make out his face, but I know the sharp nose and jawline as well as the back of my hand. I find it unfair that such cruel creatures as him have been given so much beauty and charm. They are undeserving of it, though Ascian is not the most harrowing of his kind, I know. I could have a much worse master to belong to, so I am lucky too, in a way.

I have a hard time making him out in the darkness, though I know that Ascian can see me perfectly as I fumble blindly towards where he sits. I feel his amusement as he allows me to stub my toe on a side table and chuckles when I curse loudly at the pain and at him. After having his fun, he reaches for my waist and guides me into his lap, still rumbling with laughter in my ear.

"I hate you," I hiss at him, cradling my throbbing foot as he settles me against his cool body. Unseelie Fae have low body temperatures, sort of like lizards, which took me a while to get used to. Ascian is very fond of kinship with me since I'm his first Pet, and I used to flinch away from his cold touch for months when he first got me.

I hope that Seelie Fae are warmer, or less cuddly. Preferably both.

I feel his smirk against my hair, unfazed by my nasty words. "You adore me just as much as I do you, you cannot lie to me. So, tell me. What is it that is bothering you?"

I drop my leg and shrug a shoulder, gazing into the darkness. "Nothing. I was just remembering how I got here." Remembering my sister.

"Ah, such a boring tale," Ascian professes, running his long fingers through my ruffled hair. He is nothing if not honest, perhaps a bit blunt. He continues, tucking a lock of copper hair behind my ear. "But I do love it. You were so wild that not one Seelie Fae would bid on you. The moment that I laid eyes on you, however, I knew that I had to have you-" There's a moment of silence where I can feel the shadows swirl around him and his tone becomes more akin to a growl. "And so did everyone else."

"You always say things like that," I sigh, though I am not surprised by his lack of empathy for my trauma or his possessive tendencies. Unseelie Fae are incapable of feeling emotions like sympathy or patience, or so I think. From what I've experienced, their most frequently felt emotions are rage, hunger, and possessiveness of their belongings or status, which is why they love me, I suppose. I have just as much hatred as them and they find it fascinating. Normally humans are too afraid of the Faeries to retaliate out of concern for their lives.

For Alice's sake, I hope that the Seelie are humane and treat her more kindly than Ascian cares for me.