Allegiance by Wanda Wiltshire Page B

up. I screamed and struggled in his arms as he carried me through the balcony door and released his glittering white wings. But when he looked in Dad’s direction again, I fell silent. As we flew off the balcony I looked back to see my father sitting on the floor by my sister, rubbing his forehead.
    I was completely at King Telophy’s mercy. If he wanted to make good on his threat to kill the offspring of the woman who’d rejected him, there would be no better opportunity. He could carry me far out to sea and hold my head under water until I drowned. He could force me to drink poison. It would be nothing for him to dispose of my body and be home in time for breakfast.
    He lifted me under one arm and took me high into the sky. Without the movement of my wings to warm me, I was soon shivering and attempting to curl myself around him. Leif would have gathered me into his arms and released his sun to me, but King Telophy just let me freeze. By the time he alighted at Mount Kosciuszko and set me on my feet, I was like a block of ice. Teeth chattering, I glanced around. We were alone. There was nothing but rocks, grass and the sound of the wind.
    King Telophy’s eyes narrowed as he watched me. ‘You fear me, Marla, but don’t you realise if I intended you harmed it would bedone? I could end you now if it were my pleasure. Nobody would ever know.’ He came close and placed a powerful hand around my neck. I could feel his breath, warm in my hair as he said, ‘Just the smallest amount of pressure would be enough.’
    Somehow I found the courage to stay absolutely still as I cried out to Leif in my mind. There was no answer. A silent tear slipped from the corner of my eye. Then the king did something I would never have predicted: he removed his hand and, with his thumb, wiped the tear away. I began to shake. It started as a tremor inside and grew until my whole body vibrated. Softly, King Telophy continued, ‘I have no intention of harming you, Marla. Though it pains me to have you near, I have made a vow to my son that he may keep you for a promise. But know this—the moment you defy me, my side of the bargain is void.’ He hesitated before finishing. ‘If you are anything like your mother, that time will come soon enough.’
    ‘Why are you doing this?’ I whispered.
    ‘I have a task for you. But before we go further, you need to understand this. Nobody dictates the affairs of my kingdom to me. I do not care for the judgement of ten assemblies, nor do I care who you are betrothed to. I have decided that Leif may have you—if you can manage to behave yourself. But your mother still does not win. Has she not a son lost in the human world?’
    A lump came to my throat. My brother—the twin I hadn’t even had a chance to know—would languish on Earth somewhere, sick and suffering and aging, while I would be allowed to make a life in Faera. And who knew what fate had befallen my birth parents? Tears began to leak from my eyes.
    ‘When you arrive at the castle,’ the king said, ignoring them, ‘Stay away from me. You are a constant reminder of all I wish to forget. And take care you never mention the names of your parents in my presence.’
    Somehow I managed to remain standing when all I wanted to do was crumble.
    ‘Release your wings now, Marla, we need to be in Faera.’
    I turned my back to him and removed my pyjama top, clutching it to my chest as I opened my wings and gave myself to the sun.

    I thought the king would take me directly to the castle. Instead we arrived in a small courtyard outside a set of silver gates. While the guards standing on either side of them busied themselves bowing to their king, I pulled my top back on and glanced around. We seemed to be close to the peak of a mountain, smaller than the one King Telophy lived in, but formed from the same smooth white stone called willa. The mountain remained in its natural state, but the courtyard glittered with trapped rainbows where the rock had been