The Prince With No Heart by Emma Holly Page B

defending her tonight, he’d reminded her she was alone. Bojik had been right on that score. Sad as it was to admit, with her parents gone, the only person who loved her with all his being was a monster.
    Her tears fell faster, her nose soon clogged. She dug in her gown’s hidden pocket for her silk handkerchief.
    “Tut-tut,” said a musical voice as she covered her nose and blew. “What’s all this weeping for?”
    A lovely woman sat beside her on the old pew, her beautiful flaxen hair foaming in waves to her waist. Violet was certain she hadn’t heard her come in.
    “Pardon?” she croaked, hoarse from crying. “Do I know you?”
    The woman smiled. “How soon you humans forget. We met in the Wailing Woods. My raven led you safely to Madrigar.”
    “The fairy!” Violet exclaimed, coloring up as she remembered what she’d been doing before they met. “I thought you were old.”
    “I am , child, compared to you.”
    The fairy’s high spirits pricked Violet’s anger. “You made me hurt Augustin.”
    “Did I?” The fairy tilted her lovely head. “Are you certain he’s not better off than he was before? Some people need to have a little hurt whipped in them. Only then do they discover what they’re made of.”
    Violet opened her mouth to argue, then decided she’d better not. The fairy was a powerful magic being and - as Augustin himself had observed - no one had forced Violet to listen to what she’d said.
    “Such a scowl!” the fairy scolded, her humor undimmed by it. “Would it make you feel better if you knew I was his fairy godmother?”
    “Good Lord,” Violet burst out. “I’d hate to see what you’d do if you were his enemy.”
    The fairy laughed some more, then wiped a few twinkling tears from her sea green eyes. “Fairies look at ends, my dear. Means rarely concern them. Do you remember what I promised you: that my solution would not lead you to misery?”
    Violet’s response was stiffer than she intended. “Forgive me, but I cannot see as you’ve fulfilled that.”
    “Only because you don’t see as far I do. You give up too soon, little girl. You haven’t walked the whole road I’ve set you on.” The fairy shook her finger, then bent to her, pressing her perfect lips to the center of Violet’s brow. Violet smelled spring flowers and heard a glissando of tiny harps. The fairy drew back, her green eyes glowing in a manner that reminded her of Bojik. Though Violet believed her to mean no harm, the fairy was more frightening than the were-wolf.
    “Tell the prince Ariel sends him love,” she said.
    She winked out in a burst of sparkles before Violet could respond.
    “Tell him yourself,” she huffed, but she knew Ariel was right.
    She could sit here pitying herself, or she could at least try to fight for her heart’s desire.
    * * *
    The door to the guest chamber was ajar. Candles glowed inside, so Violet supposed the prince was there. Her hands were cold, her sex uncomfortably hot. It didn’t care what sort of reception she might receive. It only knew the man who best matched its longings was near.
    “Augustin?” she said, afraid to simply go in.
    She heard a soft catch of breath. “Come,” said Augustin’s voice to her.
    When she walked in, he wore his own dirty trousers. The clothes he’d been given to wear for the feast lay neatly folded on a chair beside the curtained four-poster bed. The prince turned to face her as if reluctant but unable to help himself. A muscle clenched in his jaw as their gazes met. His eyes were dark in the candlelight: sapphires in shadow.
    “You’re leaving.” She’d known he would, but hurt still rode out with the statement.
    “I must. The longer I stay, the harder it will be to go.”
    Violet nodded, her lips pressed tight. At least he found it difficult - not that this did her much good. She gestured toward the formal clothes. “You don’t have to return those, though I suppose ... They must not be as nice as what you’re used