Royal Fae Bodyguard (Brunswick Academy for Gifted Girls Book 1) Read online

  Cara’s ears perked up. Being from a less privileged fae family herself, she had grown up with many powerful gifts but material wealth had not been one of them. Living at Brunswick had been luxurious in its own way. But after graduation… Well, she wasn’t sure what would happen. A reward, now that was something to get excited about-

  “You will be rewarded with your destined mate,” Friar said. “A romantic mate, that is. Your soulmate and romantic partner for the rest of your life.”

  What.

  Cara made a little noise of protest and Mr. Friggit, who taught history, cast her a glare. They weren’t supposed to speak until after they were crowned.

  But seriously. A mate? It didn’t seem very, well, feminist. As rewards went.

  Cara had always thought that someday she might look for a mate but not anytime soon. And anyway, she would have much preferred cash.

  She huffed through her nose and crossed her arms, leaning over to one side a little, as if it to signal her dissenting attitude.

  Well, the fates could try to give her a mate all they wanted. But they couldn’t force her to stay with him.

  Mate schmate, Cara thought as Ms. Friar wrapped up her speech.

  2

  Dayen

  “One more game?” Dayen shuffled his pack of cards and raised his eyebrows. The servant girl, Taisa, blushed prettily. She was too young and too cute and he generally tried to avoid servants who fit that description in the castle. But Taisa was also good at cards and Dayen had found himself with too much time on his hands as he waited to speak to his uncle who had insisted on a short meeting while Dayen, the reigning prince of the realm and all its subjects, had deigned to grace the fae with his presence before returning to the terran world.

  “I have to clean your sister’s room,” Taisa said softly.

  “Oh!” Dayen snorted, but even that sounded more like a distinguished sigh as nothing Dayen did was anything but graceful. He was wearing a terran designer suit, charcoal and flattering to his lean form. His silvery white-blonde hair had been trimmed recently by a talented terran barber (it now only fell a few inches beyond his shoulders) and a lock of it fell over his eye. “Aela won’t care,” Dayen said, tossing Taisa a wink. “I’ll tell her it’s my fault.”

  They were sitting at a big wooden table in the middle of the sprawling kitchen toward the back of the castle. Dayen dealt another hand of Carousel, the second favorite card game among the fae in Dayen’s neck of the woods. The first favorite was Broom but Dayen had always found Broom boring. Carousel was much more challenging, which also meant most people didn’t play it well but Dayen had found Taisa, the servant girl, a worthy opponent.

  You usually placed bets on hands of Carousel but he hadn’t found that fair when playing with a servant so he skipped the gambling bit.

  Now he chewed his lip as he pondered his hand. Three roses. That wasn’t good…

  “Do you always bite your lip when you play?” Taisa asked.

  “Huh?” Dayen frowned at her. “I’m not.”

  “Um…” She cleared her throat, blushing again, as if she might be in trouble. “You do. Just… It might be a tell. When you play for money?”

  “Do I?” He nodded. “Well, thank you, Taisa.”

  She smiled and traded two of her own cards. They each put one down face-up and now they would decide whether to trade one or two cards with each other…

  Two minutes later, Dayen was groaning, rubbing his eyes. “You’re very clever,” he muttered. “How old are you?”

  “Seventeen,” Taisa said, batting her eyes.

  Yikes. Dayen got to his feet and pocketed his cards. “You’re too clever for this work. I’m going to see if my uncle has something better for you.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to-”

  “Yes, I do,” Dayen said shortly. “No one has beaten me at Carousel in months.”

  She grinned at that and Dayen just nodded. When his uncle’s right-hand man, Sile, peeked into the kitchen and raised his silvery eyebrows at him, Dayen nodded again. “Coming, Sile. Coming.”

  “He’s waiting for you-”

  “Yes, yes.”

  Dayen tossed Taisa a little wink on his way out and like every time when he talked to a girl who would have been interesting as a romantic prospect if there wasn’t just one thing wrong that could not be overlooked, he grieved a little bit. He was only twenty-three years old but seventeen was far too young. Besides which, Taisa was obviously too cunning to be wasted either on servanthood or on the likes of him. He knew that much about himself. He would see if there was an apprenticeship she could have through his uncle, perhaps in the libraries or with the sorcerers in the north tower. Now he wished he’d asked Taisa where her interests lay but he was already halfway to his uncle’s office in the south tower. He supposed he would find out what was available for her and they’d work it out later.

  “Good evening, Prince Dayen!”

  The happy call came from servant and guest of the court alike. Dayen smiled brightly and nodded at everyone as he walked by, everyone bustling through the wide corridors of the castle with its shimmering pastel walls and delicate murals of fae history and lore stitched into thick, old tapestries carefully kept dust-free where they hung between candle-lit sconces.

  Everyone loved Prince Dayen or Prince Day as people knew him more casually. Everyone loved him and nobody expected too much (most of the time) of him which was just fine. He didn’t want to do too much. Doing too much was his uncle’s job.

  “Day!” His uncle Cade’s voice was sharp and it made Day’s neck tense up. He jerked his head a little funnily, though he kept the smile on his face. He loved his uncle, his mother’s brother, with all his heart. But only uncle Cade had the ability to make him nervous, although he would never admit it. Cade was leaning out of the door of his office. He was dressed in the silver robes of the Prince’s Council and he held no other title. By all rights, Dayen should have long been serving as king and it was only because Dayen declared himself “unready” (if not simply unwilling) and because Cade loved his nephew that he ruled in the capacity of a king without any title higher than “Prince’s Council.” Had Cade been anything but a loving uncle to Dayen, he doubtless would have stolen the crown.

  Cade had the same silvery blonde hair that Day had inherited from his mother and sharp eyes that missed nothing which now narrowed at the prince. “Come in, please.”

  Day obeyed but he remained near the door after he’d shut it. He stood on one foot, crossing the other booted foot over his ankle, slipped his hands in the pockets of his very terran pants and cocked an eyebrow at his uncle.

  “Unc?” Day said simply. His uncle bustled around his desk, frowning at piles of scrolls and terran-looking papers.

  Cade said, “I want you to...meet with the elders-”

  “Uggghhh.” Day rolled his eyes and looked for a moment like a sulky teenager. “Come on.”

  “You said you would,” Cade accused.

  “Your point being?” Day muttered. He was putting off the inevitable, he knew. He pretended he didn’t want to rule his kingdom only because it was so much goddamn responsibility and because he preferred to spend his days frolicking around the terran world, but that wasn’t it. He wondered if his uncle knew the real reason. Day hoped not. It seemed embarrassing somehow.

  “You’ll meet with the elders,” Cade said with a wave of his elegant hand. “In three days. Are you seeing anyone right now? As far as ladies?” He frowned at Day.

  “No…”

  “Why not?” Cade frowned like Dayen was misbehaving.

  Day threw up his hands. “Because I’m… What kind of question is that? No one has...caught my fancy.”

  “How hard can that be?” Cade said. “I met Mai at a ball and we were married a week later. Your father met your mother at a ball and they were married a month later and that was only because royal weddings take a little longer to put together-”

  “Hmm…” Day sniffed and glanced away, pu
t off by the mere mention of his parents. It was disturbing really, the reaction he still had to talk of his parents. Even after all these years. But just now, he felt as if his throat was closing up.

  He could see that thing, coming towards them…

  He crossed his arms and tried to look casual, glancing around the small office with its big, thick arched window that looked out on the rolling and flowered hills of Keene, the largest town in the fae realm, as well as its most sophisticated metropolis. Cottages and smaller castles dotted the hills and clouded forests stretched beyond them to the horizon. If you followed the glimmering river from the castle all the way through Keene into the forest and beyond to the shores of Mare Beach where the old castle lay in ruins, you would find the spot where Day’s parents had died. He had not set foot there since that day.

  “I apologize, Day,” Cade said quietly.

  “Mmm…”

  “I’d just like to see you settled down,” he added.

  Day only shrugged and tried to look unruffled. This was not a surprising thing for his uncle to have said. He said it nearly every day it seemed and when he wasn’t saying it, Day’s sister Aela was saying it.

  “I’ve never met a fae girl who was quite right,” Day said. “Sometimes I think I should look for a human.”

  “That would be a disaster,” Cade said quickly. “For her more than you.”

  “I’m just joking,” Day muttered.

  He was doomed, he thought. He would never fall in love. The fae girls of the royal court were epically boring in his opinion and all the others he met were intimidated by him which seemed ridiculous somehow.

  “Sooner or later you have to-”

  “I know,” Day said. He didn’t feel bad interrupting his uncle. He already knew exactly what he would say next.

  You have to take over. You’re an adult now. This is your kingdom.

  All that stuff.

  But not tonight, he thought. Tonight he was going out to a place where nobody bothered him about ruling the fae or expressed concern about his continuing and unprocessed grief for his parents. Tonight he was going to Manhattan.

  “Fine then,” Day said. “Elders in three days. No problem. I know a servant girl who’s very clever, by the way. I want to give her something better-”

  “Certainly. Just write it down or I’ll forget it.”

  “Alright.”

  He felt edgy suddenly, as if the fabric between the fae dimension and the terran dimension were creeping under his slightly shimmering skin. If he thought about it, he felt as if he were potentially ready to take the throne. Which meant that putting it off was strictly shirking his responsibilities more than he’d ever intended…

  His father would have been disappointed.

  But he shoved those thoughts away.

  He met his uncle’s eyes. Cade looked concerned now instead of annoyed. It was mildly horrifying.

  Day drew himself up and put on the voice and posture of the prince and potentially of a king. He knew how to do all those sorts of things even if he did avoid them like a plague.

  “I know what my duty is,” Day said. “But you’re doing so well, you know.”

  Sometimes flattery actually worked. Just remind Cade that he was great at running the kingdom and maybe he could have just a little more time to himself without it being a problem…

  “Yes, yes,” Cade said, sitting down behind his desk. “Don’t try to puff me up, Day.” He had that pitying look again. “Go along. Go to your precious New York.”

  Day smiled tightly and threw him a little salute. You didn’t have to tell him twice.

  “See you later, uncle,” he muttered on his way out.

  He took a deep breath, bustling back through the corridors. He wanted to see his sister before he went on to New York, but she had not been around all day. He wondered if she was with that awful Philip. Day made a face at the very thought. He didn’t like Philip. He was a pretender to the court and he only wanted Aela for the power she could bestow on him, in Day’s opinion. But Aela claimed he was just being a protective older brother. Also possible, he supposed.

  But what kind of name was Philip for a fae anyway?

  “Ugh,” Day muttered. It annoyed him just thinking about Philip. Aela could do so much better.

  And he certainly wasn’t biased, even though Aela was his precious little sister. Besides which, she was sharper and cannier than she was precious. At sixteen, she seemed to have the wisdom of a forty-year-old fae. If there was any justice, she would be ruling the kingdom and not him. But that wasn’t how things worked. Besides which, he knew she didn’t want that job any more than he did.

  “Have you seen my sister?” He spoke abruptly, having caught the eye of his valets who rarely got to valet because Day didn’t think he needed much help putting on his own clothes, thank you very much. And besides which, he was often in the terran world where the clothes were simpler. The valets got a lot of time to themselves as a result.

  “No, sir,” the valet said. “Do you need anything else, sir?”

  “No, no,” Day muttered. He waved his hand and sighed, spinning on his heel.

  Fuck it, then. He’d just take off.

  He stopped in a nook off the corridor and stood next to a side table on top of which was some priceless vase that probably held the soul of a fae warlock from centuries ago and now just sat there in the hall to be pretty. He leaned on the wall and shut his eyes, concentrating on that sensation of the fabric between the fae and the terran. It was like an invisible blanket around him all the time that he could forget was there until he wanted it. That was the way with the fae and dimensions.

  “And here we go,” Day muttered to himself. With a blur of tingling sensations, he felt himself shift out of the fae world and into the terran world. He pictured where he wanted to be and now he heard the dim echo of a footstep on marble flooring. It was probably his maid.

  Day opened his eyes and through his dizziness, saw that he was in the living room of his penthouse.

  “Aaaaaaah!” The maid screamed.

  Day chuckled and spun to face her, slowly raising his arms. His maid was a bear shifter and still not completely used to the ways of fae, especially having come from an American town where magical folk in general were rare.

  “It’s just me, Nina!” Day said.

  Nina had dropped her armful of laundry and she clutched her heart. She was an older woman and Day had felt bad hiring her at first. It seemed as if an older bear shifter woman should have a better life than cleaning up after a silly fae prince. But as he split his time between New York and the fae realm and offered her luxurious living quarters and very good free food, he realized she was getting a pretty good deal out of her service.

  “You scared me,” Nina said, stating the obvious.

  “Sorry.” He shrugged and made his way across the white marble floor to the exposed spiral staircase up to his room. His penthouse was big and full of light from the giant windows that looked out on Central Park. It was mostly decorated in white and neutrals because it had come that way but Day had put up some fae art here and there. Humans wouldn’t know what it was (one human visitor had complimented his taste in “folk art”), but he liked that bit of home when he was in the city.

  “Are you going out?” Nina called after him.

  The sun was already setting. Day felt his blood racing. He was ready for a good time.

  “Hell yes I am!” he responded.

  3

  Cara

  “It’s been three days!” Cara sighed heavily and spun on her heel.

  She was about to wear a hole in the floor from pacing.

  “Will you sit down?” Lilith said from her spot on the couch. They were all crowded in the common room, sipping various coffee drinks and messing around with their phones.

  Cara, just like the rest of them, had somehow assumed that they would all immediately be sent on their respective missions. Hello, adventure! Hello, saving the world! Hello...stupid ma
te nobody has asked for… But still, she had been excited.

  Yet it had been three days. There had been no word yet on a mission for any of them.

  “You’re driving me crazy, fae,” Lilith said.

  Cara sighed and plopped down between Lilith and Freya who cast her a hopeful smile. “I’m sure one of us will get a mission soon! It just depends on whatever Benjamin happens to see.”

  “I knooow,” Cara said, groaning. She took another slurp of her cold brew. “But I want it nooow.”

  “Okay, Veruca Salt,” Addy muttered.

  Cara snorted at that and dug out her own phone. There wasn’t much to see and she quickly got impatient. All her fae friends from back home spent only limited amounts of time in the terran world and so didn’t update their social media accounts very often. Most of the girls at the school were her friends online but most of them were younger and she didn’t much care about Rigby the wolf shifter’s ex-boyfriend the lion shifter and how they were having a hard time being apart...ugh.

  “I am so bored,” Cara muttered.

  “Cara!” One of the school secretaries appeared in the doorway. Miss Diz blinked at her through owlish glasses. She looked just like any other school secretary but she was also fae. Her ears curved up impressively. Cara thought they were pretty. “Benjamin needs to see you, dear.”

  “Ooooh!” All the other girls hooted and stared at Cara with big eyes. She blushed at the attention but only shrugged.

  “Alright, cool,” she said, drawing herself up. She cracked her knuckles.

  She was a warrior fae, trained by the best professors of supernatural skill and combat in the world.

  She was ready for anything.

  “Let’s do this,” Cara said.

  “Ah, Cara!” Ms. Friar smiled warmly. Cara had followed Miss Diz through the narrow hallways of Brunswick all the way to the maze of professor’s offices and straight to the door of Benjamin’s office. Cara had never seen it before.