Wicked lives have wicked endings, but they are always worth living.
Ever since Aurelia was born, she believed two things: That faeries are evil and her half-blood existence was wrong. When the crown discovered her, King Fyfe decided to have her trained by Jorthus' elite masters instead of sentencing her to death.
At a summit between faerie rulers and the king of Jorthus, Aurelia comes face to face with the ones she hates. However, when the meeting turns for the worst, the princes take Aurelia back into their territory. This is when she meets Azlyon, an enigmatic Seelie prince, who seems to know nearly everything about her.
Aurelia discovers her blood holds the key in bringing back magik to the lands, but will she be willing to help or hinder the faeries knowing that they plan on reclaiming their realm from human oppressors at any cost.
She must learn to survive the tricky world of the fae even when the gods themselves interfere. But when matters of the heart test her, and the truth comes to light, will she question her allegiance or doom faerie kind?
Wicked lives have wicked endings, but they are always worth living.
Ever since Aurelia was born, she believed two things: That faeries are evil and her half-blood existence was wrong. When the crown discovered her, King Fyfe decided to have her trained by Jorthus' elite masters instead of sentencing her to death.
At a summit between faerie rulers and the king of Jorthus, Aurelia comes face to face with the ones she hates. However, when the meeting turns for the worst, the princes take Aurelia back into their territory. This is when she meets Azlyon, an enigmatic Seelie prince, who seems to know nearly everything about her.
Aurelia discovers her blood holds the key in bringing back magik to the lands, but will she be willing to help or hinder the faeries knowing that they plan on reclaiming their realm from human oppressors at any cost.
She must learn to survive the tricky world of the fae even when the gods themselves interfere. But when matters of the heart test her, and the truth comes to light, will she question her allegiance or doom faerie kind?
Present, Farlenfell, Kingdom of Jorthus
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I hid in a small village for as long as I can remember. The villagers told me I was a creation of old gods and mankind, an abomination. Then the King found and fashioned me into a weapon.
There were many other paths I long for, but this would be the only life for me.
A black tunic and cowl shield me from the commonerâs gaze. My hands are covered with pliable and worn ebony gloves, and my legs in tightly fitted trousers with knee-high hunting boots hooking upward with a silver tip. It was designed by my master so I could travel long distances and ensure no one looked upon me twice.
I am lucky, or so Iâm told. I am the only one of my kind allowed to even be in Jorthus. The king loathed magik and ethereal beings such as the fae. Titus the Lion stole me away from my village when I was sixteen suns and trained me to fight in King Fyfeâs army.
When I was older I was relocated to the capital where the king met me for the first time. He decided that I would be a useful apprentice to Cicero the Liar, his personal master of shadows. He was only several suns my elder but held the knowledge of a thousand spymasters.
Now at twenty-five, I have become the kingdom of Jorthusâ most skilled assassin and second most skilled spymaster with the training of a warrior. Many humans train longer than I have and achieve little, but my one advantage over them is that I am not entirely human.
The king ordered that I always remain concealed and form no attachments. This meant I was the secret weapon of King Fyfe, who told me I could never have a family. That those he fought against would kill me given the chance because they were less forgiving of my existence than he was.
People walked around me in a hurry, jolting my mind to the present.
Today was the day we travel to the village of Lorlan in the northwestern corner of Jorthus. The king and his family would meet with the princes of the faerie country, Daeyed, there, as it was a mutually agreed-upon area without strongholds.
Cicero was busy planning and learning more about what the princes were like. It was a difficult task because they only met with a king of Jorthus over a hundred years ago. My duty was to linger in the shadows of their lodgings to steal information. There would be warding to prevent humans from entering, which meant I could be useful.
I step from the edge of the foyer into the sunlight. Dozens of people pause with their mouths dropping. They knew who I was but not what I was and they shiver with wide eyes.
If I lower my cowl, if I took off my gloves, they would see a grotesque person before them. A woman with gold skin and thick dark green hair, large eyes, and pointed web-like ears. They would see that my teeth are not flat but sharp.
Everyone would be afraid and run in panic.
That is what Fyfeâs family told the world of the fae. That they are the personification of humankindâs worst nightmares. And I agree with him. Faeries are dangerous and wild creatures, longing to trick and kill weary travellers. When I was a babe, I was found in the very village we are travelling to, and the woman who found me, Lucia, the village huntress, told me that my faerie mother murdered and cooked my human father.
She raised me and called me her woodland sister, for many of the people of Lorlan believed the fair folk to balance the goodness. They saw me as a blessing while the world saw me as a curse. When Titus the Lion came, he stole me away by order of King Fyfe.
âAurelia.â Titus strolls over, his once hearty beard shaved and his hair flecked with grey. âWhy are you waiting here? You should be with Cicero.â
âI am waiting because Cicero told me to,â I say simply.
âThere is much to prepare for, you could make better use of your time,â he counters.
I smile under the shadows of my hood. âI am afraid I only obey Cicero the Liar, and if you think I am not making use of my time you are mistaken.â
âDo you think Cicero outranks me?â He crossed his arms.
âAnd do you outrank him? I do not follow a tired Generalâs order.â
âYou are a half-breed who would be dead if I didnât vouch for you when King Fyfe called for your death,â he responds. âI deserve more respect from you.â
âYou were only doing your duty, besides those like me are not welcome to live as you do,â I say as Prince Lorkus walks towards us.
We bow immediately, our right arms crossing our chests.
When I saw him last, he had long, fair hair and now it was cropped rather short. His face is clean-shaven and his eyes even more piercing. He will succeed King Fyfe in the near future if the king continues to be gluttonous.
âShadow Master and General, how strange to see you two together,â he smiles, âconsidering the last time you both were in quite the argument.â
âOur factions in your fatherâs service do not often get along,â I say with a hint of a smile.
Prince Lorkus was charged with overseeing the shadow masters working closely with Cicero the Liar, and by default me. I was told never to speak unless spoken to while Cicero handled the prince.
âAurelia,â Lorkus says carefully, âI believe that is the first time youâve spoken directly to me.â
I take a breath, realizing my mistake. âI apologize, your highness.â
âHave I even seen you underneath all those clothes?â he asks. âI donât even know what your face looks like.â
âFew people have.â I feel a pit in my stomach.
Lorkus touched the edge of my cowl, âI have never seen a faerie before, yet I spent many years in Skuflan at the great library learning as much as I could about them.â
âI am human as well,â I respond.
âNot enough to make a difference,â Titus cuts in.
âGeneral, perhaps you should join my father. I will be riding with the shadow masters,â Prince Lorkus says before walking away.
I lift my head enough so Titus could see my shiny eyes mocking him before I walk away, cloak fluttering behind me.
I wish I knew who birthed me, what kind of creature would kill my human sire to keep me secret. Faeries speak truthfully but still manage to twist their words as smooth as rippling water. Humans hate them because they fear them. That is something I can respect, but I would still rather be a human pauper than an immortal queen of the fae.
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The only time my hood was lowered was whenever Cicero and I were alone, which allowed my thick hair to spill around my face and down my back. He is the only one allowed to see me for who I was; even the king preferred I keep my cowl and scarf on.
âAurelia, when we go there, I want you to know that the princes may question why you are coveredâif they notice you.â Cicero pulls down his own hooded cloak, revealing freshly trimmed pale hair and a narrow, defined ivory face.
âSo I donât give them a reason to notice me. I stay in the middle of whatever crowd will gather and keep my gaze lowered. Cicero, I know what Iâm doing.â
He walks over without making a sound, our riding boots are designed to quiet footsteps. I can see the caution in his crystalline eyes.
âI know you loathe them, but I donât want the intended purpose of this meeting to become corrupt,â he says. âKing Fyfe still sees you as a threat, prove him wrong.â
I nod as he removed my gloves to examine the cuts on my hands; they were from an iron blade Titus used on me during training. While I did not get poisoned like the fae, they were never able to heal properly and reopened little by little. Since Jorthus was a land that resented magik, I went without faerie potions, salves, and remedies. Cicero had a special cream that helped the healing but never had any lasting impact.
âItâs getting worse,â he says, taking a cloth to them. âPerhaps I should assign you on a mission in Flokael, where you could trade something for a cure.â
âYou and I both know the king will never allow me to leave the country,â I say.
Cicero smiles. âWhat he doesnât know wonât hurt him.â
âMy, my, Cicero. You never go against what the king commands,â
âWell, I donât want you to bleed out now. Youâre the best I have.â
I smile after he applies the cold, bluish jelly to my hands. Iâve always wanted to travel to other countries where magik isnât banned. Only Jorthus and Lomel outlawed it completely, both exclusively populated by humans. Flokael is where faerie outcasts live and are ruled by two arch kings, human and faerie.
King Fyfe refused to speak directly to the faerie-born arch king. Instead, he would send his own wife to deal with him. This went on for years until one day, he caught the former queen warming the arch kingâs bed. She had been banished from Jorthus and now resides in Flokael with her faerie lover as his consort. His hatred for the fae only grew larger. As one final act of power over her, Fyfe married her younger sister, who birthed Lorkus one year later.
Cicero told me all of this in confidenceâthat I wasnât alone in the world even if I thought I was an abomination. He told me that some faeries are stronger than others and all the faeries in Flokael are stripped of their illusionary glamour before being exiled.
âWhat if they find me?â I ask, referring to the princes.
âThey wonât,â he says. âBut if they do, they will either kill you or take you to DaeyedâŠâ
âThen I wonât get caught. I have a great master.â
âA master can only teach you so much, then you must grow into your own skin.â His voice was distant. âSome things are out of our control.â
I look at him through his snowy hair. He was a spy sent from the moon, owning the night and hiding in the shadows.
âWe should be going soon,â he says and turns around to gather his riding gear.
I braid my loose earthy hair, clearing my face from any obstructions. I felt the air dance on the nape of my long neck as though a spirit caressed me.
I open my silver tin to reveal talc-based powder to lighten my skin and remove the golden shimmer to it.
âAre you ready?â a voice at my ear asked.
I only nod once, sliding iron-tipped daggers up my sleeves.
This is the story of Aurelia, a half-fae / half-human assassin who was raised in a human city, working for a king, in a post-war world where the fae have been sequestered to a small part of the world and are hated for all that they are and can do. But magic doesnât want to stay buried and the faeries are tired of standing back while the humans kill their world. Aurelia has only ever known a human way of life, though her appearance keeps her from actually being one of them. But after a meeting with between the faerie princes and the human king, sheâs given over to the other side and begins to see that all sheâs grown up to believe has been little more than biased lies and prejudices. Among them? That she was a nobody. When in reality, she holds the key to bringing magic back to the world.Â
This book has a lot of good qualities. It stems from Irish folklore and mythology and the overall plot is incredibly interesting. Nicholson does a great job of building her world and not making the magic so complex that she loses her readers.Â
But there were a couple things I struggled with in this novel. First of all, there are some issues with verb tense. The narration jumps from past to present tense within the same paragraph, sometimes the same sentence. It seems to get better toward the end of the book, but Iâm not sure if it was actually better, or if I just learned to read past it.Â
The other issue I found was that I didnât really connect with the characters. All the emotional moments fell flat to me, and I canât exactly pinpoint why. I donât know if the dialogue was just too stiff or what exactly stood in my way.  But when I knew I was supposed to feel something with these characters, I just⊠didnât. There were a lot of instances of telling instead of showing that simply got in the way of me having a deeper connection.Â
But even with those issues, I still care about whatâs going to happen next. This novel is, thankfully, largely plot driven and I think thatâs the saving grace for the story. I care about this plot. I care about whatâs going to happen next. And I will be reading the sequel.Â