Matax hurried, he nearly overtook me as we climbed up out of the cavern. I, a fairy king, ran from no one.

A glance back showed him looking behind him as well. The sight of my broken shield filled me with relief but what he held in his other hand brought me confusion.

"Why do you have her human clothes?"

Matax's wild eyes settled on me again, begging to allow him the chance to escape from the cavern entrance before anything could snatch him back down into it.

I stood my ground, ignoring his desire to be free of any danger.

In my arms, the princess rested, so I put her out on the snow then hoisted myself up. The night sky stretched out in all directions. Such bad luck. The night Fae excelled before dawn.

Matax jumped out after me, shield and fur clothes still firm in his grip.

"Once she's human, she needs—"

"I will not turn her human. Why would I do such a thing?"

He didn't seem to have an answer. I shoved him aside and waited.

"When those vermin come, I'll chop each in the throat. They dare betray me!"

The anger pouring from me made my body tremble.

"Your Majesty," Matax began then hesitated. When I met eyes with him, he finally cleared his throat and said, "Um—it was—it was you who brought the betrayal."

Dread washed over me. Insulted wasn't a proper definition.

"After the last war," Matax hurried to say, practically hopping from foot to foot in attempting to keep his cowardly legs from breaking into a run. "You not only recruit the werewolves, trolls, and brownies, sir, but the night Fae."

"Madness." He was speaking utter nonsense. "I'd never do something that foolish."

And with good reason. Fairies could feel few emotions beyond hate and anger. Only the night Fae reveled in passion. As such, once set in motion, they rarely stopped in a task. For that, they were the perfect bodyguards—their loyalties were always guaranteed.

Should they be used in a war.... "They'd have no way of stopping, even in victory."

I stumbled back. Matax peered down into the opening then hurried to me. "And they couldn't. They kept on, nearly wiping everyone out. So, you tricked them. You sent them on a mission into another dimension—"

"And when they entered, I sealed them off with a rock." The memories flooded back to me, and I winced. But with the pain came clarity. "And then I tasked the Jaffo with guarding it."

Fear.

I'd hardly felt it in life.

But I felt it now. And like before, the night Fae would stop at nothing to get their revenge.

The princess still lay in the snow, and I regarded her in confusion. "Then why are they after her and not me?"

Matax had the nerve to put his hands at my back and push me onward, despite everything he carried. "Can we contemplate that while we are safe?"

"Safe how?" I brushed him off. "There is no safety from them so long as they live." When I marched back to that entrance, it was with a heavy heart. There were hundreds of night Fae. I took little comfort that only a fraction still followed Magus blindly. It was a formidable enough amount. How desperate had I been to resort to this? I took no pleasure in the decision forced on me. "I will have to kill them." The ground rumbled and I dropped to one knee, shoved my hand into the snow until I felt soil, and sighed. "Manoj disapproves. That must have been why I didn't kill them before."

Each fairy's color meant their prime emotion. The Fae of jet black weren't common, and they won Manoj's favor for that fact alone.

Now, he subdued them for their insolence, but they'd be free once they subjugated themselves yet again.

This time, it was I rushing to gather the princess while making a speedy escape. "We must leave."

Matax hurried beside me. "What is your plan, my king?"

"Plan?" I scoffed as my wings unfolded and I took flight. "My plan is to align myself with the fairy queen's husband, praying he's as powerful as you say. Otherwise, the night Fae will come and my slight to them means I cannot easily injure them without punishment."

I stiffened my body to gain speed, but confusion plagued me. Fairy law had limits, not just to me, but to the night Fae as well. One fairy's life equated to one life of another creature. A fairy king's amounted to thousands. It would take that much in sacrifices to end me. Therefore, it stood to reason that they'd attack me indirectly by attacking the things I held dear.

But there was no one—nothing I wanted.

Matax had trouble keeping up, but I must have slowed because suddenly, there he was. I was less concerned with our lack of speed and more so with the princess in my arms.

They'd come for her. And they'd done it...to punish me.

"Speak truth," I said to Matax as I refused to advance. "How long have I been reborn? How many months?"

His eyes widened and he lost power only to regain it again. My words shocked him.

"Months, my king? It's been longer then months."

The way he paused infuriated me. "Then how long? A year? Two?"

"Not—not entirely."

He was obfuscating. I decided on a new line of questioning. "Did I know this fairy queen in that time?"

With this, Matax found his boldness. "No. You met for a moment, but I can say with all certainty that she did not know you as you wanted."

A derisive laugh left me. At least that was according to plan.

He drooped again but when he regained his balance, he need not say it; I sensed it as well.

"They're free. And they are coming."

"Then we should land—"

"No. I will land. They cannot follow me if my wings don't move. You, Matax, you will retrieve her husband and bring him to us." Before he could ask, I explained, "I'm heading to the fates. I must regain my memories and understand what else has happened in the time of my reincarnation. And I must do so quickly. Land."

His big eyes stared into me, but he obeyed my command and touched down in the snow first. Within minutes, he put the shield down and the fur with it.

Despite the clear orders given to him, he lingered for a time, gaze shifting from the sleeping princess then to me then back again.

I put her on the coat and caught hold of his shoulder before he could take flight.

"You should not need it, but I will remind you, it is twice now I've gifted you something with little to show for it. If you do not hold up your end or betray me in anyway...." I leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Not even your name will be left of you." The way he stiffened his shoulders satisfied my anger. "You have flight and you're traveling with power; surely you can reach the fates well before us. Go."

In no time, Matax was gone. For his sake, I prayed he was as smart as he was cunning. But as the shimmer of his wings faded, I still reeled.

What had I done? No wonder Manoj was angry. As I marched back to the shield and the princess resting in the fur coat, I cursed my former self.

"Moron! At least make certain they never escape if you planned on risking an enemy this powerful."

The princess still rested but she would keep.

As we hid in the night, I began to dig. I would cover us then remain dormant for a time. High above, the yellow glow of fairy wings spread out in all directions. Their hum, though once beautiful, now sounded like the deadliest of serenades.

In truth, that was a concern but not as much as the fact that Manoj had fed off the princess and she didn't awaken.

She must have slighted Manoj, too, and unless I understood how, it no longer mattered if we survived the night Fae, he would kill us instead.

Snow sailed above me. A day of sunlight had already crystallized it, but I kept on. Once the dirt came into view, I retrieved the shield, and the princess, then jumped down.

The noise came from the north, then the west, but I kept my eyes closed and touched the ground.

"Hear me, Manoj. I will fix this. You have my word. But release her. Release her so that we may serve you faithfully yet again. Whatever she's done, I will correct it. Of this, I swear. Release her."

Eons passed before the noisy night Fae moved on, searching for me in other dignified sanctuaries, no doubt. I did not move, not even a muscle. My body ached but my determination to prove my loyalty to Manoj paid off because the princess by my side roused.

With a flinch, she awakened and immediately crossed her arms.

"Cold," she complained.

That was the least of our worries.