He then tugs at my dress… if you can call it that. It's a shapeless canvas thing that used to be white but is now so stained you can hardly tell. It has long sleeves and falls to my ankles, covering most of my body. Covering the tattoos that formed when I became the Midnight Star.

I know what's about to happen, and I close my eyes, the tears stuck in my throat. I take a breath and steel myself for what he's about to do as hate and anger grow in me.

I feel the prick of a knife against the skin of my back as he cuts into the cloth. I hear someone—Marco, I think—suck in his breath in shock, but no one does anything to stop Levi.

And then I am naked, the dress a crumble of rags at my feet. Levi shoves me forward again, parading me before the crowd as he shows them the tattoos that definitively prove I am of Royal Fae blood.

"She is the reason we are at war," Levi shouts to the crowd. "Look at her. She is the reason your loved ones are dead or injured. She is the reason the Druids are back. She betrayed you. Us. Our world. She used your love for her to destroy you. She is no Queen. She is no friend to our people. And at sunrise, she will pay for her sins with her life."

His hands are still on me, taking liberty to touch me anywhere he wants, to move me around like a puppet master. I have to open my eyes because he forces me to walk through the crowds as the people reach out to hit and scratch and grope my naked body. I want to hide, to cover my face, but instead I force myself to look into the eyes of as many of them as possible. Each person who touches me. Each person who cheers at my abuse. I stare at them. I challenge them the only way I can. They spit on me and throw rotten fruit at me, and still I look. Still I hold their gaze and make them see me.

Many turn their eyes at that. Many still have some conscience left. Some do not. Some laugh and gloat and my challenge goads them on further. They are lost to their hate.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of people, and Levi seems determined that every single one of them will have a chance to defile my body. My bare feet are bruised and bleeding from the rocks I'm forced to walk over. My body hasn't fared much better.

When one man tries to put his hands where they don't belong, I knee him in the crotch. Levi backhands me, and I fall to the ground. "See how she does not submit to her punishment? How she thinks she is better than you?"

He leans down and grips my arm, then speaks to me quietly, so that only I can hear. "This can go on as long as I want. This can get worse too. I could let the men do what they clearly want to do. Throw you into a room with the worst of them until they are done."

I shudder, and he laughs.

"Or… there is another way. I can end it all. I can save your life, and the life of Fen—even the life of your pathetic human mother. I can make you Queen and give you back all your luxuries and dignity. Which is it, Princess?"

I look up at him, wondering what game he's playing at, and he smiles.

"Marry me. Choose me as the next King, and I will drop all the charges against you. I will make this whole thing go away. Like it never happened. You’ll get to be my obedient queen, and Fen will live to see another day."

So this has been his plan all along. I can't say I'm surprised. But he played his cards well, putting me in this hell and then making me choose. "What if I pick a different prince? Maybe one of the others would like this same deal."

His face hardens. "I control the people now. I control your fate. I am the only one with enough power to offer you freedom."

I need to buy time, but I can't outright say no. I believe his threats. The crowds have changed in the hours we've been out here. As the sun dies down, the women and children have begun to disperse. Now it is the hardest of men who have stayed. They want what Levi is promising. I can't let that happen. I'm not sure I'd live through it.

"Give me time to think. I can't think out here like this."

He pauses, considering my words. "Very well, Princess. I'll give you time. But if you haven't made up your mind by midnight, these men will enjoy a few hours with you before sunrise." He licks his lips and stares at me with a lascivious look in his eyes. "And I'll be taking the first turn."

Chapter 2

PASSAGES

"Her blood pumps through my veins, like fire and ice. I am not a man accustomed to fear, but I feel it now, filling me with its poison of doubt. What have they done with her? What will they do? What if I never see her again?"

—Fenris Vane

Levi sticks a stone into my hand and commands Marco to take me back to my cell. "You have my mark, Princess. Use it before it's too late."

I look down at the stone and see his demon mark painted onto it in black. Marco places a hand on my back and draws his sword, keeping the crowds at a distance as he guides me to the castle. When we've walked far enough to avoid detection from Levi and the crowds, Marco takes off his red cloak and drapes it around my shoulders. "I'm sorry, Princess. You didn't deserve that."

His voice is cracked and full of emotion. I can only imagine what he's going through right now. How torn he must feel. I thank him for the cloak and pull it more tightly around me, covering my nakedness and bruises and cuts as he leads me back to my cell.

My eyes adjust to the darkness again, and I stand leaning against the bars of my cage staring at the stone in my hand. If I accept Levi’s offer, I will live. Fen will live. He won’t be free, but he’ll live. And my mother… my mother will live. I’d have fulfilled my contract, and her soul would be free, her body healed.