Page 5 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

I gathered all my papers and shoved my extra clothes into the knapsack, then stepped out of the tent. A soon as I did so, it disappeared from behind me. Grimacing, I hoped that I hadn’t forgotten anything. It seemed that the fae weren’t fans of dilly-dallying. All around me, the other tents were slowly blinking out one by one as more people filled the field.

I joined the slow flow of the crowd, and as I got closer to the front of the field, I saw the magnificent blue tent was the only one still up. And beyond it was the gates.

Fog still rolled in from either side, but a set of wrought-iron gates had been opened. Except, were they iron? I’d heard stories that iron was dangerous to the fae. I’d dismissed it—because how could it be true?—but their shapeshifting was likely real.

Those thoughts were quickly driven away when I looked beyond the intricate, tall gates. The building ahead was the grandest I’d ever seen. It was a gothic-style building, made from some sort of jet-black stone that gleamed in the rising sun. Four turrets rose at the four corners, each one capped with a scrolling silver design. Ivy grew up along the front, and even it was in artfully decorative swirls and spirals. Every window was an intricate stained-glass picture.

Beyond the sheer beauty of the building, the size also astounded me. The orphanage contained over fifty rooms, and it would be dwarfed by this building. I quickly counted the windows winding up the side. Thirteen. So it had thirteen floors? My legs ached with the thought of having to climb all those flights.

Once more, I was struck by how much I didn’t belong here. A shiver traced down my spine and a sick feeling swirled in my gut. All around me, the aura from the fae was a physical force pressing in on me. How did they not sense that I wasn’t one of them? None of them gave me a second look. Maybe there were other humans here? Maybe we were kept as servants for the students?

But the papers the robed figure gave me claimed I had fae heritage. The welcome pack I’d found in my tent indicated I was a student myself.

I was so overwhelmed by the building, the crush of fae around me, and my own racing thoughts that I stopped paying attention to the people surrounding me.

“Get out of my way,” snapped a silky voice. Hands shoved me and I pitched to the side.

As I stumbled to catch my balance, I caught a glimpse of the woman who pushed me. I was instantly entranced. She was simply the most stunning person I’d ever seen. Sleek red hair fell in waves and curls down to her waist, and her willowy figure moved with an ethereal grace. Beside her was a young woman with hair that was golden blond, and no doubt would be beautiful if not for the goddess-like figure beside her.

Neither of them spared me a look. People kept knocking into me, annoyedly pushing me as I scrambled to rejoin the flow and not get knocked down. With the crowd as it was, I had no doubt I’d get trampled to death if I fell.

I caught one person looking and was instantly too stunned to remember what I was doing. It was a man so goddamn beautiful that time pretty nearly stopped as I stared back at him. If the redhead had stunned me with her beauty, this man completely left me brainless.

His face was exquisitely carved with sharp cheekbones and a square jaw. Scars raked down the side of his face, but they somehow only made him look all the more enticing. His golden-brown hair fell into his icy blue eyes. Normally I liked guys to be tanner than he was. He was even paler than I was. The aura that pulsed off him sent shivers down my spine.

Then I pitched backward. He was lost in the crowd as I fell. Bodies pushed me this way and that, and when I was on the ground, they started to walk right on top of me. I struggled to roll out of the way, but nobody seemed to care.

“Hey, back off!” a female voice snapped above me.

A brief space opened up in the crush of bodies, and someone jerked me to my feet. My head spun as whoever it was put an arm around me and dragged me through the flow until we got to the edges. By that time, my legs were shaking badly. Points of pain flared over my body where I’d been trampled. As the shock faded from my body, my heartbeat increased.

“They were just going to trample me,” I mumbled in shock. I’d thought that they might, but I hadn’t really thought that…

But they didn’t care. A shudder rolled down my spine as I shrank back, fighting the nausea that ran through me. I was used to Kili targeting me, but the sheer disinterest of these fae as they trampled me made me wish I was back at the orphanage. It was far too early in all of this to start having this regrets!

“Here. Have some water,” the young woman at my side said.

I glanced over to her. “Th-thanks.”

She, too, was beautiful, though not as lovely as the redhead or her friend. Nothing compared to the scarred man. Another shiver shook me as I thought of his utterly blank look as I’d fallen to the ground. He could have reached out to steady me but couldn’t be bothered to do so.

I shook it off and focused on the woman again. She appeared to be my age, with frizzy curls that she had pulled into a ponytail. Dark eyes watched me worriedly. Freckles dusted her nose and cheeks, giving her a look that pushed her a little more toward cute than stunningly beautiful. I couldn’t help but think if she’d ever gone to the orphanage, everyone who had the slightest attraction to women would have fallen over themselves for her attention.

Especially when she smiled. It was sunny and warm, which caught me off guard. So far not a single fae had worn a look other than superiority and disdain. But her smile was welcoming.

“Are you alright?” she asked, one hand still on my arm.

I tested my strength. My legs had stopped shaking. “Yeah. I’m okay. I think you saved my life.”

“Probably,” she agreed. She offered her hand to shake. “My name’s Freta of Court Alegro.”

The man last night had said something about Court Alegro. “You had that really fancy tent.”

She laughed, sounding embarrassed. “Ostentatious, isn’t it? I don’t know why my parents insisted on something like that. In the Binding Academy, Court Alegro doesn’t hold any special pull.”

“It has enough pull to pull me off the ground instead of being trampled,” I cracked, but Freta only looked confused. I sighed. “I’m Azriel. Thank you for that.”

“I saw Flora push you. You’ll want to make sure you stay out of her way.”