The High Mountain Court (Five Crowns of Okrith #1)

by A.K. Mulford

Remy felt like she had been sleeping for thirteen years, only to be awoken into a panicked run. All her patience flew from her body. She was desperate to get back to the red witches.

Though the witch covens shared some magic in common, each possessed their own unique powers too. The blue witches had the gift of Sight, the green witches made delicious food and gardens grow, the red witches could animate objects, and the brown witches were healers and expert foragers.

Fated love was another fae magic, the rarest magic of all. Some fae souls intertwined long before their lives even began. Their Fated magic was so strong that the bond was sometimes detectable even while they were still in the womb. Many of the richest fae families paid blue witch oracles to predict their children’s Fated. Others were superstitious and believed it was bad luck to know, but Fated love was undeniable.

He had said her name again, the second time in a matter of seconds. She didn’t know what that meant, that new familiarity. It cracked her open in a way that she despised. Why did he have to speak to her like a friend and treat her like an enemy? One day she would see the ocean. One day she’d feel as mighty as those giant waves. The full moon followed her along the trail as she swallowed the tears threatening to destroy her.

It had been a crazy, exciting act . . . but it had been an act and that part still stung. What she would give for this to be their lives. For the fae to want to be her friend. For the prince to want to kiss her in the moonlit gardens.

This was a game, she reminded herself. It was a game with no happy ending. But she wanted to keep playing it anyway, consequences be damned, because to be in his orbit felt so good. She needed to wise up if she was going to survive this.

“The ring is a good prize, but if the choice was between her and immortality, I’d choose her every time.” Hale’s voice shook from his chest, making every hair on Remy’s arm stand on end. “Wow, she must be some—” Delta started and Abalina shot her a look. “. . . witch,” she finished. He’d choose her. Every time. Even if it was all a ruse, the thought made Remy’s whole body shudder.

Remy couldn’t help but smile as she bent her head back and trailed kisses along the prince’s collarbone. This is what she had lain awake at night longing for. She had wanted it for longer than she would admit, and this ruse permitted her to do whatever she pleased. She let her arms casually rove his body, feeling the hard muscles of his arms, shoulders, chest in slow sweeps.

Remy knew then that she never had a choice. She would hold on to life just to wipe his tears away. That is how much she loved him. “Good luck to you, Little Sparrow,” Baba Morganna said, knowing Remy had made her decision. “Make sure you cast as many stones into that water before you go, so you may watch those ripples for centuries to come.”

The thought was a glimmer of light in Remy, a whisper of “I wish it were me,” a wish she could never acknowledge even in her own mind. But she had hoped she was his Fated all this time.

Safe. She had never felt safe in the past thirteen years. She knew she wasn’t safe from the world, even now. But being in Hale’s arms, feeling that warmth and love radiating into her from every angle, it was the closest she had ever felt to safe.