Prologue

Prologue: Leia (17 years ago)

On the day of my daughter's birth, time stops, and an invisible veil cloaks the town of Frost. Rows and rows of underworld beings, known as the Dark Children of the Forest, gather and line up to take her away from me. Neither my father nor husband can do much to protect her, as after all, this is all my fault, and we are bound by a pact that I didn't fulfill.

“She is just a baby!” I cry, clutching her close to my chest. She keeps on crying, too, as if she already knows the horrible fate that awaits her. Her wails echo throughout the hospital, reaching no one but us—the Children of the Forest.

“Darling, if you hadn’t been so selfish, then you wouldn’t have your precious little daughter as an exchange for you,” a young demon says, stepping forward from the ranks of the evil armies that have invaded the town hospital. He has coal-black wings and irises as dark and threatening as his wings. I recognize him as the right hand of the Dark King, the Commander amongst the Dark Children of the Forest.

“Please, maybe we can do something,” my father says.

“If you had done your job as a father and disciplined your slut of a daughter, then this wouldn’t be happening. You cannot bend the rules of the Forest just because you’re the king of your sweet little lot,” he snaps. “Give her to us if you don’t want any bloodshed with the mortals in this place.”

My father grits his teeth, fuming, and I subtly shake my head to warn him not to do anything.

“Please, not today. My wife is still in pain from giving birth. Please don’t do this today,” Gareth says, standing between the hospital bed where I lie and the young demon.

“The audacity of you, Watcher. We trusted you with our lot. We followed the rules of the mortals for centuries, and you’ve done this to us? We never harmed your women and children and only attacked those we were allowed to attack, even if other bloods sang to us. And who is breaking the rules now, Watcher?” The young demon spits on the floor. “You get what was ours, and we will take back what is ours. You can keep your wife, for all we care. Your daughter is now ours.”

Aunt May, Gareth’s grandaunt, who is standing beside me, speaks. “Please, for the sake of old times, let us have the child for a little while. One week, at least. I’ll give you the authority over the Watcher’s House in return.”

“Aunt May!” Gareth spins around, bewildered. “You cannot do that.” 

“I can and I will,” Aunt May seethes. “Do you care more about that House’s legacy now than your daughter?”

Gareth stops speaking.

The young demon seems pleased with the suggestion. “We’ve wanted that House for so long, but do you think you can trick us?” 

“No. No tricks.” Aunt May shakes her head.

The young demon raises his eyebrow. “Three days, then, not one week,” he says. “Three days, then we will come back, and we will take the new princess and the House. Avoid any trickery if you do not want to start a war.”

“Yes. We understand,” Aunt May says.

The young demon takes a step forward to me. 

“What are you doing?” Gareth blocks his way.

“We do not trust any of the Watchers’ words anymore. Even the Watchers’ witch.” The young demon glances quickly to May, then back to Gareth. “Surely it will not hurt if we make a claim on her today since she is ours by right, lest you lot trick us again and run away with our princess.” The young demon looks at each one of us, his eyes challenging us to react, and his hand is poised on the hilt of the sword sheathed on his hip. 

When none of us move, and only my daughter’s wails can be heard, he strides to the side of my bed, pushing Gareth away. I squirm and try to cover my daughter with my arms and body, but the young demon shoves me back and pins me down. All this time, my daughter is still wailing and bawling in my arms. The young demon ignores her cries. He dips his head, his lips brushing my baby’s forehead for a moment, and then his mouth starts to move, whispering an incantation that’s barely audible. A circular, golden mark appears on her forehead, then vanishes quickly as it appears. 

She stops crying for the first time and stares curiously at the eyes of the young demon, her little hands reaching for his face.

The young demon reaches for her hand in return. “Sleep,” he whispers to her.

She coos, smiles, and yawns, her eyes closing from the sudden drowsiness. The young demon looks amused. He cocks his head—observing her for a little while until she falls asleep—before he motions for his armies to retreat.

“We will be back.” 

The young demon and his armies are gone in an instant. The veil begins to lift, and the quiet hospital beeps again with noise. The whines of the patients and shouts from the doctors return—the mortals of Frost awakening from the spell—while my daughter slumbers peacefully, unaware of what the future holds for her.

...* * *...

“Take a rest,” Gareth whispers. He tries to take the baby away from me, but I will not let him. I will not let her go even for a moment. I know he just wants me to sleep, but how can I? How can I, when I know my baby will be taken away from me? How can I, when I know all of this is my fault? How can I even sleep after all this? 

Gareth stands beside me patiently until I look up at him. His face is etched with pain, pity, and understanding. At that moment, I know he’s having as hard a time as I am.

“I will just be outside,” he says, leaning to kiss my head. The others have already stepped out of the room and I hadn’t even noticed them leave. 

When the door closes, I shut my eyes. Guilt and pain course through every part of my being.

My name is Leia, and I am the only daughter of the King of the Fae. 

My grim fate started when the most powerful demon of the Forest—the Dark King—took an interest in me. The Dark King asked my father for my hand, and my father agreed, thinking that the union of the most powerful light and dark forces would bring nothing but goodness and harmony to the Children of the Forest. 

The arrangement was all fine with me, as I was young and naïve, and I’d always wanted to be a princess that did her duties for the kingdom... until I fell in love. 

I fell in love at first sight with Gareth, a mortal. He often visited the Forest together with his grandaunt May, who was the Watcher of my father’s generation. The Watchers are a group of mortal humans given extraordinarily long lives, protection, knowledge, power, and understanding of the secret mysteries of the universe. They are bound to serve as intermediaries and arbitrators between the mortals and the Children of the Forest. I soon learned that Gareth was being trained as a Watcher, and May introduced him one by one to the Children of the Forest.

The Fae Kingdom was the first he was introduced to as we were deemed the friendliest with mortals, and I remembered thanking the Heavens for that. Because what if he was introduced first to the water nymphs and mermaids? Or the vampires and shape-shifters? They could all mesmerize and enchant him before he could even say hello.

Before long, Gareth and I became friends, then more than friends. When Gareth learned about my betrothal to the Dark King, he secretly took me away from the Forest, and we married in front of a judge in a little town named Frost.

I was young then, and all I thought about was living happily ever after in the arms of the one I loved. I didn’t think of the gravity of my actions, of marrying Gareth, of running away from the Forest, and of breaking the marriage pact with the Dark King. 

I never knew that the fate I ran away from would be passed on to my first-born daughter.

...* * *...

I must have fallen asleep, because when I open my eyes, I feel a familiar presence in the room. True enough, the young demon is sitting on a couch near the window, staring at me with intensity. A rush of panic washes over me. I quickly glance to check if I’m still holding my baby, and I sigh with relief when I see she’s still sleeping peacefully in my arms.

I look back at the demon. He looks younger than I do. In a mortal’s eyes, they’d say he’s around eighteen or nineteen, while I’d be around twenty-one. But I know better. He’s a century old, and I’m older than him by another century and a half, not that age exists or really matters to the Children of the Forest more than blood and power.

When he meets my gaze, I realize he isn’t really staring at me. He is staring at my daughter.

“You promised,” I say.

“I did, and unlike you, I know how to keep my word,” he says, smirking.

“Then why are you here?” I ask, trying my best to keep my voice steady.

The arrogance on his face quickly fades and he turns serious, his eyes boring into me. 

“I—” His voice falters. He runs his hand through his hair, a hint of frustration on his face. He looks lost.

It can’t be. My eyes widen as realization dawns on me. “It was your first,” I whisper, fear and disbelief taking over me. 

“First what?” He stands, eyebrows furrowing.

“Don’t get any closer to us.” I clutch my baby tighter. “Or I’ll shout.” 

He sneers but sits back again on the couch. “You know I can take her away from you before you can even open your mouth.” He taps his foot on the floor. “What did you mean just a little while ago?”

I hesitate. 

“I’m waiting, fairy.” 

“Was it your first?”

“First what?” 

“First kiss.” 

He shoots me a glare that I swear would kill a mortal. 

“I don’t understand.”

“When you kissed her, and you said the spell or whatever incantation that was, was it your first?”

“I still don’t understand, fairy.”

“Was it?” I press on.

He runs his hand through his hair again. “Yes. So what?”

I take a deep breath, not knowing what I should feel about this. “Why… why did you fall?”

“Damn it, fairy. I’m not here for your damn questions.”

“You’re here for my daughter.”

“Obviously.”

I close my eyes for a moment, trying to clear away my emotions. Unbelievable. How can he not know the power and limitations of his own kin?

When I glance back at him, confusion and worry are etched on his face. “Did I do something wrong?”

I shake my head, then nod. “No, I mean, it’s not like that. I mean…” Should I even tell him?

“Damn it, just spill it.”

“Everyone knew this…” I begin.

“Apparently, I don’t.”

“A demon’s first kiss is like a curse, a powerful everlasting curse, but a reverse one.” I pause, trying to gauge his feelings. He doesn’t seem to understand even a bit of what I said, so I continue, “It will imprint the demon to whoever he gave the first kiss, not the other way around.”

His eyes widen, horrified, and confused.

“There have been some rare cases too, that the one kissed will still reciprocate the imprint.”

“What kind of **** is that?” He rises and paces back and forth.

I shrug. “None of the Children really know how it all began. Originally, a demon’s kiss—whether first or not—was a weapon of your kin to put anyone you’ve kissed under your spell. I guess some of your first kin abused this power and angered some powerful witches or other Children of the Forest, who cursed every demon’s first kiss to be reversed. In time, newly created demons just learned not to use that power.” 

He rakes his hand through his hair. “Great, so someone could just sneak around us while we sleep and kiss us, then great goodness, we’re under manipulation.”

“No. It doesn’t work like that. The kiss must be willingly given by your kin. It isn’t even required to be on the lips, like what you did. Shockingly, the creator of the curse still respected a demon’s free will in that sense. I think that’s better than when your kin held all the power of the kiss.”  

He glares at me and I shut my mouth.

Suddenly, the door opens and Gareth peeks in. 

“Is everything all right? I heard noises.” He must have seen the shocked look on my face because he enters quickly, glancing around the room.

I stare back at where the young demon had been. He’s gone. 

I know he will be back for her. The curse will be too strong for him to resist, and it will never fail to have a power over him. 

I gaze at my daughter, still sleeping, hope blooming in my chest. She will have power over him.

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