Nightwild Rising

Today, I get to hunt a fae.

I’ve been awake for hours, lying here watching the light creep across the ceiling, too restless to sleep any longer. Nella will scold me for the shadows under my eyes, but I don’t care. I’ve waited weeks for this, and now that the day is finally here, I can barely keep still.

I push back the covers and swing my legs out of bed. Clothes have already been laid out for me—leather breeches, a fitted tunic, and boots that have been broken in on a dozen rides through the royal forests.

Practical clothes for moving through the woods, not the silks and velvets I have to wear at court.

There’s a knock at the door, and Nella slips in before I can answer.

“You’re awake!” She sounds suspicious. “You’re never awake before dawn.”

“I’m excited.” I can’t hold back my grin.

“You were excited for the summer hunt last year, and I still had to drag you out of bed.” She pulls back the curtains, and gray morning light floods the room. “You must be very excited.”

I am. My sister got a ball for her twenty-first birthday. Three days of dancing and flowers and an endless parade of eligible lords fawning over her. Exactly what Merina wanted, and something that would bore me to tears. Our father knows me better than that.

Today, I get a fae!