The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1) by Holly Black EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author Name: Holly Black
- Book Genre: Fae, Fairies, Fantasy, Young Adult
- ISBN # 9780316310277
- Date of Publication: 2018-1-2
- PDF File Size: 13 MB
- EPUB File Size: 17 MB
In Faerie, there are no fish sticks, no ketchup, no television.
I sit on a cushion as an imp braids my hair back from my face. The imp’s
fingers are long, her nails sharp. I wince. Her black eyes meet mine in the
claw-footed mirror on my dressing table.
“The tournament is still four nights away,” the creature says. Her name is
Tatterfell, and she’s a servant in Madoc’s household, stuck here until she
works off her debt to him. She’s cared for me since I was a child. It was
Tatterfell who smeared stinging faerie ointment over my eyes to give me True
Sight so that I could see through most glamours, who brushed the mud from
my boots, and who strung dried rowan berries for me to wear around my neck
so I might resist enchantments. She wiped my wet nose and reminded me to
wear my stockings inside out, so I’d never be led astray in the forest. “And no
matter how eager you are for it, you cannot make the moon set nor rise any
faster. Try to bring glory to the general’s household tonight by appearing as
comely as we can make you.”
I sigh.
She’s never had much patience with my peevishness. “It’s an honor to
dance with the High King’s Court under the hill.”
The servants are overfond of telling me how fortunate I am, a bastard
daughter of a faithless wife, a human without a drop of faerie blood, to be
treated like a trueborn child of Faerie. They tell Taryn much the same thing.
I know it’s an honor to be raised alongside the Gentry’s own children. A
terrifying honor, of which I will never be worthy.
It would be hard to forget it, with all the reminders I am given.
“Yes,” I say instead, because she is trying to be kind. “It’s great.”
Faeries can’t lie, so they tend to concentrate on words and ignore tone,
especially if they haven’t lived among humans. Tatterfell gives me an
approving nod, her eyes like two wet beads of jet, neither pupil nor iris
visible. “Perhaps someone will ask for your hand and you’ll be made a
permanent member of the High Court.”
“I want to win my place,” I tell her.
The imp pauses, hairpin between her fingers, probably considering
pricking me with it. “Don’t be foolish.”
There’s no point in arguing, no point to reminding her of my mother’s
disastrous marriage. There are two ways for mortals to become permanent
subjects of the Court: marrying into it or honing some great skill—in
metallurgy or lute playing or whatever. Not interested in the first, I have to
hope I can be talented enough for the second.
She finishes braiding my hair into an elaborate style that makes me look as
though I have horns. She dresses me in sapphire velvet. None of it disguises
what I am: human.
For More Read Download This Book
EPUB