Far below, the placid azure pools twinkled in the noonday sun, and the thick verdant forest of ancient oaks met the tall swaying grasses of meadow’s dotted with purple and white flowers. Syrena surveyed her kingdom—her father’s kingdom, she corrected—with pride. Surely no other realm was as beautiful, although those who remembered the stories of their forbearers claimed the heavens were. Since the Fae race had descended from six angels tossed from the celestial heights for interfering with the Mortals, Syrena supposed there must be some truth to their claims. But it mattered not. To her, nothing was as lovely as the Enchanted Isles. Tapping Bowen’s sleek, muscular hindquarters with her pink satin slippers, she directed him toward home. She couldn’t put it off any longer. At this very moment her father was ensconced in his throne room, choosing his successor. After a bloody battle in the Fae realm of the Far North over succession, the wizard Uscias insisted her father name the next in line.
