The Dark Masquerade: The Royal Claiming

By S.A. McClure

Thirty women. Three competitions. One prince.

It's everything a fae girl could dream of. Everyone, that is, except for Adalina.

For Ada, being Chosen would mean giving up her right to rule the Court of Flames on her own. But, when the invitation letter arrives and her parents give her a choice between participating in the Claiming Ceremony or losing her place as the rightful heir, she must figure out a way to be eliminated from the competition without her parents noticing.

Escaping the competition with her title intact will be a trial in and of itself, but avoiding falling in love may prove to the greatest challenge of all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lunameed Publishing
• Release date: Feb 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781953853011

Book preview

Chapter One

Flames engulfed every inch of Adalinda’s body. Even her wings were ablaze as she steadily walked through the forest, burning out the old, dead remnants of plants long turned brown with age. This was where she felt most at home. The woods and the flames were her refuge. They were a part of her very essence. 

She stopped short of a fawn huddled beneath a cave ledge. Its eyes were solid black with terror as it pressed against the stone. She extinguished the flames around her hands and face. 

Go, she urged the yearling. Still, it remained locked in place. Fire reflected in its eyes.

Sighing heavily, she extinguished the rest of the flames on her body and gently scooped the fawn into her arms. It shuddered beneath her touch, but didn't squirm or try to break free from her grasp. Smoke created a haze around them as she turned around. The wildfire raging before them separated into two columns, leaving a clear path down its center. The baby deer cried as she carried it through the burning forest.

She crossed the stream dividing the woods into symmetrical sides. Lush, green underbrush, trees, and wildflowers blossomed before them. The fire still raged behind them and across the river, but here, the forest was untouched. The fawn moved its legs, ready to run. Nuzzling her face into its fur she pressed a small kiss on its forehead. She released it from her grasp, and it bounded away.

A small smile spread across her lips as she watched it frolic in the tall, unburned grass in the forest meadow not far from where she stood. Soon enough, she would have ultimate dominion over the woods in the Court of Flames. 

Adalinda! her mother called. Her voice carried across the winds. There were times when Ada wished her mother hadn't been born a member of the Court of Wings. At least then it would have been more difficult for her to find her.

She dashed to the place where she'd left her clothes and pulled them on. As a child, her father had taught her how to always have clothing options available following a burning. Everything that was not biologically part of her burned away if left on. The lightweight shirt and trousers were not the fashion her mother would have chosen for her, but they were comfortable and provided flexibility and ease of movement. The gold of her signet ring glistened in the sun as she pulled it onto her middle finger.

Absentmindedly, she rubbed her thumb across the sun engraved into the metal. This ring identified her as the heir to the Court of Flames. No one else but her father was allowed to wear the sigil. Her lips compressed into a thin line as her mother's voice yelled again.

If I have to come find you in the woods, you will regret it! Come quick, child! We've received a letter from the Royal Court!

Ada rolled her eyes at her mother's urgent tone. She acted as if engaging with the High Royals was the only way to find Ada a suitable mate. It didn't matter that she was allowed to rule the Court of Flame on her own if her father passed. She wouldn’t need a consort or eternal mate to be the legitimate heir. But that didn't change her mother's fretting.

She ran, barefoot, from the stream to the manor house. The distance wasn't far, and she loved the feel of the damp dirt beneath her feet and the luscious grass beneath her toes. This was her home and she couldn't imagine ever leaving it. 

Her mother rushed out of the house to greet her at the gate. She clutched a letter in her hand and waved it about as if it were the only thing in life that mattered. Inwardly, Ada groaned. Her mother was always overexaggerating the importance of letters she received from the Royal Court. Most of the time they just detailed the birth of another child or spoke of an eternal claiming.

"You've been selected!' her mother screamed. She thrust the paper in front of Ada's nose as if she would ever have been able to read it that close to her eyes. Ada squinted, going cross eyed as she attempted to read the note.

Selected for what? she asked as she snatched the paper from her mother's hands and began reading. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the tell-tale emblem of the Royal Claiming Ceremony. Her hands began trembling so badly, the paper slipped from her fingers and fluttered to the ground as she sucked in a deep breath. 

Careless child! her mother screeched as she knelt to pick it up. Do you have any idea what this means?

That you and Papa have finally decided that letting me be isn't enough. You want to ruin my life.

I really wish you would learn to see what an eternal claiming could mean for you from our perspective, my love, her mother said with a sigh. Your father and I have been...

You really don't get it, do you? she cut her mother off. She didn't need to wait for her mother's response. She already knew the answer. For her mother, never finding an eternal mate to share her life with was a fate worse than death. But, she didn’t want to mate with someone who wanted to change her. Or worse, make her leave her home.

She stormed past her mother.

Where's Papa? she asked. 

He went to tell your uncle that you've finally been selected.

Great. Her lips turned into a snarky smile. I guess everyone in town will know before nightfall.

I don't understand why you insist on being so difficult, her mother said with a huff. Haven't we always encouraged you to be who you are? We want you to be happy. But having someone who you can count on and love is part of that happiness. I know you don't see it yet, but it is.

"I'm sorry, Mother, but you're wrong. It doesn't have to be part of my plan. I have no interest in going through

Reviews for The Dark Masquerade

[Ashley Cooper · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Author gave away whole story by chapter 2 very disappointing