Page 4 of A Fate In Moonstone

“No.”

We walked in silence for another ten minutes before arriving at the Hallowstag’s edge. I flung my arms out wide showcasing Crysia in all her glory between the mountains. In all the kingdoms I’d been to, biased or not, my home was my favorite. The way the city was built with nature left me in awe every day of my thirty-three years of life.

“Well, this is it. Welcome to Crysia, the palace is that way. Um the—”

“Let’s get something to eat.”

I spun around and looked at Rune. Did I hear him correctly? With me talking his ear off, and him avoiding elaborating, I figured he’d be happy to escape me. Not spend more time together.

His head dipped low and lifted toward civilization. “We’re eating together. Lead the way.”

My arms crossed over my chest. “I don’t like being told what to do or people deciding things for me.”

I got enough of that. But something in the way he arched his eyebrow, daring me to deny that I wanted to go with him, warmed my blood.

We stood there with our gazes locked in a battle of wills.

Until my stomach growled and Rune smiled triumphantly.

I knew I had a choice, but there was only one I wanted to make.

“Fine, but I won’t be the only one talking, and you have to give me something good. No one or two word answers the whole time.”

Why, Sapphira?

It wasn’t like this was going to go anywhere outside the next few hours. After tonight, I’d be a claimed woman.

As we walked down the hill to the cobblestone path, I looked around my kingdom. Sure, there were the disgruntled folk here and there, but overall, we were one of the strongest and happiest kingdoms in the Fae realm.

My mother has kept the monsters out of the human realm and our city for hundreds of years. Even the evil King Verin hasn’t penetrated our territory since before I was born.

I wondered what it would be like to observe Crysia for the first time. My gaze darted to the male walking beside me.

Did he think the Crescent Sister Mountains behind the Hallowstags were beautiful? Or admire the way that our shops were carved from stone and trunks of massive trees with a roaring river behind them?

We weren’t as luxurious as other kingdoms with their gold furnishings or elaborate architecture. Crysians didn’t indulge in most of the modern technologies from the human world either.

Most of the citizens vowed to stay true to their cores and nature. We had magic and that was enough for us.

Light bouncing off the stained glass on the side of the palace caught our attention and I wanted to know what he was thinking. I opened my mouth to speak, but he filled the silence before me.

“Beautiful city. Have you lived here long?” he asked and I nodded, veering us toward my favorite bakery in the city.

“My whole life. It’s a beautiful place. Very peaceful.”

Hopefully marrying some prince from another land would keep it that way. It was mostly Father’s idea.

He knew I’d do the right thing for my people. Of course, if my future king happened to get eaten in the Hallowstags by some creature he didn’t know about, well that was out of my hands.

Shit happens.

My chest relaxed when I noticed the bakery was slow. Laura showed off her selection to one couple and that was it.

Maybe this whole getting engaged thing bothered me more than I was allowing myself to accept.

I sighed, wondering if I’d have the time to journal about my thoughts later. Probably not.

Rune watched me but didn’t say a word, he gestured for me to step through the carved archway first.