Page 28 of Fae's Mate
“I understand,” the Keeper nods. “I will speak to the folk as they enter the hall. None shall ask for too much.”
“You have my thanks.”
I bob my head, then stand.
“I am keen to begin, as I am sure the fae of Nandra are keen to be heard. The sooner we begin, the better.”
“As you wish, High Lord.”
The Keeper rises too and leads me through a door that adjoins his cottage to the Great Hall, and we prepare for the audience. It is a simple setup, with a table placed between me and the townsfolk, with space beside me for a scribe, who will document the requests and the promises I make.
I will give what I can, but that isn’t much. Worry roils through me as I try to anticipate what aid will be requested. I have prayed to the Fates countless times to help me lift the suffering of my court, for it to flourish once more. I know of only one way to do it, only one way to return magic to the land in abundance. But I won’t ask. I won’t ask my mate to help save my people.
Chapter 21
Seki
It took me all of an hour to calm down after screaming at the High Lord. It took me another hour to summon the courage to return to his office and ask the plethora of questions that circled my thoughts mercilessly.
Only, when I returned, he wasn’t there.
When he didn’t appear at dinner later that evening, or at breakfast the following day, I sought one of his guards. Knowing how fae feel about questions, I instead simply told him I wished to see the High Lord.
“He’s not here.” The guard told me rather abruptly.
“Well then, I wish to know where he is.”
“Nandra, dealing with court matters.”
That was three days ago.
Alana found Nandra on the map, having kept a pile of the books she deemed ‘useful’. From the looks of it, the village is closer than the Summer Court palace, and the High Lord said that took three days to reach… so he may have only just arrived there. Which means he isn’t likely to return any time soon. I sigh. After finally plucking up enough courage to ask him, I was all geared up to get to the bottom of the whole mates thing, and he vanished. I mean, I did tell him I didn’t want to see him until he was ready to send me home, but that’s beside the point.
“You’re moping,” Alana teases.
We’re sat in the library, again. But it’s just us. The others in our group seem to have paired up. Alex and Yasmin are always together, usually in the gardens, signing away to each other. While Amber and Riley tend to stay in their room. The longer it goes on, the longer I suspect Alana may be right and they are hooking up.
“I’m not moping, I’m just impatient.”
She giggles and returns to her book.
“Found anything?” I ask.
“No… not on mates, anyway. I’ve been looking into magic too, trying to see how it’s conjured, where it comes from, things like that, but the fae are as secretive about their magic as they are their names by the looks of it.”
I raise an eyebrow, my curiosity piqued.
“From what I can tell, all high born fae get some sort of magic. It lays dormant until they come of age at twenty, but even then, they rarely tell anyone. Sometimes a High Lord will declare his magic, so his court knows what type of magic he possesses, but… the others don’t,” she explains.
“Hmm.”
“What do you supposeourHigh Lord’s magic is?”
“Umm…”
Alana’s jaw drops. “You know! Don’t you?”
“Yeah… I don’t know if I should tell you. I mean, you just said they kind of keep it a secret.”
