Page 101 of A Dance with the Fae Prince (Married to Magic 2)
Chapter 28
I am awake wellbefore the dawn, so I get to watch sunlight creep across the room and warm Davien’s cheeks. We’re bundled tightly in the blankets and each other’s arms, warded against the chill. I slept harder than I have in a long time and woke with the thin sheen of bliss still coating me from last night’s affairs.
But rather than going back into that deep and dreamless rest, I chose to stay awake so that I could imprint this image of him onto my memory. This is our first and only morning together. It is likely the only morning I will ever wake up in a man’s arms. Even if Davien is right and love is not the wicked poison that was fed to me by Joyce, I still don’t think I will ever seek it out.
Partly because I’m still afraid of falling in love. But now, also, because I will never find a man who knows me as Davien has come to know me. Who sees me for all I am and wants me despite my scars. Who makes me smile with his sheer existence in an utterly illogical, impossible, and yet wonderful way.
He stirs and I can feel the peaceful spell that had been woven over us unraveling. Soon, we will get up. There’ll be clothes, and breakfast, and planning of rituals. I will give the magic that I’ve been carrying to him. And then the only way I will exist in this world is in the memory of a fae king.
Davien’s eyes crack open. He blinks sleepily, and then turns his head to face me. “Good morning,” he mumbles, rubbing his nose against mine before giving me a peck on the lips.
“Good morning,” I echo with a smile.
“How did you sleep?”
“Fantastic, and you?”
“Best sleep of my life.” I feel his muscles tense as he stretches. The sensation fills my hollow and aching core with a desire that I’m still far too spent to indulge again. “I’m beginning to think that the old folk tales about the fae were more accurate than I previously assumed.”
“Oh?”
“If I had known that stealing a human and spiriting her away to my world would fill me with such joy and give me the best sleep of my life, I would’ve done it much sooner.”
My laughter echoes off the rafters above us. “If you had stolen away any other human she would’ve been dead.”
He purses his lips. “Then perhaps I am finding myself more grateful than I previously thought possible that you stole my magic.”
“And now I need to give it back.” I begin to untangle myself from him but as I go to sit up, his arms circle me. He latches on, pulling me back to him. He curls around me, my back against his chest. We fit together perfectly in every way imaginable.
“A little bit longer,” he whispers. “I want to remember everything about this morning.”
“I am helpless to deny you,” I murmur. The notion still terrifies me. But I suppose I don’t have to come to terms too much with this love since we will be in different worlds soon enough. That’s certainly one way to protect myself from becoming too involved.
“Good, then I have you right where I want—What’s this? I didn’t notice it in the darkness last night.” His thought turns into a whisper and I feel his finger press into my back. I wince and draw a shuddering breath. “Katria?”
“I… It was a long time ago.”
“If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.” He must hear the pain in my voice.
I am well and truly hopeless for this man, because I say, “I want to. It was a long time ago…before Laura, my youngest sister, was born. Helen had been relentless that day and I fled to the rooftop.” In my mind, I’m six years old. Joyce and Helen have just come into my life. “Helen chased me to the edge of the rooftop. She kept pushing and pushing. She wouldn’t stop. The edge of the roof came so fast and we both went over. I remember seeing her falling ahead of me. Then, somehow, I caught up to her. My arms around her, we landed hard on the walkway that stretched around the manor. My back to the stone, her on top of me.”
The scent of burning flesh fills my nose and I cringe. “Everything after that was a blur. I was in shock, I think… But my back was so damaged the wound had to be cauterized. Joyce did it with an iron shovel from a set of fireplace tools.”
That day was the closest I ever saw her to being worried for me. The entire time, she looked horrified, scared even. And yet, over and over, I can still hear her whispers, monster, monstrous creature, as my father looked on helplessly. You are lucky you have me, she told him, lucky I can handle this.
“After I healed, I was never allowed on the roof, or anywhere high up, again. Joyce hated me more after that. I think she resented me for almost getting Helen killed.” She began her long process of sending my father away more and more not long after…and I became relegated to the servant’s quarters like the monster I was.
“It wasn’t your fault.” He sighs, running his fingers over the scars. “I wish I had magic enough to take every pain you have endured so that you would never have to suffer them again.”
“Well, if my family loved me more—properly—they wouldn’t have sold me off to be with you so easily.” I lace my fingers with his.
“That isn’t an excuse in the slightest.”
“I know. But I’m finding it makes me feel better that you are my silver lining.”
“Then I’m happy I can help,” he murmurs and shifts closer.
We lie together for as long as we can. But the dawn is as relentless as our duty to all of the fae folk. Eventually, his arms relax, and we both know that we have procrastinated long enough.
