Page 28 of Fae Unleashed
Shit.
Taliesin had arrived. His lips curled when he cornered Cerri in the kitchen. I moved to intervene, but Cerri held her ground, put on a vicious grin, and looked up at Tal. For a moment, the man didn’t know what to do in the face of a confident woman.
Perhaps that was why he preferred men, but that wasn’t for me to dwell on.
I stood back and waited to hear this argument out. If it tilted too far in Tal’s favor, I would step in. However, I got the feeling that my princess could put Tal in his place.
We’d watched Cerri effortlessly take Lady Ostara’s domain as her own. Cerri was coming into her power, a force that would drown Tal’s arcana someday. Hopefully he knew that his time was limited—not in a menacing way, but the command he had here couldn’t last forever.
Of course, we needed him as an ally, but doing things his way wasn’t working. Ostara had spurned Cerri without a second thought. Did we really think that Foxglove was going to be any different? We needed the small fae, and Tal knew it.
“What have you done?” Tal hissed in a sharp whisper.
Cerri tilted her head to the side as if in question despite the knowing look in her eyes and upward curl at the corners of her mouth. “What do you mean?”
Tal sputtered. The man was left wordless in the face of Cerri’s pointed question. When he turned his gaze on the small fae in the room to bring attention to them, Cerri continued her act. She wouldn’t let Tal move forward unless he said the words he was avoiding speaking out loud.
“Are you going to treat them like everyone else?” She pushed closer and got in his face all while keeping her tone kind. “Are you going to tell them that they don’t deserve the same as you and I do?”
Tal’s jaw clenched. All eyes were on him now. The dryads in the corner were leaning into one another, whispering softly. The redcaps stopped their loud eating and watched Tal with blood dripping down their faces. Tal blanched at the sight of them.
“Let’s take this conversation outside,” Cerri suggested, throwing down the towel and leading the way out to the roof.
I followed on my princess’s heels and gave Tal a smirk as I passed. It wasn’t that I disliked the man. In fact, I hoped this would be a learning lesson for him. The fae behind us deserved everything that he deserved.
Outside, out of earshot of the small fae, Cerri blew up on Tal.
She flung her arms wide. “Why is this such a problem to you? I don’t get why you’re acting like this is a bad thing!”
Tal rocked back on his heels. He pressed his lips together, and I shot him a look to tell him to carefully consider his next words. Of course, he sneered back at me. I was nothing but a knight while Tal leaned on his time as a noble fae in the Seelie Court.
“Your alliance with them will make your own people think twice about following you,” Tal warned.
He was right, even if it didn’t feel like it.
Cerri shrugged him off. “Then I don’t want them to follow me. I’ll do what I can to save them. I was there. I saw the Seelie still trapped in Beryl’s domain. I’m going to get them out and tell them that they can do whatever they want with their life. They don’t have to bow to me.”
“What is a queen without a court? You will need people to rule if you’re going to be queen. Your court can’t be all monsters, or else you’re just going to be Beryl the second.”
The ground rumbled when Cerri gaped at the man. “Say that again? You remember what that woman did to you, right? You remember how Rhoan left me alone and unguarded to go save your ass.Right?And you think my kindness to the fae in my apartment is the same?”
Tal blanked. His eyes went wide. He stared at the ground while the gears in his head started to smoke and fizzle. When he spun, I thought he would walk away from the conversation. Instead, he flopped down in Cerri’s rooftop lawn chair and went limp.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched reality slap Tal right across the face. He looked up and gave Cerri a queer look for a long moment.
“Shit,” he said, finally.
Again, I laughed. The sound bellowed far and wide. The small fae inside probably heard me. I didn’t care. Tal had insulted them and Cerri. They deserved to know that I was laughing at Tal’s expense.
“You dug yourself a hole,” I told the man.
He chuckled nervously. “Care to lend a man a hand?”
“Nope. I want to watch you climb out of your own grave.”
Cerri sighed and pinched her nose. “I didn’t get enough sleep for this. I need you all to respect me more, or else this isn’t going to work.”
I put my hands up and stepped back.
