Page 32 of Fae Unleashed
I pried myself from the floor and jogged to catch up to the big fae warrior filling the door. He didn’t offer me his hand, so I took it anyway. I raised my arcana and stepped in-between before he could even think.
We tumbled back into my living room right in front of Tal who was standing with his hands spread wide and a question on his face. I tripped and landed on my knees. Laughter erupted out of me.
The reality of what I’d done slammed into me and filled me with an elation that chased away the frustration I’d felt only moments ago. Sure, maybe Rhoan was still playing hard to get, but I’d done something amazing.
“She took part of the castle back,” Rhoan said with disbelief.
Tal cocked his head. His brows crashed together. “Excuse me?”
“You heard him.” I couldn’t keep the excited laughter from my voice. “Part of the Seelie Castle is mine! I took it back from Beryl somehow.”
Tal’s face lit up. He bent and pulled me back onto my feet before dancing around the room with me in his arms.
When we stopped, Tal held onto my hands. He looked me in the eye and said, “This is great!”
“How did she do it? What does this mean?” Rhoan made his way over to the kitchen island that they’d turned into a battle station while I’d been gone.
Tal slung an arm over my shoulder. “This means that the castle recognizes her as the true heir. It’s trying to return to her.”
I cut Tal a glare. “You mean, it recognizes me as a queen. Which you said no one would if I kept acting the way I have been. If a castle can see me as a queen, then I’m sure everyone else can.”
Rhoan laughed and looked to Tal to see what the man would have to say to that.
Tal groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s acastle, darling. It’s not a sentient creature with a horrible predisposition towards other kinds of fae. You still have to convince those with prejudices.”
Did I really want to impress people who would inevitably sneer at the real me? Not really. I reminded myself that I wasn’t sticking around forever. I would get the throne back and help them set up the new Seelie Court. Then I would bounce and seek my own path in life.
Tal sat me down and started in on impromptu manners lessons. I looked to Rhoan for help, but the man couldn’t find an escape for me. As much as I loathed him for refusing to give me what I wanted, I still trusted and respected him. He would make a good ruler someday, when I put the crown on his head.
Rhoan loved his people and his court. Only he would be able to rule the court with kindness and love. If I gave it to anyone else, their lust for power would eventually corrupt them. Only Rhoan would remain upright with so much power in his hands. Under his rule, the court would become the kind of place I would want it to become.
I had no illusions about Tal’s allegiances. His loyalty was to himself. While the man was helping us here and now, he’d betrayed his court to save his own skin before. This wasn’t the kind of man who would risk life and limb for those beneath him, not like Rhoan would.
As Tal tried to hammer traditional manners into my thick skull, I shot sly glances in Rhoan’s direction. I wanted to apologize for what I planned to do, but that would have given everything away. He couldn’t know that the throne would become his until I put the crown on his head.
I had to get the crown first.
And I had to make sure Rhoan survived that fight.
Once it was all said and done, I would escape across the country. Maybe I would go to sleepy Michigan and find myself a little town to hide in. There, I would open my café and serve dilly drinks and little sandwiches while slinging potions on the side. My café would have all sorts of plants all over the place, from vines to flowers to herbs. I wanted great big windows so I could watch the sun rise after an early morning of baking.
I realized that I was yearning for a semblance of peace. My stress levels had never known that kind of silence. I’d been on edge my entire life, and it seemed that fate had no intentions of letting up just yet.
There was a chance that I could take over Beryl’s restaurant if we defeated her. Through the reappearing memories, I’d learned that the restaurant above Beryl’s underground court once belonged to my family. My mother used to run that kitchen.
I wanted her to see me there, walking in her footsteps. Would she be proud? Or was there more that she’d wanted for me? Surely, she’d wanted to keep me from having to walk this path. I couldn’t imagine she wanted war for my future.
“Cerridwen,” Tal snapped.
His voice yanked me back into the present where I had to suffer through etiquette lessons.
* * *
Several hours into the lessons,I told Tal that I had to pee. I got up, went to the bathroom and walked in-between. The fresh air outside filled my lungs with a renewed sense of vigor. Across from me, Rhoan lounged in my folding lawn chair. He had one leg bent and the other spread out as far as he could go, like he’d collapsed in exhaustion.
“I moved some of the small fae to the part of the castle that’s ours now,” Rhoan informed me as I approached.
I took a seat between his spread legs, my back to him so I wouldn’t have to look him in the eye and acknowledge why I’d taken this spot, specifically. He toyed with my hair as he continued.
