Page 49 of The Court the Fae Forgot
“No,” I answered, teeth gritting. The last thing I was going to tell him was that we’d already faced that, and we’d certainly notlikedit. “I’m saying we go find an inn for the night and we get some actual rest.”
Shiel straightened up. “Absolutely out of the question.”
“Are you saying that’s a worse alternative than this Wildness you’re so afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid of the Wildness,” Shiel spat back, eyes flashing.
“But you’re afraid of an inn?”
His jaw worked as he fought back whatever first sprung to his mind in response. He started pacing, and behind him, I saw Finch and Zev share a long, pointed look.
He finally stopped to face me, his shoulders rigid. “Do you really have no idea what I’m trying to protect you from, Aurra?”
“No,” I said, “because you haven’t bothered to tell me.”
He strode forward suddenly, crossing the space between us in a single breath. It was all I could do not to step back from him. I held my ground, but only just.
“There’s a reason why royals stay locked in their castles with an army to protect them,” he said. “As soon as word gets out about what it is we’re trying to do, this world will become a very dangerous place for all of us. It’s not just the power-hungry fae lords I’m worried about. You think humans will take kindly to another fae royal in their midst? Our kind has subjected humans for centuries. Do you not think they’d leap at the opportunity to send a message, using you while you’re most vulnerable?”
“And what is it you’re trying to do?” I asked, trying not to show how his words affected me. I hadn’t considered what he said, hadn’t thought about how quickly my own kind would turn on me as he said. I should have, though. I’d seen it already, and that was when they thought I was still human—when my only crime was angering one of the fae they so feared. “But surely, you’re not rescuing me purely out of the goodness of your own heart.”
“No, you’re right, Aurra,” Shiel hissed back at me. “I’m not. I have a duty to this kingdom, and to all the fae in it. If you were just another fae, my men and I would not be going through all this trouble. We wouldn’t need to. We could have given you some gold and sent you off in my carriage to the closest court where any number of fae could help you find your place. But youaren’tjust another fae. You could be the key to all of this. To everything. To the very future of our courts.”
It wasn’t until he stood before me, chest heaving, that I registered the deep silence around us. It was as if, as the last of the summer sun dipped behind the trees, the very forest had begun to hold its breath.
Shiel noticed it too, a moment later.
He broke that silence with a swear, turning from me to start hastily grabbing the bags still littered across the darkening clearing. As soon as he did, both Finch and Zev sprung into action, doing the same.
“We have to leave, now,” Shiel said, shoving a pack into my hands before heading toward the horses. “It’ll be a long night for all of us without sleep, but we can’t risk staying here any longer.”
I, alone, did not move.
“No,” I said, the word causing all three of them to still in an instant.
It was Shiel who whirled on me first.
“What?”
“No,” I repeated again. I jutted my chin toward the dull lights beginning to twinkle from the small city just beyond. “I’m going to find an inn, and I’m going to take a bath, and I’m going to sleep somewhere dry on a mattress stuffed with hay.”
Even Finch, who’d so far been standing at the ready beside his master, couldn’t help but let out a small sigh at the very thought.
The sound of it made the outer corner of Shiel’s mouth turn up in a snarl.
“Were you not listening to anything I just told you?”
“I was,” I said, bending over to pick up my own small pack. I pulled it over my shoulder and shuffled the strap into place. “But like you said,oncepeople hear of me, I’ll be in danger. We’ve been careful. So careful. Our secret won’t last forever, I’m not so dumb as to think that it will, but we can afford one night in a proper bed.”
I didn’t wait for his response, just started walking—straight for the edge of the clearing toward the road leading to the city beyond.
He followed close at my heels.
“Don’t you dare do this, Aurra,” he said. I ignored him and kept walking.
His footsteps quickened as he continued to call after me and I continued ignoring him. I made it all the way to the edge of the road before he caught up to me, one hand falling heavy on my shoulder before he forced me around to face him.
“I forbid you from doing this.”
