Page 26 of Slaying the Shifter Prince
These were fae, and I’d expected yesterday’s debauched party. I’d expected the prince’s cruelty. I was even expecting to hear them plotting ways to toy with humans using brutality and pleasure in equal measure.
But I absolutely had not expected this.
These were friends. Just normal friends. They shared their hurts and their triumphs. They cheered each other up and lent support whether it was needed to pull another from the depths or to lift them to even greater heights.
I stared at the fire because I didn’t want them to see the tears in my eyes.
After a decade of emptiness, they came from the hollow place in my chest. They called out for Zinnia, for the one who’d shared my hurts and triumphs, who’d hugged me, who’d protected and loved me. Who’d been my sister and my friend.
How long had it been since I’d really thought about anything other than avenging her? How long since I’d acknowledged how much I fucking missed her? There was no one in the world who’d lived our shared experiences. Who could tell me little details of what she remembered of Mama and Papa before they’d died. Who made me feel like less of an orphan. No one else knew the story of the time we’d found guards bathing in a river and had watched, giggling, from the bushes. No one else had been there when my gift had awoken. No one else had filed down my teeth.
Without her, I was truly alone.
12
Icurled up in front of the fire and dozed away the tears, letting the friendly chatter lull me. I woke with a soft blanket being draped over me and a steaming cup of honeyed tea on the hearth.
“I’m just going to leave this here,” Celestine announced. “I might forget about it. It would be a shame if some little creature were to drink it while I wasn’t looking.” There was a ripple of laughter before the conversation continued.
“Such an adorable little thing,” someone else said.
I wiped my eyes on the blanket, dried tears scratching my skin, and sat up enough to take a good long gulp of tea.
A cup. A proper cup. I never thought I’d be so glad to hold one. Honey and lemon coated my tongue, sweet-sharp and glorious.
The afternoon wore on and they swapped tea and coffee for alcohol, although they still poured it from teapots. Celestine left me a little in the bottom of the cup but mentioned it might be a little strong for human constitutions.
Deepest purple-black with flecks of gold shimmering in its depths. It tasted of late summer, like a first kiss with sticky fingers and blackberry-stained lips. Another drink was pale gold, like a white wine, but flavoured with delicate elderflowers, springtime, and a hint of vanilla.
With the alcohol, their chatter turned to lovers and failed lovers and funny stories of truly disastrous couplings. Interestingly, it emerged that fae men took a monthly tincture to prevent unwanted pregnancy. No need for the preventative tea I’d taken all my adult life.
Which seemed to make fae much freer with sex than humans were… and bolder. How refreshing.
I found myself chuckling, and more than once, I leant forward, about to add to the conversation before I remembered where I was.
An idea crept through me, stronger each time I went to join in. Maybe I had it wrong. Maybe it would piss off the prince more if I spoke to everyonebuthim.
So when Anya gave me a sidelong look and wondered out loud whether I was a virgin, I answered. Celestine sat up as I laughed and said, “Absolutely not.”
And that was how I ended up getting my cup topped up again and again as I told a room full of fae about the men and women I’d had. The room was spinning by the time I got to the duke who liked to watch me fuck his wife but wouldn’t let me touch him.
“I had no idea humans were sointeresting.” Essa stared at me, bright green eyes wide. They hadn’t touched the cup in their hands for the past half hour. “I always thought Albion was terribly…proper.”
“It is.” I shrugged, sloshing blackberry wine on my dress. “But when you’re in a performing troupe, the usual rules don’t apply.”
Anya sat up, a sly smile on her lips. “That reminds me of the time I had twins.”
Essa cocked their head. “I didn’t know you had children.”
“Not likethat.” And she told us how a theatre group had visited her parents’ estate when she’d still lived with them, and amongst their number had been a pair of gorgeous twins. I’d never had two men at once, and I think my eyes almost fell out of my head when she told us how they’d fucked her at the same time.
As the sun faded outside, the guests drifted away and I curled up on my rug, half listening to the conversation of those left.
“Little bird, here. Come.” The deep voice cut through the warm cocoon I’d lost myself in.
Groggy, I blinked and pushed myself upright. Only Celestine remained, and the cups had been tidied away.
The prince stood in the doorway, pointing at the floor in front of his feet. His eyes bored into me, the glint of challenge sending a thrill down my spine.
