Page 126 of Court of the Fae Princes

Is this a mate thing? Does she think I should be feeling something with them far away because she doesn’t know the truth? Maybe. I need to tread carefully here.

“Is there even a small part of you that feels off right now?” Her eyes are laser-focused on me. It makes me uncomfortable.

“Off, how?” I don’t know what she’s talking about.

I might feel a little bit off-kilter right now, but I’ve felt that way since being kidnapped. Wouldn’t anyone feel strange in that kind of situation? She’s acting like that’s not normal when it’s perfectly normal.

“Just off. Like something’s missing. Or maybe your chest hurts.”

Of course I feel that way, but my life is in ruins. “I feel all of the above. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Her expression doesn’t change. “Yes and no. Now, do you know where they are?”

I shuffle through the day I saw them last as if something in it could explain where they are right now. That eventful day takes a while to get through, but the memory of their saddened faces appears in my mind. I told them I didn’t want to marry them right now, and, apparently, broke all of their hearts. Did that have something to do with them leaving that morning?

I turn my attention back to Lady Nova, upset that the weight of those events weighs on my shoulders. “I don’t know where they are. Sorry. But they’re probably just taking some space, right?”

Lady Nova gives me another funny look I can’t read. “Get cleaned up and eat. We need to talk.”

She doesn’t say another word, just marches back out of the room. I glare after her and jump a little when the door closes, even though she doesn’t close it hard.

I rub my face, desperately wanting to go back to sleep and continue recovering, but I’m up now, and I’m thinking about the princes. No, I’m worrying about the princes. I rub my chest where it hurts and climb out of bed, slipping on a white robe and slippers. Standing, I know what I need to get a better start on my day– a long, hot bath– but I don’t have a chance to do much before there’s a knock at my door.

“Come in!”

A second later, the door opens and in walks my grandmother… and dad. My heart drops. My dad makes his way inside with a limp and a cane, but he makes his way inside! I don’t think before I race to him and hold him tight. I’ve seen him regularly since I got back, but every time I feel the same sense of gratitude and happiness at how well he’s doing.

The best of the royal fae healers have been working on him, and they’ve been doing a good job. I have to personally thank them when I get a chance.

“Whoa!” he groans as I hug him tighter. “Easy there, Cassia, I don’t need any broken ribs.”

It takes everything in me to let him go, and then we’re staring at each other. My dad looks good. Healthy and happy. His hair and beard have been trimmed up nicely, and the gray weaved in with the black gives a refined air to him. He’s wearing fine clothes: a black silk shirt and white pants, both of which fit his thin frame well.

“You look so good. Are you good?” My words are such a mess, I’m not even sure if he can make them out.

But he grins. “I’m good, Cassia. Better than good. The healers are working on me every day, and I’m getting better.”

“He might never be one hundred percent, but he’s so much better,” my grandmother says.

I pull away from the hug and turn to her. She’s wearing a dress covered in blue flowers, her favorite color. It’s silk too, probably because she might not be able to see the flowers, but she can feel the fabric. Her long gray hair has been expertly braided, and it falls over her shoulder.

She looks beautiful.

I hug her as she continues talking. “The healers have never worked with someone who has had such powerful magic–”

“Magic not help them for so long. You know, an injury that has been left without the help of magic for so many years,” my father interrupts, and I sense him giving my grandmother a look she can feel even if she can’t see. I know, because I can feel it too. “Most of the people they heal are wealthy fae who are worked on with magic right away when they have a problem, not years later. It’s a different experience for them.”

Pulling back from the hug, I glance between them, my curiosity rising. My grandmother has her lip curled and her nose wrinkled, like she’s silently having an argument with my father, before the look fades away, and she’s smiling once more. What was that all about?

But they both seem happy, so I just smile, figuring that I’m probably reading too much into it. “I can’t believe we’re really here. It’s like a dream.”

“Especially when you consider those sweet husbands of yours.” They’re not my husbands yet, but I don’t correct her. “The whole time you were missing they swung between caring for us and searching for you. If I had any doubts about them before, they’re gone.”

“Really?” The princes never mentioned taking care of my family while I was gone.

“Oh, yes, Prince Sulien and Prince Frost were on your father’s healers like flies on honey. They wanted updates on his care at all times, and put the fear of the gods into them. Prince Cobar and Prince Forrest came to visit us both often. They read to us. They whittled with your father. They even made sure to share as many meals with us as possible.”

My father leans in. “Most fae are, well, as useless as shit on a horse’s tail, but those four… I like them, Cassia.”

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