Page 16 of The Forbidden Fae King

I am not the skinny, slip of a girl that our society prizes, like my sister Brianna. I have curves. Large breasts that I am proud of and rounded hips so Finan has something to take hold of. My waist may not be perfectly narrow, but he has never complained.

I have caught men’s eyes following my figure hungrily regardless. It makes me wonder who exactly writes these rules.

The platters of the main meal are ravished until they are empty, then cleared and replaced with trays of pastries filled with glowing fruit. People pair up on the dance floor and begin a waltz.

Niall stands, and poor Brianna’s faces lights up beside me, but he places a hand out to his mother, the queen, and takes her to the dance floor instead.

The king’s voice booms loudly over the gambled noise of the crowd, but I am thankfully seated too far away from him to hear what is being said. Caitlin has taken my mother's position at the table, and the slight scowl on her face as she follows the conversation is enough for me.

“Would my lady care for a dance?” Finan smiles wickedly down at me, his arm cocked for me to take.

I glance at the dance floor, where people are in two columns, dancing in fast, swirling motions, constantly changing partners to the beat of rowdy music.

“I’m not in the mood for dancing.” I sigh.

Finan raises his eyebrows. “You? Not in the mood to dance with me? There’s not some other man here you’d prefer to dance with, is there?” A self-assured smile grows on his face, as though the joke were both hilarious and ridiculous.

I huff out a breath of air and deflate a little more.

Finan grabs me by my hand and pulls me up from my chair. “At least come sit next to me. I can hardly see your pretty face over here.”

I turn to ask Brianna if she will be lonely on her own, but she stares up at Niall, who takes her hand and leads her to the dancefloor in time for the next song to start. The expression of pure wonderment on her young face brings a smile to mine.

Finan deposits me in the queen’s seat, right next to the king. For a moment, I wonder if he did it to put a buffer between himself and his abrasive father.

“Ah, Keira. We were just talking about you,” King Willard announces with flakes of pastry falling out of his white beard. “One would expect you are keenly awaiting Finan’s announcement on who his bride will be. It will be made after the Beltane Festival. Better play your cards right girl, to make sure his eyes don’t rove before then, to a sister perhaps.”

King Willard bellows a laugh but I don’t take his bait. It would give him too much enjoyment if I stammered or cried.

Finan stiffens beside me. His hand squeezes my thigh, hidden under the tablecloth, but he doesn’t say anything.

“No betrothal period?” I ask.

“No need.” The king sucks sugar off his fingers as he eats another sweet. “The wedding will take place in Sunbright City after the pilgrims return from the Otherworld.”

“I do not see why we need to wait, father.” Finan bristles. “Why not have the wedding now? Why not years ago? I know who I want to marry. I always have.”

“We’ve had this conversation, boy.” He growls.

“I - I would like to know too.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop myself.

The king laughs again and turns to my father. “Ah the passion of youth, eh. Don’t you remember those days, Edmund? And then their tits sag and their bellies go round and they don’t dote on your every word anymore.”

The king stares straight at his wife across the room as he speaks, dancing with her brother, missing the twisted look of disgust on my father’s face.

King Willard speaks over my head to Finan. “It is uncustomary to marry a woman before the first crossing of her youth. It is the right of every woman to take part in the pilgrimage to the Otherworld if she chooses it.” Those watery blue eyes beneath bushy white eyebrows land on me. “Tell me, Keira, do you want to take this insane pilgrimage?”

The breath catches in my chest and for a crazy moment, I don’t know what I want.

“No!” Finan stands behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders. “No. She doesn’t want to go.”

I don’t say anything. When I glance at my father, there is a deep sadness in him. He searches my face for any hint that I want to take the pilgrimage, because he would fight with everything he had to give me that chance.

The pilgrimage had once been my dream, but that was a child’s folly, not the desire of a future queen.

“Good,” the king says. “The danger is too great, with all the vicious monsters in that realm, not when Caitlin is already putting herself at risk. My own cousin came back disfigured from hers. Shame. She was pretty before that.”

He turns to my father. “Perhaps your oldest will return carrying a child to the magic and will do a great service to our realm.” The smile that creeps onto his face is sinister. Loaded, but I don’t understand the ammunition.

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