Page 22 of The Forbidden Fae King

Both women pant with sweat rolling down their faces as I finally approach the training field.

“You can’t train in that,” Caitlin says immediately, eyeing off the narrow skirts of my riding dress.

“I need to learn to fight in dresses. They are what I wear.”

My sister takes a long drink from a canteen. “Have the seamstress make you dresses with detachable skirts, like mine. You are right, we need to be trained to protect ourselves at all times, even at a feast. Maybe especially at a feast.”

“That is…ingenious,” I say.

Caitlin grunts. “Tomorrow you will come here in pants. You will train every day until the spring equinox when we make the crossing.”

My stomach rolls and the fire of anxiety rushes through all of my extremities.

“Did I make the wrong choice? I’ve hardly trained for the pilgrimage.” I run a hand across my face. “Gods, I told Finan I don’t know if I want to marry him. In front of the king!”

Caitlin takes my face in her hands and her small, green eyes narrow. “You made the right choice and you know it. You have been preparing for this crossing your entire life. Late night reading in the library to helpmeout. Hunts of fae in these woods to bring magic home. Honing your magic when you could have spent your days reading fiction and no one would have lifted an eyebrow.”

She lets out a long breath. “You have been suppressing how badly you want to travel to the Otherworld for years. Remember your dream of exploring and cataloguing their world? Of becoming a priestess and visiting every time our realms aligned? You lost that dream when Finan came into your life and you decided to live for his cause instead. You will find yourself on the pilgrimage. Work out the rest when you return.”

I nod, desperately trying to suppress the tears that threaten to spill.

“I’m glad you’re making Finan sweat.” Caitlin barks out a laugh. “Men like that pine harder for what they think they can’t have.”

“Thanks, Caitlin. This feels right, down to my bones, but I needed to hear it from you.” I take in a steadying breath, but my voice still trembles. “How long have you known? That they were considering you as well for Finan’s bride?”

I feel dirty say it, like it is my shame.

“Officially, I found out when you did. But I had a feeling. We all did this last year, since my pilgrimage announcement. They have been far too interested in it.”

Tears roll down my face and I scrub them away angrily. “I'm sorry.” It is not enough. How it must have felt to have her sister’s lover encroaching on her. Somehow, Finan’s actions always seem to be my responsibility to manage.

“Finan doesn’t deserve you. He doesn’t deserve to be king. He is too stupid.” Caitlin spits.

“I know,” I half-whisper. “That is why I feel this crushing responsibility to become queen. They need a woman from our family, not only for our magic. We are educated, strong willed and outspoken. Someone needs to stop him from becoming a disaster as king. He doesn’t know how to rule a kingdom or lead an army.”

Caitlin nods. “The entire kingdom is not your responsibility. Strathiawillsurvive without you. Anyway, there is nothing we can do about that right now.” She tosses me some padded gloves. “We are going to spar, and you are going to see how difficult hand-to-hand combat is in a dress, even if those skirts are split.”

Gwyneth calls us out on our technique as we land light kicks and punches on each other’s bodies. We pull any force from them, but each strike still smarts. Caitlin taps me on the jaw with a fist, then kicks the back of my knees, making them buckle.

“Keira, you’d be on the ground in a real fight,” Gwyneth bellows. “You need to work on that defense!”

We circle each other. I feign forward with a low blow to the ribs, then connect the other fist to her chin with enough strength to knock it up, then raise a knee to her stomach.

“Good, Keira. Caitlin, you’d be missing some teeth,” Gwyneth calls.

We spar until both of us are heaving messes, hair slick with sweat and plastered to our faces. I smile stupidly at Caitlin and she returns the expression.

“Tomorrow.” Caitlin holds up a hand as she sucks in more air. “Tomorrow we will meet at the indoor gym. So…” She focuses on breathing again. “So we can do some proper flipping techniques on the mats.”

Gwyneth has me practice various kicks on a dummy of sand and fabric until I can hardly lift my legs, while she continues to train Caitlin with the pads. We both cool down with stretches to make sure we don’t pull a muscle, and by the time we finish, the rest of the Protector Guard arrive at the training grounds.

Exhilaration from the exercise flows through me. For the first time in years, I have a dream and it is for me alone.

Chapter 7

Keira

The entrance courtyard is bursting with people. The royal court, those of my house, and the minor nobles. It is almost suffocating, with far too many bodies packed in between the main gate and the castle doors. I stand at the front of the crowd, where an empty column runs through our center. Voices bounce off the stone of the building, the wall and the pavers beneath our feet.

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