Page 85 of The Forbidden Fae King

“My daughters.” Odiane offers the bundle to us.

I take it, the coral netting rough beneath my fingers and the magical barrier on the water like a slick under my touch. Caitlin holds out a leather satchel and I place it within.

“How do we take a seed-stone out?” Caitlin asks.

“Place your hand inside with intent, and the magic will part for you. Do not leave the seed-stones out of water for too long, or they may dry.”

Great rivulets of water run from Odiane’s arms; their form lost in the escaping water. Her stomach is a twisting void and her hips and legs have diminished greatly in girth to make her appear skeletal. She must have used a lot of magic in the bargain.

Despite her fading body, her eyes glow with hope. “Farewell and travel safe. Deliver my offspring and return to me, lovely ones.”

I jump as the mass of her body loses its shape and the water crashes to the ground. I will never get used to it.

I turn to Caitlin. “I honestly thought getting here and holding the seed-stones of a fae would be an impossible feat.”

She gives me a thin-lipped smile. “Somehow, I wonder if we are just getting started.”

We pick our way across the rough surface of the rocky platform, avoiding the rockpools Odiane’s body created. I stop on the bottom step, still clutching the railing, and turn back to Caitlin.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how do you…when Odiane gives you the seed for your womb how…” My words trail off. There is no easy way to ask. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up, but curiosity burns within me.

A flush creeps across Caitlin’s face. “She said her seed-stones can be created in many forms. That I will need to insert it up… the usual place for a pregnancy. She wanted to do it, to lay with me, but it would be a betrayal to Gwyneth. I don’t want to be touched like that by anyone else.”

I place a hand on her shoulder. “I am glad you have a chance for apregnancy on your terms. We will do everything in our power to make sure it happens. I promise you that.”

My eyes glaze with emotion.

It is the thing I have feared the most for her, as our heir, the potential of her having to take a man to conceive a baby. Or living her entire life without bearing the child she so desperately craves.

At the end of our journey in this realm, we will return to Odiane, collect our promised seed-stones, then leave through the same portal we entered from. It is only half a day’s leisurely walk from here.

“Are you offering me a bargain?” Caitlin smiles.

I laugh. “Gods no. I think I have done enough of those for a lifetime.”

We climb back up that staircase in a comfortable silence, each lost in our own thoughts. I jolt to a stop when I reach the top of the bridge. My heart crashes painfully at the sight of Aldrin leaning against the far rail.

A thousand emotions collide within me. Thrill at seeing him. Fear of how this man could easily betray and break me. Hope… for something I am not quite sure of. Something foolish no doubt.

The sun has just peaked above the horizon behind Aldrin and it illuminates him in a brilliant gold glow. His tanned skin shines with vibrancy and the flowing locks of his brown hair are gilded, as though some celestial power radiates from within him.

A slow smile creeps onto his face as his gaze meets mine, as I hungrily take in every glorious inch of his body. I find myself stunned and frozen to the spot. Caitlin almost crashes into my back.

I harden my heart, shoving down the turmoil he seems to induce in me. I will not give blind faith to another royal or be taken advantage of again. I grasp onto the boiling anger that began to simmer last night.

“Have you taken to spying on me, Aldrin?” My tone is short as I step out of Caitlin’s path. “Was forcing every last private detail of my life out of me not enough for you?”

His smile falters and his thick eyebrows pinch. “About that. I want to —”

“I don’t need to witness this.” Caitlin maneuvers her way around me. “Let me get out of earshot before you start whatever this—”—” she waves a hand at the two of us “is going to be.”

Aldrin glances between us, clearly thrown off.

Part of me understands why he did it, the necessity of it, but by the gods it reminded me of who I was getting close to.

A fae king.

Of course he is going to manipulate a silly human girl to save his lands. If I were clever, I would stay well away from him but I need to know what his plans are for my people.

---