Page 28 of The Forbidden Fae King

“Won’t they try to kill us immediately?” a villager says at the same time.

My grandmother lets out a long breath, as she takes us all in. “One hidden truth is that there are entire villages of humans who still live in the fae world. The druids constantly crossover when we open the portals every seven years. Some unwitting humans accidentally step through the places where there are unmarked rifts between the worlds. Pilgrims decide not to return home. While humans are rare in the Otherworld, they are not completely out of place.”

“Why would any pilgrim choose to live amongst our enemy when their responsibility is here?” Caitlin spits.

“The Otherworld is said to be enchanting, and that it can steal a naive woman’s heart,” I say without thinking, my mind full of that fae romance novel sitting on my desk in the library. “That high fae are especially charming when they want to be.”

“Do not become attached to any fae.” My grandmother’s eyes stare straight at me. “And stay away from the high fae at all costs. Those stories you hear of rape and pillage? The high fae are responsible for those. They are masters of manipulation and theywilltrap you. If any fae discovers a pilgrim is pregnant, whether it is their child or not, they will lock you up and never let you return home. They will use and abuse you as a breeding mare. They can smell the hormones and it sends them into a crazed, animalistic state. Remember, it is your duty to bring magic back to this realm.You must return.”

A woman raises her hand. “Are you saying that the low fae nymphs and spirits will party with us and make us their lovers, show us kindness, until the moment we fall pregnant, and then they become our villains and captors?”

“Yes, child,” my grandmother says softly. “It is exactly what happened to me and I almost didn’t make it home. When it is your time to leave, you must run.”

The surrounding women nod vigorously. The idea of choosing to stay in the fae realm seems absurd. Of leaving behind my family and people. It is a betrayal to our kingdom.

The classroom erupts in excited chatter once more, before the high priestess reins us in again. “We must discuss the different types of fae you may encounter. There are four courts, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, each specializing in different elemental magic and with their own kinds of low fae. Sprites, elementals, nymphs, and beasts. They live in the wild parts and are more interested in the pleasures of the flesh than plotting and scheming.

“The vicious high fae live in the cities and palaces, and can easily be avoided.” She pauses for dramatic effect. “We will discuss the fae courts in greater detail in tomorrow’s class, where we will studymaps. You are dismissed for today.” She turns and wipes the chalk from a board.

The other women shuffle out of the room, pale from the sheer onslaught of information, but I feel strangely frozen in place.

I turn to Caitlin, who hasn’t moved either. “Are you okay?”

“It’s a lot of information.” Her tone is flat.

“The magical pregnancy?”

She looks at me with distant eyes, then nods. It had been her lifeline. Her way to get an heir without having to endure a man, and it has been taken away from her.

Footsteps click toward us and our grandmother suddenly looms over our position, the facade of our high priestess and educator gone.

“None of that girl.” She slams a hand down on the table in front of Caitlin. “You haven’t even crossed into the Otherworld and you're already disheartened? Toughen up. Select a different task and take a niece or nephew as an heir. But if you are set on a pregnancy, listen to me closely.”

She leans over the desk to stare at Caitlin. “Many fae are shapeshifters. Some are neither male or female, and some are both. A Lake Maiden can reproduce asexually to create her seed-stones. They are pure water and spirit, and take the shape of their choosing on land. A Lake Maiden can create a seed-stone through union with a man, or create a pregnancy through a union with a woman. The child grown within a womb would be as human as your father is. The maiden would need to be impressed indeed by a human to make that choice, but of all the fae, they may be the most likely to let that child go to another realm.”

There is still a heavy weight upon Caitlin’s shoulders, and it is clear she needs to have a conversation with Gwyneth, without being able to fully explain what she is asking permission for from her partner, but that deadness within her is gone.

That pure dread of having to touch a man.

“And you, child?” My grandmother places a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“I think Caitlin already has a plan for me.” I send my sister an affectionate smile.

“We will stay together when we make the crossing.” Caitlin declares. “We will approach the same Lake Maiden.”

“Good,” my grandmother says. “Walk with me to my chambers. We will discuss this plan for you both.”

We stay up for half the night, and I can’t stop yawning in the lecture the next morning. The rest of the classes fly by, taught by different priestesses.

My mind explodes with the new horizons that are being opened before me. At the sheer wealth of knowledge their order has collected and kept secret over the years.

After the classes each day, I sit with Caitlin in the library and we talk for hours about tactics and plans, even our childhood. Whenever we speak of subjects revealed in our classes and someone who hasn’t taken the oath nears, the silvery tattoo around our fingers shines and the words die on our lips.

A closeness grows between Caitlin and me that had diminished since our childhood. After Caitlin took up the many responsibilities of being the heir to the Appleshield Protectorate, and I became idle, waiting on my prince and my future.

The classroom lessons end, replaced by physical training. I wait with the other pilgrims in the main courtyard of the keep for our teachers to arrive and take us to our first session. We huddle together, shivering in the cool morning. Alice, Fiona, and Erin cling to me, asking a hundred nervous questions about the training to come. I answer absentmindedly, noticing other women listening in.

Within the space of minutes, I am surrounded by a circle of pilgrim candidates, their buzzing voices reverberating off all the stone of the walled courtyard. My attention is pulled in multiple directions as they talk over each other. I rub at my temples.

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