Page 71 of The Forbidden Fae King

The Lake Maiden smiles warmly at me, her cold hand squeezing mine again. “Keira, return here every night while you stay at my frozen river and tell me about your world. This prince that you feel obligated to marry. Of your hunts of wild fae who cross into your lands.

“I will not bulk at the stories of glory and death as my king might. He once too took pleasure in such things, before our world began to unravel. Tell me of the oppression of your women, the things so subtle you believe it nonexistent.”

And I do. I speak to the Lake Maiden as the night deepens and the clouds part to reveal an indigo sky filled with pinprick lights of stars, the space around them bleeding vibrant purple light. Their constellations are so very different from my own.

I tell Odiane about Finan, my hopes, my desires, my disappointments, with Caitlin as my silent support. The Lake Maiden’s bodydrips away, bit by bit, until her rounded curves are wraith thin and her hair is almost all gone.

As the day is born and pink light glows from the horizon, chasing away the blackness of the sky, Odiane sighs, then fades into heavy droplets of mist that hit the ground. I jolt, mid-sentence, and shoot a shocked look at Caitlin.

“She does that.” My sister tips her head to the pool on the ground.

It is only then that I notice the channels cut into the rock, allowing the water to flow back to the river.

“I don’t think it is a true form that she takes. If someone decided to capture all the water of that body, and moved it elsewhere, Odiane’s presence would remain here, with her heart-stones. She would appear here again, in another body of water.”

I nod absentmindedly.

We hardly talk as we make our way up the staircase and through the levels of the fortress to our bedrooms. Fatigue slams into me as soon as I see that inviting bed, my limbs turning leaden, and it is not only because we stayed up the entire night.

The remnants of adrenaline fade away, and the exertion of the last day finally takes its toll. From walking an entire day to this base, creeping into the fortress with fear and anxiety rolling through me like a sickness, only to fall into our enemy’s trap.

I have never felt fear like when those fae soldiers closed around us. Normally, I feel nothing at all.

My eyes keep drooping shut, and it is a struggle to pull off my clothes and slip into a nightdress laid out on the bed before melting into it. I drop off into oblivion immediately.

Chapter 20

Keira

Banging echoes throughout my room, loud enough to make the door rattle in its frame. I take in a sharp breath and sit up abruptly, the blankets falling around my waist. The crashing bounces around inside my head, pain cutting through it. Someone is banging onmydoor. I take groggy steps across the room and open it.

Aldrin stands there, folding his muscular arms across his broad chest, with bright sunlight beaming into the room behind him. I want to slam the door shut in his face, but he shoves a foot in the doorway so I cannot close it. I am too tired for his games.

“You weren’t sleeping, were you?” A half-smile creeps onto his face. “Because it’s midday.”

I groan in response, not caring that my hair is a mess of curls that half hangs over my face.

“Get changed. We are going to train your magic,” he says, trying so hard to keep his eyes on mine and failing as they flick to my neckline and back up.

I am wearing nothing but a thin nightdress, askew across my chest and with the sharp peaks of my nipples clear beneath the silky fabric.

Gods damn it.

Mortification rises within me, and he takes a step back, allowingme to slam the door in his face, throwing my back against it. His laughter from the other side reverberates through the door, only inciting my rage further.

“Be out in five minutes,” Aldrin calls.

I run my hands down my face as I try to slow my heart rate. I was up half the night with the Lake Maiden last night. And the night before that. Every night since I met her.

The deep urge rises within me to tell Aldrin to come back later. To crawl back under those blankets, but I need training. This knowledge could empower my people.

“Give me ten minutes,” I respond.

“Five,” Aldrin quips back. “I’ll be waiting out here.”

The infuriating man has nowhere else to be. By this time, he has probably had a yelling match with Cyprien at least once.

I pull a tunic over my head, drag on a pale blue skirt that is narrow and divided for riding, the kind that looks more like gathered, flowing pants, and then tie a cotton corset over the top.

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