Page 23 of Finding Closure

“Well, then leave. You now see how manywant this. Red flags are everywhere. People are wearing red, and it is not a normal color of clothing in Faerie. And it’s both realms, which—gods willing—will becomeone Faeriein mere months. Something I never thought to see in my lifetime. And you risk it with your pettiness.

“No, we will not allow it. I had my doubts about the princess atevery turn, but I was never this rude, this hostile, or this unreasonable! You demand and demand for her to do more while complaining about everything she does. What have you been doing? Yelling. Nothing but yelling. Certainly nothelping. The rest of us help constantly, so shut up and help or leave.”

“Well said,” Morgan chuckled when Talila stormed off.

“I second that,” Hudson agreed as I handed the phone back to my security, “I didn’t realize that was what was going on.”

I nodded, reaching for my drink. “It’s hard to tell. There’s been alotof it from a lot of parties over the years. It just becomes noise and a lot of constant hate, and—it’s exhausting.”

“It’s nice people are fighting for you this time and fighting back,” Darby muttered, sounding more hopeful that I would agree than anything.

“It is nice,” I accepted.

I felt that a lot more after I cleansed. I really did. A lot of what I’d been feeling was pushing too hard and using too much magic—letting people bully me again so I didn’t have to deal with hate. But there was always going to be hate for me. That was just part of the job.

Sad but true.

Really,reallysad.

But I would still become queen and learn to deal with it better. After seeing all the red cloth and clothes to support me… I wouldn’t abandon those people.

I would just make others do more as well. That was only fair.

And we believed in fairness in Faerie. Or we said we did.

It was time to finally make people startactinglike that.

“What else is on your mind, shorty?” Hudson asked when we were getting ready for bed.

“So much that we’d never sleep if we talked about it all,” I joked, but then hesitated, realizing what I’d missed. “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing.” He did a double take at whatever was on my face and smiled. “Really. Nothing. Just some funny thoughts.”

“I like funny thoughts,” I promised as pulled back the covers for him and motioned for him to get in.

He gave me a funny look but then laid down, groaning when I jumped on him. “I was just thinking that for someone who doesn’t like to meddle, you’re quite the matchmaker.”

I frowned as I sat up and straddled his hips. “I meddle. It just depends.”

“Yeah, fair, but you’re not like drama. You aren’t pushy—”

“You don’t walk around trying to set people up,” Julian said as he walked in. “Who gets the bed tonight?”

“You get the couch besides one night this last break because you got it so much over winter break because of your wedding,” Darby answered as he joined us. “And I agree. You don’t push people towards men. Even if you’re happy in your love life, you’re not one of those women who then want all of her friends in relationships.”

I nodded, understanding the point. “No, I hate that shit. People can be perfectly happy on their own. Do I want the people I care about to be loved and have that support like me? Of course, but pushing never helps. It just makes people feel more alone and isolated.”

“Who would you want to see find someone?” Hudson asked, searching my eyes.

Darby snorted. “Give it time. Everyone finds love around Tams. Izzy. Claudia. Sean. Marshall. Avril. Ellen.”

“They found love with each other, so that list seems more impressive,” I argued.

“Right, but they might not ever have found it without you,” Darby threw right back. “Like Zack and Ray.”

“No, they already knew their mates,” I reminded him.

“But they wouldn’t have found them again without you.” He knelt on the bed and pulled me off Hudson for a kiss. “And I know who you would say, and I have gossip for you.”

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