Page 15 of Fae Champion

If only it were true and I did get to decide my fate.So long as I was within this cursed mirror world, I feared it would never be the case.

“If you don’t come with us,” Hiroshi jumped in, “she really might kill Rush if she thinks you care about him.”

“Hmmph. Well, I don’t care about him, so he’s safe.”

“Good,” Rush said. “’Cause I don’t care about you either.”

West rolled his eyes, but it was Ryder who said, “It doesn’t matter what either of you two say. If she thinks you care, she’ll do her best to hurt one of you by hurting the other.”

West looked between us both. “But that’s not the main reason for you not to go. Or I guess it kind of is, but not because we’re fond of the big brute.”

I snorted a laugh, though Rush was as much a brute as I was a delicate fairy princess.

West lowered his head so we were eye to eye; his stare turned intent. “One of ushasto become the next crown prince heir. The future of the entire mirror world depends on one of us turning the dark tides around.”

“What about Roan?”

“Roan too, but the queen doesn’t watch him as closely as she does us.”

“Why not?”

Hiroshi grunted in disapproval. “Because he’s a dwarf.”

“So?”

“So,” West said, “she thinks he’s not worthy of the throne because the next prince should be of the line of the noble elves, tall and strong as an oak.”

“Which he is,” Ryder added, “except for the tall part. He’s as capable as we are of banishing the legacy of King Erasmus the Bloody.”

“You’ve seen firsthand what Lennox and the others are like,” West said. “It has to be one of us, like, for real. This is life or death, not just for us, but for everyone. Every single fae in the mirror world.”

The three of them nodded somberly. Rush simply stared at me, his gaze a constant heat on my skin.

“Does the queen know all this?” I asked.

West shrugged. “She’s not stupid.”

“Then why’s she want Rush to be prince heir? I’d guess she’s fond of her reign of terror, so why favor him?”

It was Rush who answered. “Because she thinks she’ll be able to control me even while I’m on the throne, and she knows the fae will support me as her choice.”

I stared at him; he returned the examining look.

“This is much bigger than Xeno and Saffron,” he said.

“How do you know their names?”

“It’s my job to know things.”

“A good reminder, thank you,” I retorted bitterly. “What else do you know about me that I haven’t told you?”

His eyes blazed in response, and he trailed themlanguorously up and down my body. I flushed and hurried to look away.

This part of the palace grounds was so pretty. Filled with magical meadows like those in the fairy tales Zako had shared with me. It was at times difficult to remember that evil ran through these lands, no matter their appearance otherwise.

While still gazing off into the distance, I asked, “What about the next princess heir? Who does she need to be?”

“She doesn’t matter,” Rush answered. “We’ll marry whomever we need to marry so long as we can bring the mirror world back to what it’s supposed to be.”

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