Page 55 of Fae Crown

Of course, I already had my answer. They surely behaved as if I didn’t.

A mumble I couldn’t quite discern washed over me from beyond Dashiell, whose weight settled beside me on what might be a bed.

“Well, then the very moment it’s safe for her to be moved, we do it,” Dashiell snapped.

More indistinguishable murmurs.

“Yes, yes. Of course we don’t want to risk her survival by moving her too early, but time is paramount here. I’m sure my king would agree.”

Despite the constant weight of the pain piercing me everywhere, I still somehow felt heavier at the knowledge that Dashiell was right. The king—myfather—wouldn’t prioritize me or my well-being. He’d bound my magic, had me hidden me away in a tangled web of lies, and had only ordered meabductedwhen it suited him. No, the king wouldn’t care if I got the chance to meet the mother I’d longed to know my entire life.

Even when I’d still believed Zako was my father, I’d known I had a mother and suffered her absence keenly. Then, I’d thought her dead.

Additional murmurs. Whoever was speaking, they seemed to be fighting for me.

“Then hurry up and get her better,” Dashiell said.

A faraway reply.

Dashiell snarled to a cascade of chimes. “You’re supposed to be one of the best there is. Why else is my king paying you so handsomely?”

A pause while Dashiell listened before snapping, “Well, he’s given you enough gold to perform miracles. So get to it. And give her something to sleep. She won’t be getting better awake and hurting.”

Apparently Dashiell had exhausted his allotment of pleasant bedside manner. Without warning, a cloth pressed over my nose and mouth, causing an eruption of more stars behind my eyelids. I suspected that my nose, too, was broken. When I breathed in—since I’d stupidly decided to survive—my nasal passages stung all the way up to my brain. Whatever coated the cloth stunk of something pungent and cloyingly sweet—and dragged me into darkness before I could wonder even what it was.

14.NOTHING IS EVER BROKEN THAT CAN’T BE FIXED

RUSH

Caught off guard, I let slip a surprised grunt before hurriedly quieting. Though my current bedchamber was a temporary assignment apparently intended to last the duration of the Nuptialis Probatio, there was every chance the queen was spying on me here as much as she did throughout the rest of the palace.

Regardless, I couldn’t help myself as I grinned at the evanescent faces of my brothers that hovered in the middle of the room like apparitions from the Etherlands.

“It issodamn good to see you guys,” I gushed in a whisper, unable to hide my relief. The few days since I’d last seen them had felt like months.

I couldn’t remember ever feeling this alone, like a part of me was missing and I’d never again be whole without it.

“Can you hear me?” I whisper-shouted at themwhen their faces faded, warbled, then solidified again. I could still see right through them.

West’s lips were moving.

“I can’t hear you,” I said with a too-evident desperation I instantly tamped down. I couldn’t let them realize how bad the last few days had been for me.

They turned toward each other in obvious agitation, presumably debating the workings of this odd magic none of them possessed. After animated gesturing from Ryder to someone outside of my view, their voices finally reached me.

“—can forget payment if it doesn’t work,” Ryder was saying, pointed away from me.

“I can hear you,” I said urgently. “Can you hear me now?”

“We can hear you,” Hiroshi said. With a meaningful arch of his brows: “Loud and clear.”

I inched closer to the mirage, lowered my voice to a mere breath. “How are you doing this?”

Ryder waved a dismissive hand in front of his face. “It’s no big deal. We just owe a favor now.”

Apparently the fae beyond my sight insisted whatever my friends owed was more than a mere favor, and Ryder whirled around to snap at them in sharp, hushed tones. “We’ve got a deal. Now leave and let us talk.”

When Ryder faced me again, the irritation rapidly slid from his features to mimic the concern that was a perfect match to West’s and Hiro’s.

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