Page 6 of Fae Crown

“Great.”

He squeezed me closer. “You’re great,mate.”

I rolled my eyes but secretly loved his constant displays of affection. “You’re such a doofus.”

“Sure, but I’myourdoofus.”

“And don’t you everforget it.”

“There isn’t a chance in all the Etherlands and even in the Igneuslands that I ever will.”

“Promise?”

“I do, my love. I do.”

2.THE TIME OF THE DRAGONS HAS NOT PASSED

ELOWYN

“Are you sure this is absolutely necessary?” I asked the goblin who was currently weaving braided extensions into my already long and full hair. The extensions were a shockingly bright violet when overlapped with the midnight color of my tresses.

The goblin’s fingers, as deft as Pru’s, didn’t so much as pause in their ministrations.

“Yes, milady. If she wishes to win the Nuptialis Probatio, she’ll need to look her best.”

“What’s wrong with my natural hair?” Wrapped in only a silk robe, I studied my reflection in the vanity mirror. My attendant had insisted we begin with the hairstyling.

The goblin pursed her lips and began twisting my locks—extensions included—into some sort of updo I couldn’t yet guess at. “Does milady wish to win or not?”

I frowned thentskedat her in response.

A pair of goblins had whisked into my chamberslong before Rush and I were ready to part. Rush’s goblin, a male known as Horst—now that Rush had finally asked his name—all but ran into the bathing chamber to haul him out of the bath. After Horst had announced that “Her Majesty” had summoned Rush to her private chambers, where my mate was to meet with her before the official commencement of the Nuptialis Probatio, Rush had sped away with barely a kiss and a hurried reassurance that everything would be all right.

With him off to meet with Her Horrid Awfulness, I didn’t believe him.

Exhaling loudly, I redirected my thoughts to more productive considerations. Fear of the queen and whatever wicked plan she might have engineered this time would only undermine the strength I’d need to get through this second stage of the trials.

“Of course I want to win,” I eventually told the goblin, who’d refused to share her name, slightly horrified that a lady should consider that level of familiarity with the palace’s servants. “Imustwin.”

“Then milady shouldn’t complain so much as I prepare her to look her best for the competition.”

The goblin’s rounded ears, dingy frock, and bare legs told me she was a female. Her bossy, biting remarks suggested that perhaps all female goblins had some fire to them, concealed just below the surface so the queen wouldn’t punish them for it. And every single interaction with the nameless she-goblin told me just how fucking much I missed Pru. By dragonfire, I missed her more than I’d imagined possible.Along the way, Pru had become a friend I trusted. The blood oath between us guaranteed she trusted me too. In the Mirror World, trust was a commodity more valuable than riches.

This she-goblin would probably pass out if she knew a goblin and I had merged blood to make such a pact.

I was trying my hardest not to fret over Pru’s fate—or that of Xeno, Reed, Roan, Finnian, and even the horse, Bolt. None of them had been far from my thoughts since my unexpected departure from the Wilds. Xeno and Roan were skilled warriors, and Reed and Finnian had proven highly capable through every challenge we’d faced. And Pru … well, Pru had been surviving the Sorumbra more unscathed than any of the rest of us when I last saw her.

But all it would take was one bad attack. One particularly nasty monster. One strike to the wrong part of the body … and I might not see any of them ever again.

For fuck’s sake, I’d left them all facing off a ginormous and unfamiliardragon. When even a smaller one was formidable enough to wipe them all out in a single fiery blaze of dragon’s breath. For all I knew, the lot of them might already be dead. The dragon might have killed them moments after the magic of the Fae Heir Trials dragged me to the throne room against my will.

It seemed I only ever arrived at the palace without my consent…

The she-goblin’s stare fixed on me through the mirror,and I finally noticed, dragging my gaze to hers in the reflection.

“Milady is distracted,” she observed.

I scowled but eventually nodded.

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