Page 21 of How To Please A Princely Fae

"I'm sorry to interrupt," a soft voice I don't immediately recognize chimes in.

The group of us turns, and the newest witch to town stands before us, arms crossed over her body.

There's something incredibly delicate about her fine bone structure, especially paired with her overly large eyes. The latter practically swallow up her face, stark brown and undeniably sad.

"No one explained to me why it is they appeared last night. Those three beings, I mean." Her cheeks suck in, as if she's biting them. Paired with the look of deep regret on her face for calling our attention to her, my heart immediately goes out to her.

I fight the urge to give Violet a long hug and tell her everything's going to be all right. She just looks like she could use someone to take care of her.

"Lucky for you all, I was up most of the night scouring through my shelves." Ruby Walks, owner of the town’s Listening Page Bookstore, does, in fact, look like she spent the entire night wide awake. Dark circles hang heavy beneath her eyes. Her skin’s lost its healthy luster for a slightly more sallow shade.

Goddess, I have been so selfish.

I ran from the coven’s problems last night to nurse my own sense of woundedness, then threw Kieran’s new issues at them instead of considering how what happened last night is affecting everyone else.

I wince when she glances at me.

Ruby scoffs, and I ready myself for a well-deserved verbal flagellation.

"Don't you dare look at me like that," Ruby says.

Here we go.

"I stayed up late because I wanted to; the last thing I need is to be joined at the hip to some overly powerful being that we just learned the existence of to save our town from some existential threat we didn't even know existed."

I blink.

Ruby clears her throat, looking around a little wildly. Her familiar winds in between her legs, his fluffy tail held like a plume behind him as he lets out a plaintive yowl.

Ruby bends to pick him up. His tufted ears flatten on the back of his head as he surveys us all like a king might his court.

She coughs delicately, looking chagrined. "No one was thinking that, were they?"

"Has everyone forgotten of my condition? And I'm not talking about the amnesia, or whatever you want to call this." Kieran points to his head, his voice strained. "I'm talking about the boner that will not go away.” His points to his other head.

I can't help it. I burst into laughter.

I clap a hand over my mouth, horrified at how horrible it is to laugh at this. Everyone seems caught between shock and awe at both Kieran’s pronouncement and my very ill-timed giggle fit.

As for Kieran, though, he looks down at me with a soft smile. More than anything, that’s what finally makes my laughter stop.

"I might be able to help with the Elder Gods," a deep voice rings out. Druze, a male dryad of staggering size, is looking on from outside our little circle. “I can tell you what I know.”

Lila, his wife, stands with her arms folded gently around a thick towel. It steams lightly, the cloud rising around the pointed tips of the elfin ears poking out through her light blonde hair.

"He can help with that," Lila agrees with a smile. "And I brought some tea. I had an inkling that, ah, someone might be a bit too excitable this morning."

Kieran turns to her immediately and tugs the covered pot from her hands. The towel falls away to reveal a teapot the shape and color of a winter cabbage. More steam pours from the spout.

"Careful, it's very hot," Lila advises, wincing as Kieran manhandles the delicate vessel.

"How did you know what he needed?" Ga'Rek asks. He winds his massive arm around Piper's waist, holding her protectively against him.

It must be nice to be held like that by someone who knows who you are.

Without Kieran's arm around me, occupied as he is with the tea, I feel oddly cold.

"Chirp might have tattled on you to Rosalina," Lila says to Kieran. "That owl is very worried about what you might do to Willow in your, ah, delicate condition." She arches an eyebrow at me, and I hide my smile.

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