Page 2 of A Fate so Cruel

A small laugh rumbled through her now. “You’re just like your father. Thinking too much before the sun’s even come up.”

Rion didn’t sit up. He hated being told he was anything like his father. He didn’t want to grow up cold and stern. Rion wanted to be more like his mother. A kind Fae the citizens nearly worshiped.

“Why don’t you ever go out with them?” he asked. Never once had she left him in the cabin alone.

She held him a little tighter. “Because I want to be here with you.”

“But didn’t you used to go? Before me?”

She chuckled again. “I did.”

“Do you miss it?”

She leaned her head against his. “I’ll miss this more. One day you’ll be all big and strong and I won’t have my little Rion to snuggle.”

He pursed his lips at that. “I don’t want to grow up then.” Another laugh. “Will you go when I’m older?”

She brushed a hand through his hair. “I’d miss my tea. Your father wakes up far too early for my taste.”

“Then I’ll stay here, too.”

“I thought you wanted to join them?” He had, but—

“I don’t want you to be here by yourself. That doesn’t sound like fun.”

She shifted and he sat up to stare into her green eyes. The same eyes that looked back at him through the mirror wheneverhe brushed his teeth. “Tell you what,” she said. “When we come here, I’ll make sure you’re allowed to stay with me every morning.”

A smile spread over his face. “You promise?”

“Promise.”

His brows scrunched. “Won’t Father be mad?”

She poked his side and Rion doubled over, trying not to laugh. “You let me worry about your father.”

He pushed her hand away. “It’s a promise, then. Forever.”

Her face shifted at that and something like pain crossed her features.

Rion pushed. “You’ll always be here, right?”

She pulled him back into her shoulder and squeezed tight. “I can’t always see the future, little one.”

Rion didn’t like the acrid scent coming off her. He’d learned to recognize it for what it was. “Liar.”

She chuckled again. “Just remember, the future isn’t set in stone. It can always change.”

He sat up again. “What do you see in my future?”

“Great things.”

“Like what?”

She flicked the tip of his nose and he swatted her hand away. “If I told you everything, it would ruin the journey.”

He pouted. “You tell Father things.”

His mother studied him, then lowered her voice to a near whisper. She glanced around as if someone could be hiding in the shadows. “I don’t tell him everything.”

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