Page 113 of Fated or Knot

“Spoken like someone who’s never been in love,” Siora sing-songed.

“Pfft. I agree. Too much bother in real life. They’re better in books,” Eletha said over the rim of her goblet.

“Oh, please. You werejusttalking about your—wait. Let’s save that talk for later.” Siora’s red eyes flashed to Ambriel and then back to her adult sister, who nodded in agreement.

“It’s ready,” Ambriel declared. When I asked what the game was, she gasped and gathered up her blanket, relocating to my lap to snuggle in with me. “It’s okay. We can be a team. Team Happy Fins,” she declared.

I had stilled with surprise when she’d came and sat across my thighs without hesitation, but she was a kid. I just hadn’t been around an omega this little since…well, I was her age. No one seemed to find it odd, so I relaxed and petted her soft blue curls. She instantly started purring, which set me off too.

“Why Happy Fins?” I asked.

Ambriel wiggled hers a little, as if on cue. “That’s what Dad calls me,” she giggled. She tilted her head back to look up at me and added, “All my dads. And everyone else. You should too!”

I smiled and nodded, having the feeling this little omega would have me wrapped around her littlest finger by the end of nixie night. My belly was already feeling warm from the wine, and the room was more bright and colorful around the edges as she and her sisters explained the board game to me.

Ambriel mostly played for me while I chatted with her sisters. Siora had batted her lashes and asked, “So, Lark, howdidyou meet our brothers?”

This launched into a huge story, which I narrated with increasing style as the nixies kept my goblet topped up.

The princesses howled with laughter as I told them about stealing Fal’s mask and spooking when his Unseelie nature was revealed. “She jumped off the balcony,” Siora parroted.

“I don’t think anyone’s done that to escape him before,” Tanith added, swiping at the corners of her eyes.

They didn’t seem all that surprised to hear that I wasn’t dressed appropriately for the event. I kept my former servant status quiet, though I’d bet full moons on them already knowing something about it.

Still, they had a good time hearing about Tormund’s surprise kindness after my balcony flop, Kauz nibbling on the apple tartlets in my dream that night, and Marius’s panicked run with me over his shoulder when “he smelled something, uh, off about me.” With a kid as part of my attentive audience, I didn’t dare say more than that.

By the time we finished the game, said child was starting to nod off. Tanith got up and tapped Ambriel on the shoulder. “Does little Happy Fins want my nest or her own?” she cooed.

Ambriel perked up and said, “Yours, please.”

The older nixie scooped her up off my lap while I watched the colors in the room dance with a goofy little smile. Siora reached over to top up my goblet again. “It’s time for the real nixie night,” she said gleefully. “Starting with Eletha and her grimalkin.”

“No, no,” Eletha giggled, sounding about as drunk as I felt. “Why do you want to talk about him? I don’t even know who he is.”

Siora laughed and leaned against me. I leaned back companionably. “She’s got the biggest crush on a heat helper,” she told me. “And his textured cock!”

I sputtered out the sip of wine I’d been about to take back into my goblet, then choked on a few errant droplets. “What?” I half coughed, half laughed.

Eletha blushed so hard her cheeks turned indigo. “I swear, one of them is the same male each time. I can tell by the…you know.”

“What’s a heat helper?” I whispered to Siora.

“Oh, you poor, sheltered farm town girl,” the curvy nixie exclaimed. “It’s a real profession for male alphas. Those with the stamina and without a bonded female help us poor unbonded omegas through our heats.”

“They come in when the heat haze has already set in, do their, um, business, and leave before you even know who they are,”Eletha mumbled. “I wish the grimalkin would stay. He helps me twice a year and never stops to say hi or anything.”

“Unrequited love,” Siora sighed, splaying against me dramatically.

Tanith returned, goblet in hand, without their littlest sister. “What, Eletha and her grimalkin?” she guessed.

The librarian nixie covered her face. “Not you too!”

“Maybe he’s shy because you’re a princess?” I offered.

“Maybe he knows Eletha wouldcombustif he asked her on a date,” Siora added.

“Speaking of combusting. I’ve heard you haven’t had your first heat yet?” Tanith asked me. Eletha and Siora turned identical looks of horror my way.

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