Page 116 of Fated or Knot

“That sounds like him,” I mused. I was reminded again of why I was glad to have Fal as my future pack lead if he wielded that kind of influence over his brothers with care.

“Well, that’s my thing.” He circled his hand vaguely. “Figuring out others and their secrets.” He tilted his head, considering me. I saw the hesitation before he added, “Perhaps it’s not the time, but I want to ask you a question.”

I fidgeted with my fingertips until I accidentally poked the edge of a cuticle with one of my sharp new nixie nails. “Um, okay,” I said.

“Do you understand me?” he asked in Serian.

Icy surprise chilled my belly. Had he overhead the house moths talking about this too? Or maybe I’d given myself away while blinded by my hangover.

“I understand you better than I used to,” I answered, also switching languages.

His brows rose. “Listen to you. Not even a Theli burr. Restoring your memories gave you Serian, then?”

“Please don’t be angry,” I added with a hunch of my shoulders.

He corrected my word choice, since I’d saidhotrather thanangry. “I’m not. How could I be? You know I love to be tricked,” he added, though his lips downturned. “I’m wondering why you kept this a secret. In a void, I would assume you don’t trust us.”

“It hasn’t come up,” I said apologetically.

He tilted his head back and forth. “So, you trust my brothers and me? Your pack?” he pressed.

“Aye.” Though that wasn’t the whole truth, so I added on, “Mostly.”

“Mostly,” he repeated, chewing the word like a tough piece of gristle.

I needed to explain before guilt ate me alive or he came to the wrong conclusions. “You all somehow planned the removal of my silencing band and, um, the thing with my stepmother without me knowing, and we were stuck in a train together while you did. I just…wondered what you all talk about while I’m right there in the room with you.”

His gaze softened with understanding. “Ah. In our defense, it was an unusual circumstance. If your full name was enough to knock you unconscious, imagine what hearing us discover theolcanusand your stepmother’s part in it would’ve done to your health.”

“I know,” I murmured.

“We’re not plotting against you,” he continued. “You came to us with a head full of nonsense about how Unseelie act, but your pack has always had your best interests at heart.”

Tears pricked my eyes, and I drew in a little sob. He was right, of course. The princes, and now our family, had been nothing but kind to me. “Hey, don’t cry. You’re barely hydrated,” he said in his usual teasing tone. “You eavesdropped on us for a couple days, and what did you really learn?”

I considered and shrugged. Not too much, actually. “You and Marius don’t get along.”

That just seemed to amuse him. “And you didn’t need to know Serian to realize that. Or to know that we’re siblings and insulting each other is what we do best.”

“I’m sorry.” I was still in a heavy mood while he was trying to make light of the moment. My head hurt, and I worried this would come back to haunt me more than waking up with my magic sticking me to a ceiling, however that had happened. “I didn’treallythink you were plotting anything or that it was really about you being Unseelie while I’m not. I was mostly curious and?—”

His weight on the bed beside me dipped the mattress, and I slid into his side. He took my fidgeting hands in his, separating them. “It’s all right, my treasure. Look at me,” he coaxed. I met his gaze, those blue cat’s eyes still full of the same kind of affection I’d admired last night. “You’re Unseelie too.”

“Half,” I said.

He shook his head. “There’s no such thing. Your mates are Unseelie, your new family is Unseelie, and if any of your mother’s birth family are still alive, they’re Unseelie too. Aspectsof your magic—the illusions, at least—are designed to trick and disorient. Which is…” He gasped dramatically.

“Unseelie,” I supplied, feeling a crisis coming on internally. How was that possible? I’d been Seelie since…

Well, since Cymora had hidden away any attributes to the contrary. She’d been the main voice in my head to suggest Unseelie weren’t to be trusted. They were vile and cruel…

And yet, the princes weren’t that way.Iwasn’t that way.

“And Serian is beautiful on your tongue. Tormund is going to be so happy when he hears the news,” he said before switching languages back to a Theli purr. “But I think I’ll continue on with this a while more. Until my accent doesn’t make you blush.”

I reddened on cue. “What gave me away?” I asked.

“The way you light up every time I speak?” he teased, making an offhand gesture after releasing one of my hands. With the other, he twined his fingers with mine. “Or the faces you’ve started making when you’re eavesdropping? Hmm, or perhaps it was Kauz sweet-talking you in Serian while you were on a ceiling and you not misunderstanding a word.”

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