Page 41 of Fated or Knot

1. Learn Serian.

2. Guard your true self.

3. Be charming, strong, intelligent, and cunning.

4. Don’t be a doormat.

To be fair to Marius, he’d only suggested the last point by saying being passive and silent woke the aggressive instincts in most alphas. The Queen of Serian was a tough female who couldput most alphas in their place without the help of her kings. If I wanted her to approve of me as her successor, I needed to be more like her.

I read over the list again and blew out a sigh. I could do this, right?

The other thing I’d learned about the royal pack was that the kings supplemented her. They were trained in the same roles as the princes traveling with me. The lord was her charmer. The protector was her strength. The magician was her dreamlander and protected her sleep. And as for cunning…she often passed ideas back and forth with her comfort, as Tormund was official titled.

But the takeaway there wassupplemented. The kings only started where she left off. I had so far to go and so little time.

Well, the only view out of the window now was an endless stretch of sea. We kept it curtained to keep a reflected glare out of the room. I had nothing to do for days except sit and work, so that’s exactly what I did.

Lunchtime arrived, and I worked through it in an empty room. I copied the Serian alphabet and tried to get my tongue around the painstakingly spelled-out sounds that accompanied each foreign accent mark.

The way this was going, the queen would never be impressed with me and my stumbling attempts at her language. Maybe she’d laugh and I could be her court jester instead.

I was holding my face in both hands when the door opened, letting in the sound of the princes laughing and speaking Serian so effortlessly out in the hall. “Welcome back,” I said.

Someone wafted a baked treat under my nose. “How’re you supposed to learn on an empty stomach, hmm?” Fal teased.

I peeked between my fingers. The lack of scents from the alphas was already messing with me, as Fal had slipped into Marius’s place next to me and Kauz had his wings spread across the couch on the other side of the table. The dark elf wiggled a chocolate chip-studded muffin at me enticingly while the dream warden set down two glasses, one filled with pink juice and the other with chilled water. He also set out his box of ink, which he’d secured under one arm.

“Oh, hi,” I said.

Kauz flashed a knowing smile. Our dream, the kiss—it all flashed before my mind’s eye. I wondered if he was thinking about it too.

I was certainly reliving his confident declaration right before he kissed me.“We are fated to be.”My belly warmed.

I took the muffin and eased a little closer to Fal while I ate it, and he flipped through the first couple pages in the Serian primer I’d been poring over. The alphabet practically sounded like music when he said it, before he repeated it back with the clunky pronunciations given in the primer. His shoulders shook with laughter all the while. “Is this what the Seelie think we sound like?”

“A good thing Lark has four dedicated tutors,” Kauz said, chuckling.

“Three at best. One of us has to make sure she has fun.” The dark elf glanced my way and patted his thigh. He coaxed me into his lap and nuzzled my neck, just to sigh. “Your soap idea is going to be the death of me, Kauzden.”

He seemed to roll those starry eyes. “It’s to help keep us honorable, Falindel.”

Strong arms banded around my middle, just brushing the sensitive edge of my top wings. He tucked me into the line of his body. “Not an inch to the north or south. Our etiquette tutor will be so proud.”

“It’s only day one. And how are you going to ensure she ‘has fun’?”

Fal smacked his lips. “Such doubt on my honor. From the same male who suggested our omega might be a little touch starved?” He nuzzled my cheek, and my wings fluttered in his hold. My sudden, thrilled purr was all the answer he needed.

My next reaction was embarrassment, but then I wondered if Kauz hadn’t done me a favor. I just wanted to be touched and held without it being treated as an oddity or a chore. Before Cymora had ordered me to stop, I’d been the type of child who sought out any positive touch. Hugs, cuddles, companionable leans, squeezes…my omega instincts craved it all. Even unreciprocated hugs with the prickly mermaid were better than the nothing I’d gotten resigned to as an adult.

So, having Fal hold me tight and rest his chin atop my head was bliss. The vibrations of his voice sent a pleasurable shiver up my spine. “We’re going to fix that.”

“I’m watching you,” Kauz remarked before his expression softened. “Would you like a memory charm for your studies, sweetheart?”

“Say yes. They’re very helpful,” Fal whispered.

“Yes,” I said. Anything that’d help me learn their complicated language, I’d take.

I went back to work, jotting down information with my right hand while Kauz kept the left occupied. He pinched away the illusion I’d set on my wrist and dismissed it with a flick of his fingers. He promised he’d give me ink I wouldn’t have to hide.

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