Page 60 of Bride of the Fae Prince

Now my face heats even more than before.

Don’t get too carried away,I tell myself as Ash leads me through countless rows of the most beautiful flowers I’ve everseen, heading toward a stunning waterfall ahead. It’s a challenge when I want to gasp at everything I lay my eyes on, but I must be on my guard. There are things I still need to understand and questions I must ask.

But I cannot help exclaiming, “Oh!” as Ash brings me right to the mossy bank beside the waterfall tumbling over the edge of rocks into a small pool and stream that winds through the entire garden.

Ash grins at me. “There’s a bench here. Come, let’s sit.”

I can’t tear my eyes away from a pair of dancing butterflies, so I just let Ash lead me to the bench.

“You seem a little overwhelmed.”

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful!”

“I have. I’ve seen something far lovelier, in fact.”

“Then you’re quite lucky.”

He only chuckles. “Indeed.”

I drink in my fill of the landscape, then force myself to focus. My husband sits beside me on the bench, his arms sprawled wide across the back, his long legs stretched out in front of him. His handsome face is turned away from me, watching the waterfall. I take a deep breath and ask, “Ash?”

“Yes, darling?”

“Am I to be queen?”

Silence falls. His gaze flees from me, focusing on the pair of butterflies I admired earlier. “You are to exist. That is it.”

Not queen, then. Part of me is relieved. I have no interest in being queen over a people I do not understand. A larger part of me is concerned. If Ash is to be High King, and I am not to be his queen, is that because of my humanity, or is it because I am not expected to survive long enough to claim the title?

It might be both.

Something leaping out of the water, straight into the air, and falling back beneath the pond, interrupts my thoughts. “Was that a fish?”

“Was what a fish?”

“Watch!” I point, studying the water and refusing to look away.

My determination is rewarded. Only a moment later, thethingjumps out of the water and plops back in with a splash. It has a long, sleek body the color of a shiny blueberry. “See? That!”

“Ahh. Indeed, it is a fish. Are you surprised?”

“I haven’t seen any so vivid, and certainly none that jump out of the water!”

He chuckles. That merriment fades after a moment, a line appearing between his brows.

“What?” I ask.

He studies me. “You’re different.”

“Different?”

“From when we met.”

My shoulders ease and I turn away from that intense gaze. “Oh. Well, that was because I needed to not scare you off. Now I’m not worried about that.”

“Scare me off?” asks Ash, a note of surprise in his voice. “What makes you think I’m so spineless that a human princess would scare me?”

I sit up straighter, brushing my hands down my skirts to smooth them. “Do not underestimate princesses. They can be quite vicious when provoked.”

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