Page 13 of Silent Secrets

“Gods, you’re an idiot with a one-track mind, aren’t you?” I know he isn’t actually irritated with me when he laughs. The upside to being friends for going on seventy years is that you learn how to read a person.

“But you’re not denying it…”

“Fine, yes. She’s fucking gorgeous. Is that what you want to hear?”

I grin because yes, that’s exactly what I want to hear. Now I’m really looking forward to my session with her and a quick glance at the clock tells me that it’s almost time to meet her.

“Well, on that note, I guess I should go meet her. Assuming she can find the war room.”

“She might be late. She asked me where she could get food and I told her the dining room, but I didn’t bother to show her where it was. Grace said she was giving her a tour, but considering the size of the palace, it’s likely she doesn’t remember where everything is.”

I shrug. It doesn’t much matter to me if she’s late—except that means less time with her, which I might mind. I could always punish her when she takes away from our time. I wonder if she likes spankings? My cock springs to life at the thought. I do like a good spanking. Just where I needed my mind to go.

I force my mind away from spankings and onto the Fae courts and politics—the topics that I’ll be teaching Hadley. Not my favorite subjects in the world, but my father made sure I was well versed in them. I’m still not sure why we’re bothering to teach her about our world if we’re trying to get her to leave Sorlphi.

I’ve asked Hunter about it multiple times, but he’s ignored me every single time. If it weren’t for the fact that he shot me down every time I brought it up, I’d think he was planning on my preferred plan—having her fall for us. Just because she’s to be the queen doesn’t mean that the four of us can’t have power. Though it does mean that our parents wouldn’t gain any power, which is probably why Hunter is so against it. His father is likely the one who vetoed that idea.

The door to the war room is open, but I don’t stop to think about that as I push inside. I come up short when my eyes land on the goddess that sits at the table. Is this Hadley? It must be.

When she hears me, her head shoots up, drawing her attention away from the book that she’s reading. She doesn’t smile as her eyes run up and down me—very obviously checking me out.

“You must be Hadley. I’m Marcos Castillo, the Spring court representative.” I give an elaborate bow once I stand beside her chair, taking her hand in mine and lifting it to my lips. “It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you, beautiful.”

Hadley laughs but doesn’t pull her hand from mine. I can’t do anything but stare at her because if I’d thought she was gorgeous while reading, it’s nothing on how fucking hot she is when she laughs.

Holy shit.

“We’ll see if you still feel that way after spending a few hours with me. The last representative didn’t seem to like me nearly as much when he left me.”

Do I detect hurt in her tone? I wonder exactly what Caiden had done. He had mentioned nothing beyond the fact that she was hot—which she most certainly is—and that he’d tried to convince her to leave.

“I don’t think a few hours will change my opinion, and Caiden said nothing about his time spent with you being unpleasant.”

I sit beside her as she shrugs, shutting the book she’d been reading, and giving me a chance to glance at the title.

Sorlphi Gods and Their Impact on Our World Today.

“Some light reading I see?”

Hadley glances between me and the book. “Caiden said I should read as much as possible on Bria, since she is the main goddess that the Fae worship.”

I nod slowly, considering. “He’s not wrong. For us, the first thing we’ll be going over is the courts and I’m sure that there are books on them, but I’m not much of a reader. After that, we’ll be talking about politics and what I have to teach you won’t be inside any book.”

“Good, I don’t need to add more reading on top of the lessons.” She sets the book to the side and opens her notebook, making me smirk.

“What a good little student you are.”

Hadley blushes, head ducking as she laughs. “I might not have known who or what I was before, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want this.” She pauses. “Or at least that I accept it, and understand that this is important.”

A smile forms unbidden, surprising me. There’s something about Hadley that draws me to her, something that’s making me want her to succeed. Which is… inconvenient, seeing as that is not what our parents have decreed. I don’t know what it is about her, but I know I need to get to know her better. Maybe for these two hours a day I can forget what I’m supposed to do and just be here?

I shake my head and force myself from my thoughts, focusing on everything that I will need to teach her. She really knows nothing about us or our ways, which is going to make this harder.

Hadley listens raptly, taking notes as I speak. I kind of like it. She tells me that so far all she knows is the major and minor courts, and that the major courts are without leaders currently. At least that gives me a starting point.

For the next two hours, I explain the characteristics of the minor courts and how they’re ruled by an aristocracy that can change every so often based upon how powerful a family is—though it hasn’t changed for hundreds of years. There are three families who lead each court. The more powerful they are, the higher the position they hold. The duke and duchess are the heads of the most powerful family—Hunter, Caiden, Kai, and my parents all hold this position in our courts. Following them are the Earl and Countess, and then the Baron and Baroness.

We discuss the elemental power that is held by each court. Every Fae in the Autumn court controls air, while my court controls Earth. Summer controls fire and Winter controls water. We don’t speak of magic beyond that because she will have lessons with Hunter on that particular subject.

Once finished with what I wanted to cover today, I glance at the clock and see that we still have at least fifteen minutes before I need to let her head off to meet Kai. Sure, I could let her go early, but I think I’d rather spend the time getting to know her.

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