Page 18 of Silent Secrets

Hunter

Ireallydon’twant to do this—I’d rather be anywhere but fucking here. I hate that my father pressured me into coming to Natsu to train the Fae Queen, who is practically a mortal. He wants me and my friends to get rid of her by any means necessary, hoping he can make a grab for the throne. He’d even tried to use that as a reason I should get rid of her because if he takes the throne, it will be mine one day—as if I want the damned throne.

My father definitely doesn’t need to be on the throne, but when I’d tried to refuse the task, he’d threatened my twin siblings who are only ten. I’d do anything for them and he fucking knows it. So here I am, getting ready to train this girl on magic that she doesn’t even have access to yet. I don’t know what Grace was thinking.

First, how the hell do you teach someone about magic when they don’t have access to it? I know that we’re taught about it as children, but that’s because we have years to learn about it so that we’ll be more likely to be able to control it when we turn twenty-one. But we have two weeks for me to teach her about Fae magic, where it comes from, and how to control it when she didn’t even know magic was real two days ago.

While I know my father would make a terrible king, I also don’t think that this girl should be our queen. She knows nothing of us or our ways. How can someone lead us when they know nothing of us? Of our traditions? If they know nothing about our people? They can’t.

And besides my father threatening Caleb and Haven, this is the real reason that I agreed to come as the Winter court representative. It’s why I convinced my friends that we need to get her to leave. Only I decided that instead of trying to bully her into leaving, we could overwhelm her and make her see how unfit she is for this position that is being thrust upon her. We can act as if we are her friends—or at least the others can, because besides the three of them, I have no other friends and I wouldn’t even know how to pretend—and then we can make her listen to us.

Though I’m not sure how on board Marcos is with the plan. He’s got this crazy idea in his head that we should make her fall in love with us and then marry her—which is absurd. But he also has a tendency to think with his dick, so I don’t know why I’m surprised. I wonder if he realizes that it’s expected that you only sleep with your spouse once you’re married?

I spin around when I hear the doors slam shut and there she is. I barely manage to keep my face blank as I take her in. Caiden hadn’t been lying when he’d said she was hot. She’s gorgeous and that body? If she wasn’t who she was, I wouldn’t think twice about fucking her.

“Hi.” Her voice is hesitant as she calls out to me.

I scowl, glancing at my watch. “You were almost late. I expect you to do better tomorrow.”

All hesitation drops from her face, anger rising in its place. “Fuck you. No one thought to include time in my schedule to get from lesson to lesson. And I wasn’t late, which is all that should matter.”

“Maybe to you, princess,” I spit out her title as if it offends me—which I guess it does, “but to me, it’s not good enough. And if you want to learn how to control the magic that you’ll supposedly get on your birthday, you’ll show up early or I’ll leave and you won’t learn.”

Hadley’s mouth drops open as she gapes at me. I’m sure that there’s more that she wants to say, but I don’t have time for it. It’s bad enough that I have to spend two hours out of my day training her. I won’t let her waste my time.

“Get over here,” I bark.

She flinches at my tone, but before she can respond, I call forth my magic and a ball of water appears in my hand. She blinks for a moment, walking closer as I manipulate the water into different shapes. It’s one of the easiest things to do with magic and something that even those with the weakest power can do, but she doesn’t know that.

“Will I be able to do that?” she asks quietly, her anger from earlier disappearing.

I snort. “If not, then you definitely won’t be the Fae Queen.”

When she glances back up at me, a question in her eyes, I shrug. “I would say that this is so simple a child could do it, but we don’t have magic as children, so that saying doesn’t quite work. Even the weakest amongst the Winter court can call forth water and form it into shapes. Not all Fae can conjure their element from nothing. Many of them have to be near it and call it to them, which is easier for those with air and earth, as we’re constantly surrounded by them.”

“But you didn’t pull it from something, did you? You—what did you call it? Conjured it?”

I shrug, not allowing the awe in her words to affect me. “I’m one of the most powerful water Fae in Sorlphi. This is nothing.”

It’s not bragging, it’s just the truth. My family is the most powerful in the Winter court and as much as it pisses my father off, I’m more powerful than even he is. I let my power fall away, hands falling to my side.

“What else can you do?”

I consider showing her what else I can do, but what will it accomplish? Nothing.

“I’m not here to put on a magic show for you, princess. I’m here to teach you about magic and how to control it. We’ll start and end our sessions with meditation so you can learn how to clear your mind. Your moods influence your magic, and the easiest way to gain control is by learning to center yourself.”

I drop to the ground, crossing my legs, and gesturing for her to do the same. She doesn’t sit down right away, eyeing me for a moment before shrugging.

“I assume you’re Hunter? The name is Hadley—not princess.”

“You are a princess. That’s your actual title, Hadley,” I snipe, gesturing once more for her to sit. Though I’m not actually calling her princess because it’s her title, I will not let her know that. She rolls her eyes but says nothing as she plops down beside me.

“I chose the gardens because it’s quiet out here. Until you learn how to clear your mind on your own, we’ll use meditation, and the easiest place to do that is somewhere calm and quiet. We’ll do twenty minutes at the beginning and the end, though eventually you’ll be able to practice without the need to meditate. But when you first get access to your magic, those quiet moments will be necessary.”

“Do I need to sit like that?” Hadley waves her hand at me where I sit with my legs crossed, palms flat on my knees.

I shake my head. “You may sit however you want. It just needs to be comfortable enough for you to remain in that position for twenty minutes. Once you’ve found your position, you’ll close your eyes and focus on your breathing. If you find your mind wandering, bring it back to focus on your breathing, and that’s it. That’s all meditation is.”

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