Page 43 of The Fae Queen's Harem

15

My court and my small Fae army entered the Forbidden Forest—the forest that had once whisked me away because of my curse, the forest that had been poisoned by Tianna, the forest that remembered me and had waited for my return.

It had accepted me as the true queen of Sihde and begged me to heal it.

It would be my eyes and ears, and the spirits wouldn’t allow Tianna’s spies to enter.

The Fae who had pledged their allegiance to me in Tianna’s throne room gagged at what they’d seen in front of them. I had ripped off the evil queen’s glamour, so the forest now bore no illusion of endless blue, silver, and glowing blossoms. I wanted them to see what the Forbidden Forest had become.

It was blackened, dried, and bleak, but it was no longer dying after I returned. It’d drawn some life force from me—its queen—at my permission. The smell of death and decay was also fading.

My court raged at seeing the reality of their beloved land.

Faint magic tugged at me, like last time, but it was no longer starving.

“You’re getting better, forest,” I said.

Thanks to you, our queen, a forest spirit said.We’re recovering faster since you removed the poisonous glamour.

You must win the Challenge, so we can heal properly and continue to exist, another voice said.

They’d foreseen Tianna’s game before we left here last time. They’d warned me, “Be aware of the betrayals, yet not all are what they appear to be.”

The dragon princes had demanded to have the traitor’s names and vowed to gut him. The irony was that they had turned out to be the turncoats.

The rest of the forest spirits’ words chimed in my head. “Be aware of the double faces and two foulest entities in one. Only when your mates and you find her darkest secret will you free us all.”

If my former consorts were the traitors, the forest spirits wouldn’t have used the plural when they predicted. “Only when your mates and you find her darkest secret…”

I hadn’t turned into Furies. I was still here, though I was running out of time.

Could my three other mates be double agents?

But could the hardened, heartless looks they’d cast my way and the cruelty they’d shown me all be a ruse?

I no longer knew anything anymore.

It’s an honor you bestow on us to have your bonding ceremony in our forest, our queen, the spirits sighed with satisfaction.We’re guarding the entrances. No enemies can enter.

I nodded. Elvey and I would be formally wed here.

The Forbidden Forest wasn’t as glorious as before. The blossoms had faded, the trees blackened, and the soil dried. It wasn’t exactly a romantic setting for a wedding ceremony, but it was practical.

Under my current dire condition, safety was most important, and I needed to get this done quickly. The forest would keep watch while we carried on our affairs, and its ivy vines with razor sharp edges would keep the enemies out.

“Thank you,” I said to the forest.

Hello, Elvey Fionn, finally, the spirits greeted, turning their interest on Elvey.

He flashed a feral grin at the spirits only he could see. Somehow, I had a hunch their history wasn’t completely pleasant.

While Elvey and the spirits engaged in their now coded, silent-to-others conversation, I found the priestess standing beside Rosalinda amid my court.

She wore a white gown, and I was clad in armor, ready for battle. Her violet eyes never left me. A soon as I was done talking to the spirits, she glided toward me. From her expression, I could tell that she’d heard every word of the conversation between the spirits and me. Evidently, she was deeply rooted in the spiritual world. She was a priestess, after all.

And if the Forbidden Forest had allowed her in, it meant she wasn’t in Tianna’s pocket.

The dried leaves and twigs weren’t obstacles to her graceful gait. The priestess paused in front of me.

---