Page 28 of Fae Unashamed

Addie closed her hand around the leaf again. “I stole it to put it back where it belongs.”

My stomach hit the floor. At first, I wanted to shout that she was being selfish. There was no reason to put it back right this second. If she’d used a leaf from the world tree to survive her fight with Fenrir the world devourer, then I deserved the same opportunity. Denying me the extra power was akin to letting me die.

A sob escaped me. Not because I was mad at my friend, but because I could feel myself coming apart at the seams. Was I becoming more Unseelie by the day? Was this curse really going to change me so intrinsically? I loathed the thought. All this time, I’d held onto the idea that it made no difference if someone was Seelie or Unseelie.

And it still held true. The problem wasme.

Addie glanced down at my still open pocket. “Oh no! What happened?”

“The vial broke…” I stared down at the mess in my jacket.

Addie reached out. “When Bastien kidnapped you, and you left behind a trail of herbs, I was able to momentarily bring them back to life to create a trail. If I do it, the herbs won’t live long. But ifyouwere to try it, then you could have the herb separate itself from the glass.”

I sniffled and did my best to pull myself together. Addie was right. My seams were coming undone, but that didn’t change who I was. If I could pull myself together long enough to think, then I would have realized that the solution was simple. I could have thought of that all on my own.

Addie touched my arm. “This battle is overwhelming, and you feel like you’re all on your own. I get it. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

I smiled up at my friend.

Hilda snorted. “The two of you are so sickeningly sweet that I feel like someone dunked me in a pot of hot sugar. I’m sticky and burning just from being around you.”

“Sounds like you’re having an allergic reaction to genuine kindness,” Addie said.

“Isthatwhat it is? It’s been centuries since I’ve known kindness. People don’t even leave out bowls of oat milk for us small folk let alone cream. It’s been rough out here with all these new fake milk concoctions.”

“You’re so weird.” Addie shook her head.

Meanwhile, I poured my arcana into the herb and glass mixture in my pocket. For a moment, I worried that the chill night sensation in my arcana would hinder the growth process. Plants normally needed sunlight to grow, but it seemed that nightsmane lived up to its name. It unfurled from my pocket and grew in all directions.

The soft while flowers hung like little bells. It reminded me a bit of baby’s breath but larger and glowing. Long green leaves rolled out from the narrow stalks. I pinched off several leaves and a flower to use in my potion. Now that it was free of the glass, I could mix it into a drinkable potion.

I breathed a sigh of relief. The way that I’d broken down over something that should have been so easy to fix really left me unsettled. I knew that walking this path alone would take a lot out of me, but it seemed to be destroying my ability to think clearly. My selfishness nearly made me betray a close friend.

“I’m sorry about what happened at the market,” Addie said with her head hung.

Just as I was about to tell her that it was alright, Tal appeared in the living room. He threw his hands in the air and groaned.

“What in the seven realms did you just do?” He stormed towards us.

Addie jammed her clenched fist into her pocket. Despite the thickness of the puffer jacket, the glow of the world tree leaf still shone through. I looked to the nightsmane growing out of my own jacket then back at Tal. We couldn’t hide anything from him right now.

His shoulders slumped as his brows furrowed and his jaw dropped in shock. “I heard that the Seelie princess was accused of stealing at the Goblin Market of all places, and I come back to this? Did you really have to steal nightsmane of all things? That herb is so rare and expensive, the merchant is going to send assassins after you!”

I jerked my thumb at Addie. “She did it.”

Tal guffawed at Addie. She gave a wave. On the outside, she looked like an upstanding member of society—agood girl,if you will. No one would suspect the girl next door type of stealing from the market. So, Tal seemed stricken by the idea.

“I’m not talking about it,” she said firmly.

Tal started to argue then closed his eyes and forced his hands back down to his sides. “You aren’t under my command. I cannot scold you, though I would very much like to in this circumstance. Do either of you understand the implications of a Goblin Market? The fact that you were seen there at all is absolutely abysmal.”

I cocked my head. The market seemed nice, in my opinion. There were a lot of humans trying to get their fae food fix, but that wasn’t the market’s doing. I knew that Beryl was the one who hooked them, and they were just trying to survive. Otherwise, the market held a number of surprises that I’d never expected to find.

“Why is that so bad?” I asked curiously. “Is it because goblins are unfavored by the courts? Is it because the people there are treated with the same disdain as the other small folk? Perhaps even more so because they have created something akin to their own court?”

Tal blustered for a moment, but I could tell he had no answer. Finally, he simmered down and crossed his arms over his chest. “I hate when you’re right.”

“Goblins are the armpit of the fae world,” Hilda chimed in.

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