Page 1 of Fake Fae-Ancée

Yuri

Ten years prior

Base Camp 05,

outside the safety zone

The camp was buzzingwith news of a female soldier who was allegedly flooring any challenger in sparring.

I didn't believe a word of it, of course. A woman? And a Fae, too? Those pathetic weaklings who couldn't even hold a sword right? Yeah, that would be the day.

But my comrades dragged me toward the gym, telling me, grinning and sneering, I should just see for myself. I followed them through the maze of barrack buildings, shaking my head in unbelieving amusement.

I had just returned from furlough so a little entertainment wouldn't hurt, might cheer me up actually. Father had given me hell at home. The past few days had been one endless lecture about how I should finally pull myself together and get myself a decent wife.

"You're the heir to the throne, damn it! Stop fucking around and act like it!"

Had I known those would be the last words he'd ever say to me, I probably wouldn’t have mentally given him the finger. But my father was still the King of Bears, and at least for now I was still quite the entitled little prince, convinced I was untouchable. And with exactly this attitude I entered the training hall.

The air was thick and hot, a smell like a cage filled with predators who hadn’t been fed in a while hit my sensitive nose. The hall was crowded with soldiers, blue shirts next to olive-green ones, yelling at the top of their lungs. A barking mob of guys, freaking out like they were attending an illegal cock-fight out on a stag night.

Me and my boys shouldered our way through the wall of EDF-soldiers just as the crowd cried out in surprise and dismay.

In the middle of the ring, a humongous guy hit the mat with a thud. One of the gunners, quite a loudmouth, always lifting insane amounts of weight and letting everyone hear about it who couldn't get away fast enough. The guy skidded across the mats and came to a stop at the feet of the wall of soldiers.

I blinked. In the midst of the ring of roaring guys, standing tall, was… a girl. Or something like that anyway. She was wearing blue EDF combat attire. I frowned, the corners of my mouth tugging downwards. What the fuck was a girl doing here dressed like a soldier? She was just a scrap, petite but wiry, dark hair trimmed short — and pointy-eared. She really was Fae. Dark-Fae, too, if I judged her olive complexion correctly.

Bear growled in the back of my mind — but I was surprised to find him... intrigued.

No, I had to be mistaken. My creature was a wild, feral thing and whenever I had encountered any Fae, he had sniffed in disgust, baring his fangs.

But not now…

The girl twirled her practice weapon — a polished wooden staff — in her hand once, flashing violet eyes into the crowd. Adrenalin pinched in my chest.

What the hell was she doing here?

"Told you," my comrade whispered next to me, his eyebrows dancing up and down.

With growing puzzlement, I watched the next challenger stepping forward — another huge guy, a blue shirt, one of the basic grunts — and grabbing a practice sword from one of the racks.

The girl tilted her head expectantly, as the guy entered the ring. Ten agonizing seconds later, his weapon flew whirling through the air and above the heads of the howling mob. The guy swayed. The girl spun and delivered a swift kick to his chest. He oomph-ed as he flew several meters through the air and hit the floor outside the ring, the crowd scattering, some guys falling like bowling pins, the rest roaring in applause.

"She's been taking them apart one by one for a week now," my comrade informed me with a suggestive grin.

I stared at her, frowning. She must have been among the new arrivals from west of the exclusion zone who came in this week. All from those sparkling cities in the west, all newbies, still green behind the ears and lacking any real combat experience.

However, she would have no problems with that, the way things looked.

The girl stretched her shoulders, circling within the ring while the audience around her roared and bets exchanged hands.

No way, if there wasn't a guy present to show her what was what. And I was not just any guy. I was a Bear. The freaking prince of Bears, to be exact. Utterly impossible for me not to stop this bizarre spectacle immediately, put the Fae in her place and restore cosmic order.

"This stops now," I muttered, stepping forward.

Silence swept over the crowd.

The girl turned, measuring me from top to bottom with those irritating violet eyes. Something in my chest churned. She was Fae, alright. If the pointy-ears hadn’t given it away already, the color of her eyes now did.

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