Page 53 of The Fae Warrior's Queen

It’s one thing to tell Ro how much I admire her. It’s another to make her feel as though I’m going to stalk her for the rest of her life.

And honestly, the idea has its appeal, which scares the shit out of me. I’m not that person. The kind of man who can’t thrive without a woman at his side.

“What you need is a reinvention,” I declare. “Especially for the fae, because we live so long, we have to reinvent ourselves sometimes. It would be absurd to think we could live thirty thousand years without any drastic changes.”

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

“I am. I know it’s possible because I’ve done it. I’m loyal to the Night Realm now, but I was born in the Day Realm.”

“Wait, what?” Her tone is incredulous with shock. “Under what king and queen?”

“Zed and Lynnea.”

“Zarid’s parents.”

“Yes. I was just a teenager when Zed died and Zarid took over.”

“I hadn’t come here yet, but I’ve heard that was a very turbulent time.”

“It was. I remember the chaos the realm was in. So much upheaval, political and personal.”

“Is that why you joined the military? To protect the kingdom?”

“Sort of. I knew it was the best choice for me because I was an orphan. My mother had died of the plague when I was eight, and my father took his own life the year after.”

“Oh, Kai,” Ro says, then she mumbles to herself, “I’m such an inconsiderate jerk.”

I furrow my brows. “Why would you say that?”

“I never would’ve asked you to… to do what I asked you to do if I’d known you’d been touched personally by suicide.”

“I didn’t even think of it,” I reassure her. “That was over two thousand years ago, and I don’t harbor grief about the loss or the way it happened. I don’t blame my father either. He didn’t want to leave me alone, but what he wanted less was to end up going insane from mate withdrawal. I remember him explaining that he was afraid he would hurt me, so he dropped me off at the orphanage. The next week I learned of his death. He’d driven an iron spike into his own heart.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” Empathetic waves come at me from the other side of the glass door of the shower. They’re so strong, I almost feel it physically, like the steam that’s collecting on my skin. Like a hug without even touching.

“Apologies are a nice sentiment, but in my case, it isn’t needed. At that time, orphans were common because so many of us had lost our parents the same way. I had no shortage of company. There were dozens of boys my age at the children’s home, and they became my new family. We all joined the Day Realm military when we turned twenty-one.”

“And so a warrior was born.”

“Yes.”

“Then how did you end up in the Night Realm? Once you pledge your fealty to a kingdom, it’s impossible to switch.”

“I haven’t told very many people this story,” I state hesitantly. “I’ve allowed tall tales to circulate because the rumors are more interesting than the facts.”

“You sound ashamed.”

“I’m not. It’s just that this part of my past is anticlimactic and sad, so brace yourself,” I warn her before I give her the gruesome history. “One day, soldiers came to the barracks to retrieve me. I’d been summoned by King Zarid himself, and I thought perhaps I was being promoted to a higher rank. Maybe I would be given a position in the royal guard, for no warrior was more dedicated than I. Serving my kingdom was my first priority. I always volunteered to lead missions when given the chance, hoping to prove my worth.”

“Zarid didn’t reward people,” Ro says quietly. “He only punished. He liked to punish.”

“I was dragged to a public courtyard, strapped to a pole, and flogged with a whip that had an iron tip. It was the worst pain imaginable. I don’t know how long it went on for. I lost track of the minutes. Maybe it was hours.” The memory of my own gut-wrenching screams resounds in my head, and I close my eyes and take a deep breath through my nose. “When I think about that day, I can still feel the stinging burn of every crack of the whip, how it split my skin open. How they didn’t just aim for my back, but every part of me. My arms, my face, my stomach, and chest. I remember looking down at the cobblestones. Usually, they were varying shades of brown, but at that moment, they were red. Bright red. From my blood.”

“Kai.” Ro is horrified, her voice breaking.

I should stop. I shouldn’t describe my ordeal in such great detail, but just as I want to know her, I want her to know me.

“At first, I was confused. Surely, I’d been wrongly accused of some crime. My fellow warriors felt the same, and they were outraged on my behalf. They had to be subdued with iron shackles when they tried to intervene, then they were forced to watch. Seeing their faces in the crowd… their expressions mirrored mine—the indignation of being betrayed by our own king. By the end of it, I wasn’t even able to remain standing. It was too excruciating, and when Zarid came out, I was sure he’d see me lying there in a pathetic heap and realize he’d made a mistake. I didn’t even care about getting an apology. I just wanted it to stop and to have the king’s favor once again. But he looked me right in the eyes and spit on me before telling me my sentence was death for offending him. After that, he walked away.”

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