Page 19 of Forgiving a Fae Warrior

While his enemy still paced and waited to strike, Galen spared a quick glance for Wren. Still free, still on her feet, and still advancing on the magical construct of wind that blocked her way to the king she loved. Sigurd must have done it to keep her away from harm. It might have worked if she wasn’t so persistent.

When he glanced back to Katiya, she also watched the human woman.

“Eyes over here,” Galen snapped, raising his blade in a shaking hand.

She bared her fangs. “You can barely hold your sword.”

But hold it, he would.

“You—” Katiya started, but stilled as more members of the Court of the Forest appeared around her, one with their blade poised at her throat.

Galen’s eyes widened. She wouldn’t dare pose a threat to Wren now.

“You’reseverely outnumbered,” Sylvie taunted, advancing on her. “Still wish to fight?” She lifted her blade, the point poised toward Katiya’s face. “Drop your weapons.”

Katiya snarled but did as commanded, her gaze flicking toward the tornado surrounding the dueling kings.

“She can shift,” Galen warned. “Don’t let her flee.”

A Forest guard surprised him by reacting immediately and grabbing one of Katiya’s arms. Sylvie sheathed her sword and took the other. Their magic should be strong enough to hold her, even if Katiya tried to flee. That she hadn’t yet was a wonder, but as he watched her twist her head toward her surrounded comrades, he understood why. She didn’t want to leave them.

Even the Unseelie had a sense of honor among them.

A wave of magic tingled across his skin. The familiar feel called to him, causing his chest to clench tight. He turned in the direction it came from and watched as the magical twister split apart, the debris falling from the sky to reveal the two kings bound in vines and another, the one whose magic he’d felt, standing among them.

Rivenean.Galen swallowed the tightness in his throat.

Wren shoved herself up from the ground where she must have fallen and raced toward Sigurd. Her cries carried over the new, eerie silence. The collective fae seemed to hold their breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

Galen thrust the tip of his sword into the ground and leaned on the pommel for support. It’d be bad for the blade, but that was the least of his worries. It could be sharpened. He, on the other hand, might bleed out before he ever saw what the kings might do when three of them faced each other down on the plane of battle.

Blood seeped from Galen’s wounds. Pain burned down to his bones. The world around him grew blurred at the edges. It would only be a matter of time before he passed out, or worse. He needed healing. But as an outcast, who would offer that? He couldn’t do it, nor Sylvie.

As if his thoughts drew her attention, Sylvie slid her gaze away from the kings and toward him. Her eyes widened, a green glow seeping from them. “Where’s a healer?” she snapped to the other guards around her.

The nearby guards who’d come to assist looked between one another. “Waiting at the border,” one said.

“Get one.” Sylvie pointed at him. “Now. Supplies too.”

“Right away,” he replied, the words still hanging in the air as he shifted away.

Moments later, he reappeared with Leigh, another member of the elite guard who Galen knew well. Her eyes widened as they landed on him. “Galen,” Leigh gaped.

Despite the pain in his body, he nearly flinched at that look and braced himself for rejection. She knew what he’d done, that he was an exile, a traitor.

“He’s injured,” Sylvie commanded. “He needs healing.”

“Right.” The shock faded from Leigh’s features as she advanced on him.

Galen’s good leg wobbled precariously, and he slid to the ground, his knee hitting hard on the rocky soil.

Leigh knelt before him and granted him a tight smile. “I bet you have quite the tale to tell.”

He grimaced, unable to form a reply.

“Another time,” she said. Her hand landed on his shoulder in a friendly pat just before her eyes slid shut. Magic rushed out from her form, sliding through Galen in a tingling rush as it sought out his injuries and knit them together.

Immediately, the cool burn of the magic brought relief to his aching body. Galen sighed, slumping further onto the ground as the worst of his wounds were tended by Leigh’s magic.

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