Page 42 of Chased By the Fairy

Sorrel hid his cringe of repulsion.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the same way.”

She came to stand in front of him, and her smile had grown even more menacing. She brought her hand up to tap at her chin as if with thought.

“As you know, sprites have the power to coerce animals to do what they want. I wonder how your human would feel if her crops caved in from unsteady burrows beneath it, or her house became overrun by rats.”

A strike of fear made his hands tremble as his body turned cold. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would, and I will if you don’t marry me.”

He opened his mouth to reject her, but the words clogged in his throat.Greta.He couldn’t do anything that could bring harm to her. The rats could make her sick, and if her farm was destroyed, she wouldn’t be able to sell her food in the markets to survive. She’d be homeless, as she had no family to lean on; Sorrel was all she had in the world.

“B-but why me?” Although she’d already told him her answer, he just couldn’t understand... “Why would you force someone to marry you if you know they don’t want to?”

She reached forward to grab his hair and bunched it in both her hands, burying her face in it. She sniffed it, and his scent seemed to make her sigh contentedly.

“Because I’m picky. I want a flower fairy, but I can’t stand the noise their wings make.” She leaned closer to inspect his face, like she wanted to get an even better look at him with them onlyan inch or two apart. “There is no one else like you that I’ve ever heard of. I’ll make you love me one day, even if it takes me years.”

“I won’t.” Their eyes connected and he hoped she saw the spite in his gaze. “There’s nothing you can say or do that will change how I feel.”

“That’s what you say now,” she said with a smile. “But you don’t know how you’ll feel in the future.” She lifted her hand so she could gently sweep her curled forefinger against his cheek. “I’ll take care of you. I’ll feed you, keep you warm, make sure you have everything and anything you want. You’ll come to love the things I can provide, the comforts, the power you’ll hold at my side.”

Then she lightly dragged the tip of her claw along the edge of his jaw.

A tremor of disgust shook his entire being, and he cringed away from her touch. He opened his clenched eyes to reveal a plead. “Pleasedon’t force me to make this choice.”

“You have a day to come to your decision. Marry me on the last day of winter or I’ll make sure that human suffers.”

With that, she waved him out, and Sorrel silently left.

Cindy watched him as he ran past her and the people celebrating to go back to her burrow. His temporary home.

Tears threatened to sting his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Not once had he cried since being lost and he wouldn’t start now – not even when his skin was crawling, and he wanted nothing more than to shed it.

“Sorrel!” Cindy yelled after him, but he refused to stop. He needed away, needed to be alone. He couldn’t breathe. He felt as though he was moments from hyperventilating. “Sorrel!”

He yanked open her wooden door made from a piece of bark and slammed it behind him. He buried his forehead in his hands.Why me? Why does it have to be me? Why does everyonekeep trying to kidnap me or force me to be with them? Why won’t people leave me alone?

Before his mind could turn even more, Cindy burst in behind him.

“Sorrel, my dear,” she cooed, coming up to place her arm around his waist comfortingly. “What’s the matter?”

“Miss Mole has demanded I marry her,” he exclaimed as he turned to her. “I don’t want to marry her.”

“Why not?” She grabbed his shaking shoulders to steady him, and when he allowed her to, she placed a hand upon his cheek. “She’s a lovely person.”

“Lovely?” He threw his head back with a humourless laugh, his eyes squinting from it. “She just threatened to ruin my mother’s farm!”

As though she hadn’t heard this devastating news, she tsked at him. “Everything will be fine, Sorrel. I promise.”

“You know I’m in love with someone else.” He’d told her this, told her of his feelings.

Cindy sighed as she pulled away.

“You’re talking about the fairy prince.” His face twisted into one of pain, his heartache weighing on him. “I didn’t want to tell you this because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

Sorrel didn’t know if he could handle anything else. “Tell me what?”

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