Page 104 of Simon

“I can answer questions like why Poseidon took all the fauns and why you were accidentally left,” Sable suggested hopefully.

Simon’s ears picked up, and he let out a long bleat of excitement. “Yes!”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Simon

Sheknewaboutmyparents, my family.

Overcome with frustration, I wanted to shake her until she told me everything, but I refrained. I knew I was more than an animal now, and I couldn’t just jump at the chance to harm her. I was more than just a wild beast.

Lucy gently caressed her hand up and down my arm, her touch providing a comforting sensation. Then she stopped and gripped my arm and conveyed a sense of urgency, as if she was trying to anchor me in place. I could feel the tension coursing throughmy body, causing my muscles to tighten. The weight of my body pressed down on the tips of my hooves, grounding me to the spot. Meanwhile, Sable’s vigilant gaze added an air of caution to the scene, her eyes fixed on me.

“Why don’t we sit? Outside, maybe?” She adjusted the glasses on her head and walked to the door. Her gait was more confident than it was before.

Lucy nudged me but didn’t step away. I would have fallen over if she had. “You got this,” she whispered, linking her arm with mine. “Every step of the way.”

I let out a trembling breath, the sound escaping my quivering lips, as my hooves clicked rhythmically against the rough texture of the freshly laid wooden floors.

Since when did we have a treehouse?

Once outside, Sable seated herself on a nearby rock. She crossed her legs the best she could and tried to look regal.

I sat on a nearby patch of moss where I was most comfortable and pulled my mate between my legs. I buried my nose into her hair, huffing and puffing through it until I reached her mark. She shivered and wrapped her arms around mine that were placed already around her waist.

Sable cleared her throat and flipped through her notebook to halfway through. “What would you like to know first? You have already bonded, so obviously we can skip that part. Your souls are linked. You can feel each other’s emotions, you’re paired together in this life and the next,” she explained what we already knew.

Lucy hummed as I licked the bite mark on her skin. “And I can see his memories, too,” Lucy added. “He stopped remembering right when they dragged him into the forest.”

Sable hummed and bit on the end of her pen. “Yes, the Moon Goddess is aware. She will halt a memory and will continue it when the owner is ready.”

I huffed and shook my head. “I don’t want to see it.” I pressed my horns to the back of my mate’s head. “Can you just tell me instead? I don’t want to relive it.”

Sable wobbled her head back and forth. “That can be arranged.”

I squeezed Lucy, fear enveloping me, but curiosity was winning. “Yes,” Lucy said for me.

Sable sighed. “There was a witch hired by humans. They wanted to steal Simon so they would have power over the herd since Simon was the prince. They wanted your father, Field, to help them with their crops. The witch agreed, only if you were not harmed.”

I lifted my head from Lucy’s back to stare back at Sable. She frowned and rested her head on her hand.

“When the witch saw she had taken you just as Poseidon had taken all the fauns, she felt extremely guilty. She planned on helping the humans so far to help them with the growing season. She didn’t want to keep a young faun away from their family for long. Just enough to get coin to get her back to Bergarian.

“Unfortunately, with Poseidon taking all the fauns, including Field, the wielder of the forest, there was no way for the bargain to be completed. With your father gone, the forest had no one to listen to and serve. The branches and limbs gave way, allowing the humans into the forest. They were coming for the witch and her promise. If they came, they would find you, extort you. Since they knew of the witch's plan, they would keep you with them as their slave. Humans didn’t understand magic, and with their emotions at an all-time high, they would have tried to make you wield the forest.

“Being so young, the forest had not yet recognized you as its commander, you see. The witch feared for your life.”

I ground my teeth and looked away.

Either way, the witch should not have taken me from my family.

“The witch did what she could at that moment. She used all the magic she could from her body, draining herself of everything she had, and turned you into what you spent most of your life as: a goat. She had little magic left after such a spell. It would have replenished in time to turn you back into your faun form, but…

Lucy laced her fingers with mine and squeezed.

“She had to deplete all her magic to defend herself and you from their outrage of the humans, for not fulfilling her promise. She was beaten and left for dead but kept you safe from all harm. And you stayed, Simon. You stayed with her until she was well enough to stand.”

Lucy rubbed her thumb over my fingers.

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