Page 106 of The Fae Girl 1

She spun around, making her own counter attack. Indi met it with full force. Not playing nice despite the fact that Alice was a novice.

“She’s not bad.” Ridley muttered. “Considering.”

“How long has she been training?”

Ridley shrugged. “Don’t know. A while though judging by the fact she’s already moved on to actual opponents.”

I narrowed my eyes. Nela hadn’t asked permission to train the girl. But that wasn’t to say it was a bad idea. If I’d been more objective I should have thought of it, should have suggested it.

We stood watching as they practised more.

I hadn’t seen her in weeks. The last time had been in passing when she was scurrying back to her rooms after a lesson with Jelric. She hadn’t seen me. Hadn’t even looked up as she shrank between Indi and Nela. I knew she was hiding. I knew she was dealing with the shit Rillon had done.

But the girl in front of me now. She didn’t look so afraid. She looked confident. Good even.

An image of her flashed in my head. Of last night’s dream. I barely bit back the groan as it almost overwhelmed me.

I didn’t want to think of her like that. I certainly didn’t want to dream of her like that. It felt wrong. It felt reprehensible considering the circumstances. She was more innocent than she looked, more innocent than I’d realised. And after everything Rillon had done, had attempted, I felt just as depraved with every new nightly vision.

Whatever it was, whatever was the cause of it, I couldn’t tell anyone. I couldn’t admit to it. It clearly wasn’t her. It clearly wasn’t the girl’s magic despite my initial beliefs.

“Keep all the soldiers away from this end.” I said. “Give them the space they need. Anything Nela needs.”

Ridley raised an eyebrow in surprise. I doubt he expected me to be happy about this. Not that he was trying to stir shit but he and Nela had an uneasy alliance. They got on for my sake. Got on because they knew they had to. It didn’t help that he’d made enough moves on her back in training and she’d dismissed every one, just as she had every other man that had looked her way.

But it was the right move. To let them train. To lethertrain. Seeing how she was, seeing how much better she was, I knew it in my gut.

“What did you just say?” I growled.

“You heard me.” Uther replied before taking a sip of his wine.

It was just the two of us. Alone. He clearly didn’t want Jelric to hear. He didn’t want anyone to hear. He’d dismissed the servants as soon as I’d arrived. Which should have told me enough if I’d been paying attention.

“I don’t think I did.” I said slowly, carefully.

“I want you to seduce the girl. She seems to trust you.” He shrugged. “I want you to seduce her and convince her to turn you Fae.”

I turned my face away in disgust.

“Don’t be such a prude. You’ve had enough girls in your time.”

“Not like that.” I stated.

“Bullshit. You’ve broken hearts up and down this country. Besides just look at her, it’s not like it would be hard, I mean what man wouldn’t want to.” Uther said.

An image of Alice naked and writhing in my bed flashed before I could stop it. Maybe the world really was playing some perverse joke on me. Dangling her like forbidden fruit just to torment me.

“Why don’t you try it if you’re so convinced it’s such a great plan?” I retorted.

“Me? You think she would fuck me?” Uther laughed.

I gritted my teeth about the way he spoke about her.

“She’s scared of me.” Uther said. “She might do it if I forced her but you heard what Jelric said. It can’t be done with force. The girl has to choose it and besides, I’m not Rillon, even I have my limits.”

“Alice.” I said through gritted teeth. “The girl’s name is Alice.”

Uther rolled his eyes irritated. “That’s exactly why you should do it. You have some sort of affinity with her, some sort of connection.”

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