Page 182 of The Fae Girl 1

I grinned. “I eat most things. I’m not fussy.”

He watched me for a moment then reached for the stew and served some up into two bowls, passing one to me.

“Maybe I should ask Nela to spill your secrets.” He said.

“Don’t you dare.” I laughed.

“So you do have secrets then?”

“Do you?” I asked.

He paused. “Maybe a few.”

“Are you going to divulge any or simply tease me all night?” I asked.

He sat back in his chair. “Do you want me to tease you Alice?”

I bit my lip. “I’m trying to be serious. We hardly know each other.”

“And yet I feel like I know you better than anyone else in this castle.” He replied.

I blinked, my face showing my surprise at his words. That he felt like that too.

“Was that too forward of me? Too much of a confession?” He murmured.

“No.” I said. “I guess I’m just trying to figure you out.”

“In what way?”

I shrugged.

“Alice, I meant what I said the other night. I know it hasn’t helped that I had to leave right after but it wasn’t just a onetime thing. It’s not just some fun either.”

I nodded feeling my heart hammering in my chest. “I know.” I said. “But the way Ridley reacted, it makes me scared.”

“Of my brother?”

I nodded.

“I promise you, he won’t hurt you. He won’t do anything to you.”

“What if he hurts you?”

He paused. “He won’t. We have our differences but he needs me as much as I need him. We’re loyal to each other. We always have been.”

I gave a small smile. I guess it must be nice to have grown up like that. To have had a family to depend upon.

“Why do you look like that?” He asked.

“It’s nothing.” I said picking up a piece of bread and tearing it into smaller pieces with my hands before dipping it in the stew sauce and eating it.

“I’m sorry. I should have thought. You must be missing your family. Your friends too, from your world.”

I winced. “No.” I said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“Jelric didn’t tell you?”

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