Page 82 of The Fae Girl 1

I felt my stomach literally drop as I turned to face him. Of course it had to be him. Of course he had to be here, to witness this, and to no doubt punish me too.

“Um, an accident.” I said. He was surrounded by guards, two of them on either side. They were all watching me like I was about to combust.

“An accident?” He repeated scowling from me to the now very burnt fabric hanging, still smouldering from the rail.

“I was just.” I began but fell silent at the look on his face.

“What the hell is this?” Jelric asked walking in.

“What are you doing here?” Fain asked him.

“I felt the magic.” Jelric replied dismissively before looking at me too. “I told you to read, to study, not to be actually trying to channel it outside of our lessons.”

“I know. I didn’t mean to.” I stated.

“Didn’t mean to?” Fain repeated before he could stop himself. “By the looks of it you nearly set the entire room on fire.”

“Urgh.” I rolled my eyes. I knew I’d fucked up. What more could I do?

He shook his head, grabbing my arm, yanking me away from all the bodies around us.

“Do you not get this girl?” He half snarled.

“Get what?” I snapped back, trying to get myself free but failing because his grip was too damn strong.

“If you act like you’re a risk…”

“I’m not a risk.” I cut across him.

“Setting fire to things makes you look like a risk.” He retorted. “And if you look like a risk…”

“Then what?” I asked half glaring at him.

“Then my brother might just decide you’re not worth the trouble.” He stated.

“Excuse me?” I said. Was he saying that they’d execute me? Surely not.

“Let me put it plainly for you.” He said. “If the High King sees you as a threat, he won’t wait, he won’t hesitate, he will act.”

“How?” I asked, not wanting to know but needing to nonetheless.

“He’ll fit a collar on you. You’ll become little more than an object to channel magic through.” He stated.

“He can’t do that.” I gasped.

“He can and he will if you don’t start behaving.”

“I’m not misbehaving.” I retorted.

He shook his head. “You tried to run, twice now, and you’ve just used your magic without any consideration for the consequences.”

“I didn’t…”

“I don’t care what your intentions were.” He snapped. “This isn’t a game. This isn’t a joke. You’re in our world now. You need to play by our rules. You’re Fae and you belong to my brother. You need to start acting like you understand what that means or you will suffer the consequences.”

I scowled at him, wrenching my arm free. “I’m not some object you can own.”

He narrowed his eyes, getting right in my face again. “If you don’t want to become one then you need to be obedient.”