Page 85 of The Dark Fae Princess
She nods, and climbs off me, letting me tuck her back into bed. She watches me as I get dressed and then with a soft kiss to her lips, I climb back out of the window and give Rook a meaningful look. I pull the window closed and then leap down from the ledge, still feeling the effects of the unicorn’s blood and a damn good fuck.
Rook swoops down next to me and Shifts. “What is it?” he asks instantly.
“We need to go to the others, now.”
He turns and pulls his clothes out from behind a bush and gets dressed. Then, we head out on foot in silence to the barracks where we find Jerrick and Trey on opposite ends of the small sofa, drinking beer in a morose silence.
I fill them in on everything that I saw and heard and the mood changes instantly.
“That fuck!” Jerrick roars, throwing his beer bottle into the fireplace to smash into tiny pieces. “He isn’t getting his filthy hands on Savvie. Never. Are we agreed that we will each defend her to our own deaths if necessary?”
“Yes,” comes the unanimous reply.
“Good,” he growls. “Then this is the plan.”
34
Savannah
One week has passed since I decided that I wasn’t choosing between the four men in my life. One week since we found out that Anders is preparing for war.
I have spent every waking moment training my ass off with my parents and my four men, honing my skills in both physical and magickal combat. We finally figured out that Rook needs to be in raven form for me to use him as my familiar. It’s so fucking obvious now, I still roll my eyes when I think about it. Yes, it puts him out of the fight, but we all agreed, well, most of us agreed – he didn’t – that he would be of more use to me as a raven than wielding a sword with the rest of us.
He is pissed off.
I don’t blame him, but at least I know that if all else fails, he will still be alive at the end of this.
The Fae are a terribly bloodthirsty bunch of ancientoriginalcreatures. Battles happen over something as stupid as a chicken crossing the border between the lands. But this,thisis so much more. This is a war. The last war that was fought here was before I was born, when the Dark went to war with the Light over something to do with my mother.
I won’t pretend that I’m not nervous. I’m the spoils of this war, after all, but I’m confident that we will prevail.
* * *
Iget dressed way before daybreak. I’m too anxious to rest. I pull on a loose-fitting pair of black pants and my sports bra. I slip my tight black vest top over my head and then strap on the double sword back holster that will house my weapons until the battle starts. I firmly brush out my long hair, staring at a space on the wall above my bed to focus and steady my breathing. I pull it up into a ponytail and then curl it around into a bun, shoving pins into it with grim determination.
My palms are starting to sweat now.
Every single man in this blasted Kingdom, except my own, has told me to stay at home like a good little heir to the throne. Their confidence that I can do this is at nil. I wonder briefly if my own men are just humoring me, telling me that I’m battle-ready because they know I’m not standing down even if I’m not.
But I shake my head to clear that doubt. They wouldn’t do that. I have to trust my growing empathic powers and know that the pride I felt from Jerrick when I truly kicked his ass was genuine. I have to know that when I felt Trey grow more and more impressed by my skills that it was real, and that Raize’s amazement at my magickal ability was true. Using him,connectingto him has grown his own power and size immeasurably. He is now as big as an eagle and truly spectacular. The only worry I have is that I cannot feel anything from Theo. I have in the past, but it seems to be blocked now. I wonder if he is doing that or ifI’msomehow doing it. Either way, I need to find a way to break it down. Having four men to keep up with is drainingwiththe power. If I don’t have it, I’m flying blind and I don’t like that. I need this to allay any doubts I have about them and their feelings for me. I know they say they love me, but my natural mistrust of people is a difficult thing to shift. Without this power, I will always wonder if they are only with me because I’m putting out and they have everything to gain by me being Queen.
My breath hitches as this distrust floods through me and my blood goes cold. I bend over and resist the urge to throw up on my bare feet.
Stop it.
They love you.
Trust them.
I swallow back the bile and then sit down to pull my boots on.
I asked them all to stay away last night, as I needed this time on my own to focus and rest as much as possible, but now I feel like I made a mistake. I want them with me, especially as this may be any of ours last day in this Realm.
I hastily stand up and Puffport downstairs.
The palace is quiet, only a few servants milling about getting ready to start the day.
I grab my two swords from the magickal case in which they are residing in the Entrance Hall. Jerrick commissioned two very special weapons for me. They are light weight but no less deadly than a regular Dark Fae army sword. The silversmith and enchantress have worked overtime to get these ready for me and the case they were resting in is filled with a special brand of magick that has mine infused into it. That means that onlyIcan wield these weapons. It is dark magick. Heavily dark. It was suggested by Trey and on interrogation as to how he knew this was possible, he admitted to dabbling in the black arts. It chilled me to my core, but he swore to me that he was done with all of that. I love the Dark Fae magick. I love that it draws on everything shadowy and obscure in this world, but black magick is pure evil. It changes you.
