Page 10 of The White Stag
I started laughing because I remembered this day clear as a bell. It was beautiful and would give Reagan an idea of who her mother was.
“Your mum is the rightful queen to the Unseelie throne. Your dad is her consort. Alastair managed to get an appointment to see them and told your dad he’d waive the dowry if he married you off to him. Your dad looked straight to your mum, because she’s the fucking queen, which pissed Alastair off. Your mum was insulted by the entire exchange and had the centaurs chase him out of her kingdom. The three of us were already chosen as your personal bodyguards, so we witnessed the whole thing.
“Your mum is a shrewd queen. She makes it a point to know what is going on in the Seelie Court and who is about to take the throne. She knew exactly what kind of man Alastair was and that this wasn’t over. She was right, as usual.”
“She wanted constant updates about you and missed you dearly,” Cyrus said. “Estrella wanted you back as soon as we found you, but what those pills did to you is causing a major problem. You can’t enter either of the Fae courts unless you are Fae. We designed them to keep mortals out. So until they wear off, we can’t physically bring you home.”
“She’s already sent someone to the Seelie court in preparation,” Oisin said.
“We don’t have to explain everything overnight,” Cyrus said. “Finnan has fed you obscene amounts of food, and he’s going to keep doing that because he’s insane. You can barely keep your eyes open. Why don’t you get some sleep?”
Cyrus needed to shut his fucking face. She needed to eat. She’d always liked food. Alastair was starving her. She was a fucking princess, and it was high time someone treated her that way. But he was right. She had puppy belly and could barely keep her eyes open. Reagan yawned and stretched.
“Can all of you sleep in my room like you used to?”
Um. That would fly while she was a kid in the mortal realm, but Estrella would have my horns if she thought anything inappropriate went down when she was an adult. And I was already having some inappropriate thoughts about how utterly gorgeous she was. But, of course, I already knew nothing would come of that, so I wasn’t going to do anything about it.
“Your mother would kill us,” Cyrus said. “You’re perfectly safe here. We’re just close enough to the border that most humans won’t come near it, and even Alastair knows better than to get this close as a lone Fae. The courts are at peace, and we don’t kill each other anymore, but both sides understand if someone dies because they didn’t use the front door to get in. It would take a large army to even give him the slim chance of surviving, and only his parents like him.”
“Seriously,” Oisin said. “They have recovered from their blight with help from the Unseelie. Alastair has been keeping this shit up because he wants to own what isn’t his. He might have had a few supporters when you were a baby, and they thought if you were raised in the Seelie court, they could groom you to be different from what you are.”
“The Seelie don’twantany part of the Unseelie Court except the resources. They think we are all degenerates who can’t control our women,” I said. “They areterrifiedof Unseelie women. Trust me, they don’t want you in their court giving their women ideas. If we hadn’t gotten to you and Alastair tried to bring you to the Seelie Court, they would have given you back.”
“That’s what he planned. He told me the night of my birthday that we were getting married. I told him no, and he left the table. I woke up thinking I was happy about it, and then you three showed up to save me.”
Oh, I had strong opinions about that. We all did, but we’d talk about it in the morning. She needed to sleep because the next few days would be hell for her.
“Get some rest, love. Once we’ve unlocked your magic, we’ll teach you to use it. After that, you’ll never have to wait for us to find you again. Unseelie women save themselves, and you’re going to be such a little badass,” I said.
“We’ll all be badasses in the morning. Do you need me to carry you?” Cyrus asked.
Showoff. I should have asked that.
“No, I can walk.”
We all watched her disappear to her bedroom alone. None of us had a problem sleeping in her room if it made her feel safe. Estrella knew us. She handpicked us for this, and she trusted us.
We all admired the shite out of Queen Estrella, which meant no matter what we felt, we would not do anything to break that trust.
Reagan
Ihadn’t realized how awful I’d been sleeping at Alastair’s. I always got insanely sleepy after dinner, and I thought I felt good when I woke up, but now I knew better. Those pills were slowly leaving my body, and I was a little achy when I woke up, but I felt terrific anyway.
I felt safe around the people who had always protected me. Even if I had been manipulated into thinking I was happy there, I always had this feeling in the pit of my gut. I associated it with the blood disorder I thought I had because it was different from being hungry all the time. I might not be thinking clearly, but my gut knew something was wrong because that feeling was gone.
Ballard didn’t charge into my bedroom and shake me awake this morning. I woke up on my own to the smell of something delicious coming from the kitchen. Finnan seemed to take the most offense at how Alastair was feeding me and was going overboard with cooking. I wasn’t complaining. His food was delicious, and I was totally on board to gain some spite pounds just to piss him off if I saw him again.
I didn’t worry about changing clothes or making myself look presentable, like I had to do at Alastair’s. I had to look like utter perfection if I left my bedroom. It was exhausting. Sometimes, I didn’t want to wear makeup, and I wanted to wear my hair up. I just wanted to wander around barefoot, looking like utter trash.
I threw my hair up in a bun, yanked my underwear out of my ass, and headed toward the kitchen. I’d still have pillow marks on my face, but they had these fantastic silk sheets on my bed. I was sure I looked like garbage, but they all just smiled when they saw me and didn’t care.
“How are you feeling?” Cyrus asked.
“Was your room to your liking? I tried to make it what I thought you’d like. We can change it,” Oisin said
“My room is utter perfection, and I don’t want to change a thing. I’m a little achy, but it’s manageable.”
“How is your stomach? I made an Unseelie breakfast,” Finnan said.
