Page 125 of The Beast King's Bride

32

ASH

“You want to go back to the land of Faerie?” Pete is staring at me as if I’ve grown horns. “Are you serious?”

… horns, great, curving horns on a dark head, blue eyes dancing with mirth…

“Yes. I have to go back, Pete, don’t you see? My blood is the key. He’ll die if I don’t go, and his land will suffer under the Empress.”

“You don’t owe them anything, Ash. You don’t owe to any of them. They took you by force, then sent you away by force again!”

“I know. You’re right. But you also know what he means to me.”

Pete rubs the back of his neck. As spring broke, he shaved his beard and cut his hair short and looks much more like the boy I used to know. I watch him now as he debates what to say to me.

A woman in love with her abductor, a Fae right out of the horror tales told around the fire to caution humans against his kind.

“I’m going,” I cut through his inner struggle before he says a word. “I’m only asking if you’d come with me.”

“Come with you.” He drops his hand to his side. “You really are serious, aren’t you? About going.”

“I am. Love… doesn’t just fade away, Pete. Not real love.”

After a long moment, he nods. “I know. Believe me, I know. I’ll love my wife until I die.”

I give him a trembling smile. “Then you understand.”

“I do, but damn, Ash, I’m not letting you go over there and die for him. I’m not letting you die again, I—”

I catch his hands. “I didn’t die the first time, Pete, even if you thought I did. I know this is all too much to take in, too much to accept, but I have to go. And… it’s not only for me. The Empress cannot control the land of Faerie. It seems that she’s trying to take control of all the kingdoms, overcoming them through her magic one by one, and if she succeeds… we’re next.”

“What are you saying?” The color has drained from his face. “Take control? And we’re next? Are you talking war? Invasion? We haven’t had trouble with the Fae for a thousand years!”

“Things change, Pete. We were lucky. The spell locking Faerieland underneath us worked to keep them away but her power is greater than most Fae. Talen said… The Fae king said that she may come from yet another world. Nobody knows. All they know is that she will stop at nothing to gain control of the gems the Fae kings have where their life energy is concentrated so that she can control the lands. You see the lands are linked to the kings and—”

“Never mind.” He waves a hand stained with rust, leather glue, and oils. “I’ve never been one to care much for the bigger picture.”

“Pete—”

“But I care about you. You’re my friend, you’re like a sister to me, and I’m not letting you go alone.”

“You won’t try to stop me?”

“Stop you?” He gives an incredulous laugh. “You’re seriously asking that to someone who’s known you for most of your life? Who in the world has ever been able to stop you when you set your mind on something?”

“This isn’t about stealing a piece of pie or even borrowing a princess’s gown, Pete. This will be dangerous. It could…” I swallow hard. “It could cost your life. I shouldn’t have asked you to come.”

“No, you did the right thing. After all… this coziness was getting boring.”

I glower at him. “Being with me is boring?”

He winks. “Maybe it’s time to see some more of the world, even if it’s not the one we live in.”

We have the coin to get horses, provisions, even some weapons. At the market two towns over, I choose a slender sword and a scabbard of leather engraved with ravens for myself because it reminds me of Poe.

I recall stabbing at the dragon’s leg with a borrowed sword and shiver. Did those things really happen? In this new, quiet life they seem like fragments of a nightmare.

And you want to go back? I ask myself.

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