Page 23 of Fate of the Sun King

I roll my eyes at his smirk.

“I wonder if Willow is experiencing this too?” I ask, and Tristan shrugs.

“What else can you do with it?” Nadir asks my brother.

Tristan performs another demonstration, uprooting the same trees he just grew and tossing them aside like they’re nothing but toothpicks.

“That could be very useful,” Nadir says with a hint of admiration. Tristan almost smiles. He doesn’t like Nadir, and I don’t blame him for that, but they’re so equally stubborn. I wonder if they can bridge this divide.

“Well, this got a lot more interesting,” Nadir says, clapping his hands. “Lor. I think we need to put you on the defensive.”

He turns around and points to a spot. “You’ll stand there, and I’m going to use my magic against you.”

I nod, seeing the validity of the idea. Maybe this could work.

“I’ll help,” Tristan says, cracking his knuckles, and Nadir snorts.

“Absolutely not.”

Tristan glares at him. “Why not?”

“You haven’t used your magic in over a decade and just said it’s growing. You don’t have the kind of control necessary for this exercise.”

Tristan’s jaw turns hard, his eyes flashing.

I repress a sigh. They’re never going to get along at this rate.

“Nadir—” I say.

“No,” he says, cutting me off. “If your brother values your life as much as I know he does, then he’ll understand that we aren’t playing around with your safety.”

Nadir focuses his gaze on Tristan. “Right?”

Tristan pauses but then nods.

“Fine,” he says before Nadir’s face stretches into a grin.

“In fact, you can use this opportunity to practice, too. It’s obvious you can become another weapon against whatever we might face. We’re going to need every resource possible.”

With that ominous remark, Nadir spins on his heel and jogs across the clearing.

I share a look with Tristan.

“You think this is a good idea?” he asks as I look back at Nadir, who is now a hundred feet away.

“I think it’s worth a shot,” I reply as Nadir stops and turns to face us.

“I don’t trust him,” Tristan says.

“I know you don’t. I’m asking you to trust me.”

I swallow the tightness in my throat. Do I trust Nadir? I’ve spent so much time pushing him away, determined not to believe him. Determined not to fall for the pretty words and pretty face of another High Fae royal. But my armor is forming a network of fissures liable to crack from the slightest pressure.

He’s done nothing but protect me since we agreed to work together in The Aurora, despite our unconventional first encounters.

He makes me feel things I never expected to feel. Safe. Wanted. Beautiful. Like my flaws aren’t a series of mistakes but rather the essential pieces that make me who I am.

And while he could be lying about all of it, I know he isn’t. The truth is, somewhere in my determination not to trust him, I’ve grown to believe in him completely. I’m terrified, but of what exactly? Allowing myself to love freely and with abandon? Letting him have my heart to do anything with? What if I’m not enough?