Page 80 of The Chosen Fae

Fruit bats began to take off high above, eating bugs way up in the darkening sky.

Fat dripped into the fire in slow, steady drops, sending up an aroma of seasoned pork that filled the air and made Rune's stomach grumble.

They had been cooking it for some time, so it was nearly done, and corn on the cob and potatoes were roasting over the fire. The berry pies breathed out a dark, fermented sweetness that made Rune's mouth water.

Long tables crowded the clearing, draped in cloth that was the color of green moss, and every surface was weighted down with food—roast haunches glistening dark at the bone, pies stacked three high with crusts the deep purple-red of cooked berries.

They loaded the vegetables onto trays and set them out on the tables. The pork pulled apart in long, salt-dark fibers, fat-rich and tender.

Rune thought the plates and mugs must have been created by master potters. They lined the table in subtle mossy greens, stormy blues, and the faintest pinks, like the sky just before dawn.

Some of the plates were loaded with fruit—deep red watermelon, wedges of golden cantaloupe, and pale honeydew.

Strawberries gathered from the kitchen gardens gleamed with dew, and blueberries sat impossibly plump in a stoneware bowl shaped like a sleeping wolf pup. Peaches, apples, and oranges added to the sweet melody of colors, all arranged as a peacock with his tail feathers spread.

Rune and Stone grabbed seats at one of the long tables, and everyone respectfully let the family and the goddesses sit at the same table. And then everyone sat at tables near them, wanting to get as close to them as possible.

The goddesses, the Game Master, and their sponsors arrived, and everyone started to eat their feast.

“When we met you in the glen, and you were but a wolf, we didn’t realize you were a fae,” Ena said to Stone, the dragon shifter fae who had sponsored him.

“I was sure Ena was going to take you home with us,” Brett said, Ena’s mate and also a dragon shifter fae, phantom fae, and wizard.

“Thanks for sponsoring us,” Rune said. “And I’m glad you didn’t take Stone to your kingdom.”

“We didn’t know that you existed in the other glen,” Ena said, “but we were glad to hear that you’re together now.”

“Thanks. I would have been impossible to live with if you’d taken me away from my glen and Rune,” Stone said.

Ena and Brett squeezed each other’s hands. “I bet,” Brett said.

Then Stone thought to ask Lolita, “How come you ended up in the game? Some of the rest of your siblings are bigger. Not that it deterred you from winning some of the challenges. But I just wondered.”

“I did too,” Rune said.

Iris laughed. “Our brothers wanted to go instead, but they needed another girl. Lolita was the only one who was the right age.”

“I was fine going,” Lolita said. “I needed to prove myself anyway.”

“And you did,” Rune said. “We were so proud of you.”

“We were.” Stone wanted something else clarified. “Iris, you and Silas told us that we were going to have your help in the final challenges. During the last competition, you sent us on a wild goose chase, so we wouldn't even have had a chance to participate in it."

"Uh, yeah, but did you notice I deliberately wrote the message differently from the way the game coordinator always writes it?" Iris asked.

"We did." Though they hadn’t known who had actually written the message.

"The others weren't watching me, except to read it quickly to make sure I had done it. I volunteered. I wanted to warn you something was off. They didn't realize the description wasn’t half as detailed, and my handwriting was remarkably different from the game coordinators'. I said I had to go to the bathroom before I left with the others, and they would meet me at the lake."

"I'm surprised they would allow you time to join them and participate."

"I did think that too. But I didn’t go to the bathroom. The Game Master was still in her office. I went in to see her and tell her what was going on. She smiled and thanked me. I was afraid we would get in trouble, me especially, since I wrote on the board. But I had to warn her, and I guess she provided the jet skis for you to be able to join us and participate."

"Yeah. She did. Thanks for helping us out. Did anyone figure out that you had told on them?" Stone asked.

"No. Thankfully. I was afraid that they would have it in for me. But I think the Game Master knew we were trying to help you in the challenges, and she had the room coordinator put me in Rune’s room,” Iris said.

“I’m glad for that,” Rune said, smiling. “I still can’t believe you’re my sister. And Lolita too. You and Lolita didn’t seem to be all that close when we were at the games. But here, it’s obvious how close you are.”