Page 119 of Fae Farewells

“They know something has happened,” I said, letting the curtain fall closed. “More of them have congregated outside.”

Vaughn and Reagan peered out the window, both of them sighing in defeat. The Winter king wasn’t ready to address the people, thinning he was unprepared to answer their question. Vaughn wanted to end the day so he could take a nap. I hadn’t seen him sleep in days, exhaustion heavy in his icy blue eyes.

“We need to tell them something,” Freya commented, pacing around the living area.

“What will we say?” Reagan prompted. “We were dead, but now we’re not? Alania killed Vex, and Alric killed me, but here we are, ready to lead and help rebuild?”

Freya glanced at her brother. And though I couldn’t interpret her expression, my fae knew it all too well.

He motioned her ahead of him. “After you.”

“No, no.” Freya patted the air. “You are speaking.”

“Why me?” Vaughn asked, astounded by her demand.

“You’re the oldest.”

“That’s not a fair argument.”

Freya blew strands of hair from her face as she smirked at him. “You’re a better public speaker than me.”

As cute as they were while arguing, I was also ready to get this over with. Having that many people in one place, while having the entire royal family together, made me worry about attacks.

“I’ll speak to them if you two won’t,” I proposed, a little snark sneaking into my tone.

Vaughn and Freya glanced at each other, then at me, as if considering my proposition.

“That feels like a threat,” Freya finally acknowledged.

“It is,” my fae responded.

I smiled. “While I don’t have Vaughn’s silver tongue, I know how to address a crowd. Usually they’re demons... or vampires…”

“This is a little different,” Freya explained sweetly.

“Is it?” I sarcastically inquired. “Then you two should go together before I decide to do it without you.”

Vaughn rolled his icy eyes at me. “Fuck. Fine.”

“You sound petulant,” I pointed out. “That’s not really your style,”

“I’m sleepy,” he complained. “And I’m hungry.”

“The staff is gone, but I can cook something,” Briggs offered.

“Please,” Vaughn said.

My wolf shrugged. “After you speak to the crowd.”

“That’s cold,” my fae grumbled, but he couldn’t hide his growing grin. “Even for you.”

“What do we say, though?” Freya stressed.

“We’ll wing it,” Vaughn told her, grinning at me as he opened the door. “Let’s just answer the questions we would have. If we need to clear up anything, we can do that later.”

Collectively, all of our footsteps clattering against the marble floors hurt my ears. There was nothing soft to cushion the reverberating sound, so it echoed from wall to wall.

We stopped at the base of the grand staircase, letting the Winter siblings take the lead. Reagan and Vex stayed behind us, not sure if they would go in front of the crowd or not yet. I was betting they would, but they were apprehensive.