AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The title was absolutely bizarre, but I nodded back anyway before he left.
After retracing my steps, I started down the row of stalls I hadn’t seen yet. I stopped to look at everything that seemed interesting, and some things that didn’t. It was nice to chat with the people selling the items, and they all seemed perfectly content to be there. I knew the marketplace was only open a few hours a day, and from what I’d heard, I didn’t think it was a stressful event for any of the vendors. No one in the water kingdom was starving, or homeless. Not with fae magic in charge of growing food and building homes.
My stomach started rumbling after a while, but I wasn’t willing to ask anyone to give me anything for free, so I kept walking and chatting like I wasn’t hungry. But after being in the Aboa for so long, and then sleeping for ages, the hunger became intense pretty fast.
“Ayla,” a female voice called out. I spun around, my eyebrows shooting upward when I saw the female fae who had been in the Aboa with us. She strolled up to me, the thin bands of her dress and sheer panels of the skirt area barely covering her lady bits when she walked.
Maybe I could understand why Zoran wanted me covered up a little more. I wouldn’t be thrilled if his cock was nearly popping out of his tiny shorts with every step he took; my own possessiveness would probably kick in.
I was kind of curious about that though, since I’d never had a reason to get possessive about him before. Would it irritate me if he gave another woman attention? Or if she got all up in his grill while dressed like that?
The scientist in me wanted to test it and find out.
The logical side of me knew that was probably a bad call, though.
“Have you had lunch yet?” the woman checked.
“No. I didn’t bring money,” I admitted.
She gave me an incredulous look. “You’re the queen. King Flood is the one who built this place; no one expects you to pay.”
My face heated, and I lowered my voice. “I’m not just going to ask people for free stuff.”
She rolled her eyes at me, grabbed my elbow, and dragged me over to the nearest food stall. A tall man with pale skin and nearly-white hair grinned when we approached.
Myfrienddidn’t bother beating around the bush. “Hey, Yinne. Do you have anything extra to eat, by chance? Being in the Aboa exhausted our little queen here, and she’s too shy to admit how hungry she is.”
The man’s eyes lit up. “Of course, Lya.” He bowed his head toward me, and then to my friend.
Her name must’ve been Lya.
I forced myself to internalize it, since I’d hated not knowing what to call her.
“Do you like soup?” the man, Yinne, checked.
I glanced at Lya, and she gestured toward me.
Whoops, he was talking to me.
“Oh, of course. Who doesn’t like soup?” I looked back at the man.
“Fools,” he said, flashing me a smile.
“Exactly.” I took the bowl he handed me with a quick smile. “Thank you so much.”
“It’s my privilege.” He bowed a bit toward me, and I nodded, even though it made me blush.
Lya grabbed a bowl of her own, and after she thanked him, she took my elbow and led me to a group of what looked similar to picnic tables nearby. They were lower, though, and had cushions to sit on instead of benches.
I plopped down on mine, waving away the cloud of sand that blew around me as I did.
Lya laughed. “They’re waterproof. You just clean them off before you sit.” With a wave of her hand, she had her cushion sparkling clean. When she sat down, she took a bite of her soup without waiting for it to cool.
I made a face. “No one teaches me these things. The only things I know about you guys are what I’ve read in your law books. Why don’t you allow alcohol to be consumed on the first day of the year, by the way?”
Lya’s mouth was full when she replied, “Some girl got so drunk that she kissed King Flood on the first day of the year. He outlawed alcohol on that day in retaliation, and now it’s a tradition for a bunch of single fae ladies to get super drunk and kiss the king. He plays along.” She eyed me when my jaw dropped open. “Or he used to, before he went insane. I’m sure he wouldn’t anymore,” she added quickly. “Crest was mated, and he didn’t. But everyone hated Crest anyway, so… I’m just going to shut up now.”
“It’s fine,” I said, a little too fast. “I’m fine. We’re not even really together, you know?” I took a violent bite of my soup. “My friend Ivy thinks he’s possessive, but I don’t really know. I tried flirting with some guy, but Flood dragged me away from him before I could figure out if it was because he was jealous or just because he didn’t like what I was wearing.”
