AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Everyone’s just called him Kier since he was a kid. He doesn’t even introduce himself as Kierden. Did he ask you to call him by his full name?” Eisley asked, her expression a bit curious.
My face warmed. “No. Bright introduced him to me that way, and I guess it stuck. He never actually told me his name himself.”
“Hmm.” She studied me.
I’d called him that out loud at least once or twice. Why hadn’t he corrected me?
“I’m still stuck on the possessiveness, ladies. We need to know, and this is the perfect way to find out,” Laeli said with a grin.
I shelved the nickname thing for later, deciding not to worry about it yet. Then I ate as much food as I could possibly handle… until the pain in my wrist grew so bad that I gave in, and off we went.
Chapter6
Nissa
My pain faded as we approached the stadium that had been carved into a massive tree just for the sake of the violent events the fae had come up with to promote peace.
It was pretty late at night by then, but none of the fae seemed ready to go home. Between the moonlight, my improved eyesight, and some magical lights I didn’t have a name for that floated around the forest at random, it was illuminated enough to see without a problem.
And thanks to my pain and the excitement I had about being in a new city, I wasn’t anywhere near ready to sleep.
Eisley and I had both asked our bonded esu to come back and carry us to the stadium since they weren’t making any progress with Kierden. Because Laeli wasn’t bonded to an animal, she rode with Eisley on our way there.
“The wrestling has gotten brutal,”Bright murmured to me as she wove through the city.“Someone convinced Kierden to join, and it grew much bloodier. They do seem to be having a good time though.”
I grimaced at the thought of someone bleeding andenjoying it.
Then again, it didn’t surprise me at all that the king could find it entertaining. He was technically a warrior, even if his kingdom wasn’t at war at the moment.
“Tell me if it makes you nauseous. We don’t need you throwing up all that food,”she added.
I thanked her, though I was still trying to wrap my head around it. I’d known fae existed my entire life and yet still felt like I’d been dragged into an entirely new world.
Then again, a new world was far preferable to my old one. So, the fresh start was a good thing. Eisley had been kind, and that meant there was a good chance I could convince her to find me a job after the mate connection was gone.
My eyes caught on a clump of vibrantly-colored flowers as we passed them. They were… different. I hadn’t seen anything like them in the Endless Wilds or in the Broken Woods before. Flowers seemed hard to come by in the parts of our land full of magical beings.
But around me, they were everywhere. In bright pinks, reds, yellows, and oranges. In deep purples, and vibrant blues.
The vines were thicker and longer, brighter green, too. The leaves on the trees looked even more massive than usual as well.
My magic was still leaking out of me. And maybe out of Kierden too, I realized when we reached the stadium. The outside of the tree that housed it had way more flowers than any of the others we’d passed, and more vines too.
Inside the stadium the fae were roaring wildly, standing on benches that had been carved along the outer edges as they watched someone fighting in the middle. Looking at the enthusiastic group from afar, I never would’ve guessed there was bad blood between any of them.
Then again, one could never get the full picture from afar. If they could, Kierden would’ve realized I was a starving prisoner when he found me in my tower. Though there was always a chance hedidrealize I had been a prisoner and simply didn’t care.
Bright followed at Eisley’s bonded esu’s tail. His name was Sharp, if I remembered right.
Sharp maneuvered smoothly to an empty bench right outside the huge metal cage the men were fighting in. We were as close as you could possibly get to the fight, and I—
My thoughts cut off as I slid off off Bright’s back and surged toward the thick bars separating us from the fighters.
That wasKierden’sbare backside.Kierden’shair.Hisarm of tattoos, too.
He was wrestling a man who looked just as large as him, and the king seemed to have the upper hand. Or the other man was beneath him, at least.
“By the veil,” I breathed as I watched the man buck fiercely against the king’s hold. Kierden moved with him a bit, letting the other man fight, but had no problem holding his grip on the guy.
