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A beautiful male fae opened the door, his expression dark and grumpy. He had tousled, curly navy-blue hair, light brown skin, and wore nothing but a pair of shorts.
“Hi,” I said, fighting the urge to take a quick step back and shrink in on myself a little.
“Ignore his attitude,” a gorgeous female fae said, slipping out from behind him and giving me a massive smile. Her hair was tied in a thick, messy bun made up of small braids, her skin was dark brown, and her eyes glowed a soft purple color. All she had on was a pair of fancy scanties that looked as if they’d been pulled on in a hurry.
She looked happy, I thought.
Really, really happy.
His hand landed on her hip, and he stepped closer to her, eyeing me with less anger and more curiosity. “You’re the human who’s bonded to King Kier.”
“Yes. I didn’t mean to bother you—I was just wondering if I could sit in your fields while I practice with my magic. I figured I might as well grow something useful while I try.” The pain in my wrist flared as I finished speaking, and I bit down on the inside of my cheek to stop from wincing.
Kierden must’ve started moving. He hadn’t mentally demanded to know where I was though, so he hadn’t figured me out yet.
Probably.
The woman’s smile widened. “Of course; sit anywhere. Your magic has already made our job a lot easier. Don’t be afraid to mess things up, either. We’ll come out and fix anything we need to later.”
“Thanks.” I gave them both a quick smile, then turned and strode out into the fields as if my wrist didn’t hurt like a fiend. The soil was soft and damp beneath my toes, and something about it made my lips curve upward.
Being there felt… right.
Something about the fields made my heart settle, and the ache in my chest calm.
I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
The pain in my wrist eased to just an ache as Bright followed me out. I figured Kierden was headed back toward the castle, and assumed he’d reach out into my mind all grumpy and growly when he realized I wasn’t there.
But I needed the space from him, so I could think without the heaviness of his presence looming over me. While I liked that heavy presence, I had to be careful not to let it overshadow me and what I wanted.
“I love it out here,”I admitted to Bright, as I sat down on the soil before lowering my back to the ground. With the plants around me and the trees above me, it was calm and beautiful. I almost wondered if I’d somehow managed to cross the veil and find a more perfect world than Evare without realizing it.
“It suits you.”She licked my arm.
“I wish there was a way to stay here. The fields still feel like home to me.”
“The last time I was here, the fae were arguing about who would be stuck tending the gardens when the rest of them went to fight. Perhaps they’d still like someone else to take over.”With that, she put her head back down on her paws and fell asleep quickly. Esu needed more sleep than humans or fae, I’d realized—or maybe they just enjoyed it more than us.
I considered her idea as I stared up at the trees.
With the fields just below the castle, it wasn’t an ideal living space. I’d be closer than I wanted to be to Kierden, considering we weren’t going to be mated. But my mind gave me an image—a blissful one—of me spending my days in the fields and my nights in the castle with Kierden. We’d read and talk. We’d kiss, and bathe. We’d…
I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.
We weren’t going to be together after the eclipse came around.
That was a hard thing to accept, but a necessary one.
And if I didn’t create the life I wanted to live, I wasn’t going to enjoy the one I ended up in.
So I formed a plan in my mind as I stared up at the trees above me and decided that I was going to make the farm my home, regardless of the cost.
I let a good chunk of time go by—without hearing from Kierden, though the pain had vanished—before I got up, dusted as much soil off my back and ass as possible, then walked back to the building.
I’d tried to make my magic respond to me again, but it was like there was no connection between me and it. I tried to stop it, and it ignored me. I tried to increase the flow of it, but that was useless, too.
I had a plan to persuade the farmers to let me take over their job. The chance of said plan succeeding was slim, but why not take the chance?
