AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ball,” she confirmed, gaze shadowing the glittering object’s progress. They appeared younger than the ones who had welcomed Rick but were no less beautiful, not a single hair out of place or clothing wrinkled. The one with the bluish hair kicked and punched the hardest, his laughter trailing on braying territory when he hit a pink-haired Fae in the head.
“You need practice, Indy. You can’t defend and can’t even kick right. At this rate, we might as well disown you if this is how you act.”
The voice sounded familiar, but it wasn’t until he spoke again that it all came rushing back to Emerald: that voice ordering the market seller to hand him the gemstone and escaping Centro before she could reach him. It was him—the Fae who had her gemstone.
“Come on, Tru. It’s just a game. Give her a break,” another Fae piped in. The male wrapped a hand around Indy, who was still rubbing her head in pain. Tru didn’t care, scoffing.
“We don’t know when hostile forces will come. We don’t want to follow in the footsteps of the prince and his friends.Youhave to be prepared for anything, not fumble around like a loser.”
More voices piped in, some joining in on Tru’s insults and others changing the topic. In the end, they all stopped the game and left the hall while Yu turned, no longer interested. She slipped out of her corner and was already racing to follow, her heart pounding hard. But Emerald’s anticipation turned to bewilderment when she couldn’t find anyone in the next hallways and couldn’t determine where the Fae folks had disappeared to so abruptly.
“Do you know where they went, Yu?”
“In the castle.”
She bit back a groan. “I meant can you sense them?”
“No. Why?”
“That Tru guy has something I need. A gemstone.”
“Gemstone?”
She began to describe it until his eyes lit up.
“A rock!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. “Rocks outside. I saw. Let’s gather.”
“No, no, not an ordinary rock. A specific rock.”
The pixie looked at her in confusion, as if unable to comprehend why she wanted that specific rock. With a sigh, she opened her mouth to tell him to return to Rick, but someone else spoke first.
“Is everything okay?”
As if on cue, Rick came into view with Bronco in tow. The latter still looked at her with distrust but kept it locked in when Rick approached her. How should she tell him that she had found what she lost, the sole purpose of her being out of Broom’s Isle in the first place? If she did, would he even let her take something from one of his folks? She glanced at Bronco once more.
Not now.Tell him later.
Heeding the warning, she nodded.
“Yes. Everything’s okay. I was just making sure that Yu didn’t wander off.”
“None of you should,” Bronco said matter-of-factly. “You might be His Majesty’s visitors, but we have Fae folks who do not take kindly to outsiders no matter their immunity.”
It was a warning if she ever heard one, but surprisingly, there wasn’t a hint of ugliness in his tone. She assessed him again, wondering if it was loyalty to Rick or just another façade.
“Noted on that,” she said lightly.
Rick took her hand again, seemingly not as guarded around this man as the others. “Come on. Let me show you your room and Yu’s.”
Amid the other man’s continuous quiet observation, Emerald kept her protest at bay and reluctantly let herself be pulled in the other direction.
Chapter 8
“Yu, where were you and Em going?”
“Follow Tru. Em needs his gemstone.”
The conversation from days ago rang through Rick’s mind, never quite leaving him despite how other things preoccupied his hours. He waited for her to mention it to him, maybe even ask for his help to locate Tru, a young Fae who he never really interacted with. But Emerald never brought it up, and soon enough, other things persisted for his full attention—like Yu puttering around his head and the full-length mirrors surrounding them making it look like there were tens of Yu keeping him company.
