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Climbing fully under the tree, I realize it’s probably another dead tree. Amassivedead tree. I gently poke around the tall, thick grass until I see the river just beyond my hiding place. If I crawl carefully enough between the tree and the ground, I can scoot out from beneath the dead tree and emerge onto the riverbank.
I let the briefest moment of relief wash over me. I’m safe for now. This spot is perfect. They’d have to literally fall through the same hole I did to find this spot or decide to shimmy down under a fallen tree. This might be the first bit of good luck I’ve had since being kidnapped.
Even if it hurt like a bitch to get here.
Setting back against the dirt, I let my heart rate drop back to normal and let my eyes close. It’s nice not to be in that painful cart, even though they left the damn itchy cuffs on my wrists. It’s nice to have something close to a safe place to rest.
Grandmother and father pop into my mind, and my chest aches. I hope by some miracle they’re oblivious to everything that’s going on. I don’t want them to worry about me. But more than that, they better be eating well and enjoying themselves.They better not be anywhere but that garden cottage. I’ll rip Prince Sulien to shreds if he tossed my family out already.
They deserve better than that.
My familyhasto be safe. Prince Sulien has to be a kind enough person to give them more time before throwing them out.Right?
I think of him. I don’t see any kindness inside him based on our interactions, and yet, my dreams make me feel differently. Even though they logically shouldn’t. They’re not real, something I know very well. Yet, in my dreams, he touches me. He’s gentle. He’s patient. Almost… loving.
Even thinking of the dreams makes my heart throb in the strangest way. I like the Prince Sulien from my dreams. Too much. Which is pathetic.
I just wish I could shake the feeling that my dreams are real because they make me so damn confused. Everything I’ve seen of Prince Sulien paints him in an opposite light from my dreams. Hell, if it was only Prince Sulien waiting for me to return right now, he probably wouldn’t even tell anyone that I’d gone missing, just because he’d still be hoping our plan would work out when I returned home. He doesn’t care about me. Or my family. He just has his own stupid reasons for wanting our arrangement to happen.
Ass.
So is no one even looking for me?No, someone has to be. The other princes sure as hell better be fighting to find me after all their promises and honeyed touches. And if they’re doing that, they’re not focusing on my family or restoring them to a life of poverty. They should be tracking the animals who stole me right now, ready to spring out and save me at any moment.
That makes sense, right?When a random human maid becomes the bride to four fae princes, the princes have to be patient and care for her family.A laugh bubbles in my throat because, yeah, this situation happens all the damn time.
“No matter what they’re doing, as long as my family is safe, everything will be alright,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around myself.
It’s too much to worry about right now. All of this.
I also need to stop thinking about the very real possibility that one of those asshole kidnappers will find me here. This hole is safe. For now. Almost. Practically. I think. And then, I’ll keep moving and find a town and safety.
Glancing away from the entrance to my hideout, I listen, but I only hear the sounds of the forest. There’s a symphony of birds' chirps and trills, along with the wind rustling the leaves. I don’t hear any branches or leaves crunching under footsteps, and that brings me some comfort. I sigh and sink back, hoping to stay here until it gets dark at least.
“Everything is going to be okay.”
But my thoughts circle back to the tree elf’s words. My father has told me little about my mother except that she had died giving birth to me. She was young. Perhaps as young as I am now. Was the tree elf saying that I’m meant to die as young as she did?
I don’t know. But couldn’t he have said my life would be full of butterflies and rainbows? Kisses and smiles? Why the fuck did it have to be death and despair hunting me with all the cruelty of a bad omen? Because that’s what the whole thing with the tree elf felt like, a bad omen, and bad omens are seriously shit, for fae and humans alike.
I let my eyes close and shiver against the chill and dampness beneath the tree. My chest aches, and I fight the urge to cry as everything from the past few days seems to hit me at once.I wish I wasn’t alone. I wish the guy were here with me.
The thought surprises me, and it truly hits me for the first time, that deep down I’m fully expecting the guys to try to rescue me. That’s what my heart is telling me, but the notion might be crazy. I have no idea what’s going on back at home.
Are they even out looking for me? Or did Prince Sulien tell them the truth after I disappeared and a life with them has already faded away to being nothing but a crazy dream?
I picture each of them. Prince Cobar’s beautiful face and hilarious personality would lighten this mood. I bet he’d be a good husband. Someone who I could lay down with at night and all my troubles would melt away with. Prince Sulien’s darkness and his quiet nature are soothing in a strange way. He’s a force to be reckoned with, but not someone I could ever fear, I think. Then, there’s Prince Zane, with his cold eyes and warm heart. He’s balance personified. And Prince Forrest. I smile at the thought of him. He’s brave and loud: a protector through and through, even if I have a feeling that he’d drive me crazy.
I’d rather be married to all four princes than where I am now.Nothing would stop them from looking for me if I was their queen… except that I refused them, and I’m not.I don’t even know if they’re looking for me now.
Not that I’d blame them if they weren’t. I was kind of shitty to them, even though I had my reasons. Everything happened so fast, I wasn’t even given a chance to think or process what was happening to me. And to be honest, I didn’t like that things were happeningtome. I want to be in control of my own life.
Even though I’m the furthest from in control right now.
Footsteps interrupt my thoughts. I slam my eyes shut, feeling like I can be smaller and quieter if I can’t see. The men are talking, complaining about me. The steps edge closer and closer to where I am.
I hold my breath and wait.
FOUR
